Can You Play OXENFREE II: Lost Signals If You Haven't Played the Original?

DISCLAIMER: this is a spoiler-free overview of both OXENFREE II: Lost Signals and Oxenfree for those that wish to get into the franchise but don't know where to begin.

It has been seven years since the release of Night School Studio's debut title, Oxenfree. The atmospheric adventure that received critical acclaim sees you taking control of a cast of characters that investigate an anomaly on Edwards Island and unwittingly set free a poltergeist.

After the hype of the original title — receiving both an average 80 Metacritic score and 92% positive reviews on Steam — many are at the edge of their seats to try out the new entry that quickly became a classic. If you're eager to jump into Night School Studio's brand-new entry into the fan-favourite franchise, here is all of the information you'll need to know whether you should play the original first.

The Gameplay

OXENFREE II: Lost Signals' gameplay very closely follows that of the original Oxenfree. Throughout the length of the narrative, you will take control of Riley and walk through the protagonist's hometown of Camena as you set out to place transmitters and complete a job. Walking back and forth across the large world, you will be accompanied by a character named Jacob who will work as your deuteragonist and make the lengthy walks less long.

The most captivating point of the gameplay is the conversation system that you will use to interact with the characters. The quick-paced discussions ensure that you can talk to the characters in a realistic, timed dialogue that allows you to engage in discussions with the personalities in Camena. There have been some improvements from the original — such as longer times to read the answers to respond correctly — and is pretty much newcomer-friendly. That said, there were several points in the narrative that the game expects you to know what to do for a short period of time from gameplay elements of the previous entry, most notably, using the radio at the right time. You will never get stuck, but you might experience a couple of uncomfortable seconds standing around waiting for a prompt to explain what to do.

The Story

Take control of Riley and return home to Camena to face a threat that you'll have faced before on Edwards Island. Walk around the sleepy town at night and place transmitters to complete a job that you were hired to do, but face a threat far greater than you could anticipate.

Riley and the original cast of characters essentially have zero connections lore-wise. The new protagonist doesn't know of the previous cast at all and is merely trying to do the job that she was hired to do. That said, the separation between the two storylines pretty much end there, as otherwise, references, information, and pivotal pieces of lore are hidden behind knowledge that you should have from the previous games.

The story in OXENFREE II: Lost Signals isn't self-contained at all. Lacking context from the previous titles will make this a convoluted and difficult journey to digest, as the antagonist is entirely explained within the first title, and their history, too. From this, to numerous mentions of events and important pieces of history set in the other games, you'll likely feel like you're playing a context-less walking simulator.

Should you play the other game first?

This is a simple no-brainer — yes. Not only is Oxenfree a great narrative thriller title with lovable characters, but you will ultimately appreciate this entry far more if you actually understand what you're going through. Although the game is starting to show its age — lacking quality-of-life improvements that would have otherwise made the experience far more enjoyable — it is a crucial introduction to the world, lore, and even its unique live dialogue system.

Theoretically, you could read up on the events of Oxenfree, but in truth, this will do little to give you the information needed to invest you in the narrative. Not having gone through the experience yourself will still — ultimately — ruin part of the adventure, as the emotional connection to the world will definitely make OXENFREE II: Lost Signals more enjoyable.

Can you play OXENFREE II: Lost Signals without knowing anything about Oxenfree?

While you might be excited to experience a narrative set in a well-established universe beloved by many, the fact of the matter is that OXENFREE II: Lost Signals is very dependent on information provided in the original entry.

Though you'll still be able to experience the thriller-based narrative and love the characters that are in this entry, the lack of knowledge from the original will negate a lot of the enjoyment and excitability from various events present within the story. Not understanding Edwards Island and The Sunken will definitely bog down the story-focused experience, making it pretty difficult to grasp the themes and even understand the full consequences of your choices.

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This article isn't entirely bad news, however! With a short 4½ hours run time, Oxenfree is something you could very realistically pick up and binge in one sitting if experiencing OXENFREE II: Lost Signals with everyone else is important to you. In the meantime, however, you can also read both the original Oxenfree review alongside our OXENFREE II: Lost Signals review to learn more about our thoughts on the title!