Freebie Feelers... Oxenfree

Freebie Feelers is a series where we download the free monthly console-specific or newly released free-to-play games to test their worth.This series will contain some useful information as well as plenty of personal opinion. While these articles may not be reviews, we hope that you will be able to use them to help decide whether that free download is worth it.

What is it?

Our second free Xbox One game for September is Oxenfree, the supernatural thriller featuring a small group of friends just trying to have fun at a party on an old military island. This overnight party quickly turns sideways as a gateway is opened and begins making everything extra confusing.

The gameplay mostly consists of walking around and making dialogue choices when talking to characters around you. These choices are timed and all seem to have more or less unique responses to go with them. The game wants you to believe that every choice you make have the potential to drastically change everything and anything.

What did you think?

I’ve played quite a few of these dialogue heavy, choice driven games over the last few year and I’d quickly say Oxenfree was one of my favorites. Although I haven’t finished the title, I do like how it handles other characters and their relationships with each other. Each character is clearly different, with any player disliking at least one of them. I’ve always liked when games introduce dislikable characters. It seems like it creates a more engaging experience that puts the player in the position of whether they’ll help that character or not. Besides this, the game just looks great and is genuinely charming.

Is it worth downloading?

If you enjoy story centric or dialogue heavy games, Oxenfree will surely make a good addition to your collection. There is also the potential emotional side of things which is greatly helped by the art and music. The art is unique and very pretty, creating a world that looks quite different than nearly any I’ve seen before. Since I don’t want to speak on the little bit of story I have seen, so I’ll just say that if you don’t like the first couple minutes, you will have an idea of whether or not you want to see it through to the couple hour mark at the very least. Just make sure to grab it before the 15th of October if you feel like trying it out or even seeing the story through to the end.