Summer Games Fest is going strong and there’s a ton of games to see. Today we saw Night School’s newest game in Oxenfree II: Lost Signals at the Netflix booth. We played the first thirty minutes of the game, and it flew by. If you enjoyed the first game, then you are sure to enjoy this go around as well.
Oxenfree II features new characters, a new story, and a return to the mainland of Camnea instead of the island in the original. Gameplay is similar to the first one with the ability to use a walkie-talkie to communicate with other characters. Dialogue options also return so you can choose between 3 options in most scenarios when given a choice. We don’t get much in terms of story, but the hints of what was shown in the demo definitely make it seem like it will be a very interesting tale to explore.
The game puts you in the shoes of Riley a young early 30s woman who joins an environmental organization. In the demo, we’re also introduced to two of Riley’s coworkers. First is Evelyn, we don’t see her, but she communicates over the walkie-talkie to Riley to give her her objectives. Then, as we traversed through the harbor and up the trail we meet Riley’s new partner in Jacob. Jacob does reveal that they knew each other back in their high school days, so it already gives a deeper connection between the two coworkers.
Graphically Oxenfree II is a vast improvement over the original. The developers said it was specifically designed to target modern consoles and the animations and visuals definitely show how much effort Night School put into the game.
The seven year wait is nearly over so fans won’t have to wait much longer as Oxenfree II: Lost Signals comes to PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, and PC on July 12.