Oxenfree II: Lost Signals review - Held back by legacy

Night School Studio impressed when it released Oxenfree back in 2016. Featuring a fairly revolutionary conversation system that allowed players to choose dialogue options on the fly cemented it as one of the narrative greats of the last generation, especially when paired with a frequently unsettling narrative.

The studio is back in 2023 with a direct follow-up, Oxenfree II: Lost Signals. With a new set of characters and a completely new island to explore, Oxenfree II has a totally different focus to the original title - a breath of fresh air for returning players.

While a few minor gripes return, a pleasurable presentation and truly engaging story mostly managed to help Oxenfree II: Lost Signals stick the landing that fans have been waiting for.

• Here's everything you need to know about Oxenfree II: Lost Signals.

Setting the scene

Oxenfree II picks up a few years after the events of the first game, which is important to know when starting up this title. Make no mistake, Oxenfree II is a direct sequel to its predecessor. Much more than a few subtle nods back to 2016, Night School Studio has decided on a definitive ending for its debut title and stuck with it.

As such, you arrive on Camena, the main island that sits just next to Edwards Island, the location from the first game. This time around, players take control of Riley Poverly, an ex-resident of Camena that has recently found herself drawn back to her hometown.

Alongside Riley, much of the story is spent alongside Jacob Summers, an old friend of Riley’s from high school. Both characters have enlisted themselves as environmental researchers, tasked with placing radio beacons at the highest peaks of the island to discover more about strange broadcast signals that have appeared on the island.

Once again set over the course of one night, the story of Oxenfree II is relatively contained. All the while, Riley and Jacob will face up against Parentage, a cult of teenagers that are up to something in the background. It’s Riley’s interactions with everyone around her that will shape how the story ends up, and it can go plenty of ways.

Don’t touch that dial now…

There are only a few ways in which you can engage with Oxenfree II, but they’re thankfully rather captivating. Of course, Night School Studio’s signature conversation system returns with three dialogue options being presented to you at almost every turn.

What’s great about these conversation options is that the short descriptions are always accurate of their sentiment. In some titles that dabble with conversation systems, it can be quite common to choose an option that you think means one thing, only for the character to say something off-piste and totally insult someone you didn’t intend.

That’s never the case in Oxenfree II, and with the options mapped to the controller face buttons, you’re able to keep up conversations fluidly while traversing the landscape of Camena.

Other ways to engage include dialling into different radio stations, much like you could in the first game. This is used to solve puzzles, although it essentially boils down to moving the dial one way until the controller buzzes - it’s hardly the most engaging gameplay mechanic.

There’s also a walkie-talkie which lets Riley communicate with more people than just Jacob. Whether it’s your manager or other residents of Camena, the island rarely feels like a lonely place. If you’re a little tired of the main story, this is where you can likely pick up a few side quests to add a bit of spice to your playthrough.

Feast your eyes

In terms of presentation, Oxenfree II certainly looks the part. Character models only take up a small percentage of the screen, letting you take in the almost watercolour-like appearance of the landscape. Environments almost look like they’ve been painted directly onto your screen, and were a joy to explore throughout.

What’s more, the soundtrack of Oxenfree II impresses just as much as the first one did. Featuring gorgeously smooth synth waves from the 80s, and occasionally some more heavy-handed percussion, there were times when I was happy to leave the OST on in the background while I got some writing done.

The real highlight of Oxenfree II’s presentation is the dialogue writing and the voice cast that brings the script to life. Given Oxenfree II focuses much more on young adult relationships and issues versus the teen-heavy prequel, it makes sense that a lot of care has been put into this area.

Thankfully, regular conversations between Riley and Jacob feel completely natural. They strike the right balance of shy awkwardness and maturity that you’d expect from two adults who haven’t seen each other since high school, without straying too far into the realms of tongue-biting cringe.

Bugbears

It’s such a shame, however, that plenty of these stellar voice lines are tainted by overlapping dialogue that, sadly, became a regular occurrence during my playthrough. If you stray a little too far ahead before a conversation is finished, you’re likely to end up hearing two conversations at once, sometimes from the mouth of the same person. This is extremely frustrating to put up with while playing and completely pulls you out of the experience.

Another frustration is in the way that Camena Island is laid out. Each area is split up into small sections, separated by loading screens. While this might have worked in the original title, it’s a huge bugbear on this new generation of consoles. Especially when asked to backtrack for certain quests, players will regularly end up hitting load screens of five seconds or more on the PlayStation 5.

Given that players have now gotten used to the lightning-fast pace of the PS5’s storage drives, it’s disappointing to not see Oxenfree II take advantage here. Ultimately, it discourages us from wanting to take part in any side activities as traversal became such a chore - especially as it interrupted conversations, too.

Occasionally floaty controls fed into this frustration, too. There are plenty of occasions where you need to be in the exact right spot before interacting, otherwise, Riley will end up doing something you didn’t intend. There are a few fast-paced sections where this drawback became extremely apparent, resulting in quick scrambles through the environment becoming a frustration rather than a tense set piece.

Message received

Without diving into too many details, Oxenfree II deals with much more heavy topics than I was expecting to come across. Each character has a backstory to uncover, with motives and emotional trauma to unpack.

Whether it’s the reason for Riley’s return to Camina, Jacob’s needs as a friend, or the real motivations behind the teenagers at Parentage, there are lots of individual personal mysteries that will keep players engaged throughout the story.

What’s more, these narrative threads mostly manage to stick the landing, too. Eagle-eyed players might be able to spot the twists from a mile off, but I found myself genuinely surprised and taken aback by much of what Oxenfree II had up its sleeve in the latter half of the story.

As eluded to, while online advice reckons that you can play Oxenfree II without playing the first, I’d go as far as to say that it’s essential reading. Otherwise, much of the ending will lose its emotional weight and meaning.

Regardless, fans of the Oxenfree gameplay loop will have a blast here, and the story certainly opens itself up to many playthroughs to see all of the hidden endings.

The Verdict

All in all, Oxenfree II: Lost Signals provides an experience that fans of the original will no doubt love. With refined gameplay features and a truly stunning presentation, there’s a lot here to keep fans of the genre happy for hours.

However, a few technical issues and new-generation oversights keep Oxenfree II from being a game that truly stands out from the crowd, which is disappointing given the rest of its potential.

3.5/5

Reviewed on PS5. Code provided by the publisher.