Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Gaming

Digital Trends may earn a commission when you buy through links on our site. Why trust us?

Oxenfree II: Lost Signals is much more than a “part two”

Andrew Zucosky
By

When you return to your childhood home, or back to the park you used to go to in college, is it the same experience you originally had? They are the same places, and to your knowledge, they look exactly the same. But now that you have more experience, are wiser (hopefully), and possibly a little grayer, retreading old grounds will always be different.

Oxenfree II: Lost Signals - Announce Trailer | PS5, PS4

That’s what Night School Studios kept in mind for the sequel to Oxenfree, which is aptly named Oxenfree II: Lost Signals. The developers held a preview event to show off small bits of the upcoming game and spoke about its themes and what it is like going back to a game world they initially had no intention of returning to.

Riley and Jacob underground.
Image used with permission by copyright holder

A different aesthetic

When watching the hands-off preview for the upcoming indie game, I got to see the island where the story will take place, as well as two of the major characters in the game: Riley and Jacob, the former of which is playable. Right off the bat, the game’s aesthetic will be instantly familiar to anyone who had experience with the original Oxenfree. However, the developers added a lot of subtle changes to the game to make it feel more modern and different. Parallax scrolling in the background makes moving through the island more cinematic. The attention to detail in the environments themselves and the introduction of the radio communicator that allows Riley to talk to various people on the island also help change up the formula up. All of these aspects let Lost Signals be its own game on its own terms.

Recommended Videos

When thinking about making a sequel, Night School Studios did not want to have the cast of the original game become a “Scooby-Doo gang” and travel around solving different paranormal mysteries. The characters and stories did not have to be the same, though the core pillars of the first Oxenfree will be found in its sequel. The Oxenfree series is a coming-of-age story for characters at a pivotal point in their lives, with paranormal spookiness and some weird stuff sprinkled in along the way. That holds true in the sequel, even with its tweaks.

Dialogue options in Oxenfree II.
Image used with permission by copyright holder

A new perspective

Instead of following Alex and the other characters from the first game, Lost Signals will mainly follow Riley. She is unique compared to Alex and the other members of his group in that she is not a child, but in fact in her 30s. Throughout the game, Riley will have a unique perspective on the events that are unfolding around her, as she is not a bright-eyed child seeing things for the first time. She has experience under her belt, which allows her to look back on her life to determine where it should go from here.

This is something that the developers wanted to really focus on: Having characters that are going through transitional parts of their lives make important decisions. That’s a rich vein to mine from, and the developers want players to be in a position to make important choices during their playthrough. Riley helps with this by already being a fully grown person who is going through her second major life change. Even if the player does not have the full context, her choices and actions still have the weight of her past on them.

Sequels to media can usually feel like something that could be stapled onto the original, like an expansion or a literal “part two.” However, Night School Studio wants the sequel to be an extension or an addition, to be its own stand-alone story, even if the foundation was solidly built by the original game. It may feel very similar at times, but with the benefit of time and experience, it will feel like an original story all on its own.

Oxenfree 2: Lost Signals is set to launch sometime in 2022 for PC, PlayStation 4, PS5, and Nintendo Switch.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Andrew Zucosky
Andrew Zucosky
Andrew has been playing video games since he was a small boy, and he finally got good at them like a week ago. He has been in…
Sony says The Last of Us Part II will be ‘most accessible game yet’
Ellie from The Last of Us Part II.

When The Last of Us Part II launches on June 19, it promises to offer more accessibility features than any game ever released.

Developer Naughty Dog said in a blog post on Tuesday that The Last of Us Part II will ship with more than 60 accessibility features "focused on fine-motor and hearing, as well as completely new features that benefit low-vision and blind players." The company's lead systems designer Matthew Gallant said this is part of a broader push to increase the number of people who can play the game.

Read more
Last of Us Part II may face ban in some Middle East countries. But why?
Last of Us Part II

As the world prepares for the launch of The Last of Us Part II on June 19, people living in at least two Middle East countries may be out of luck.

The Last of Us Part II is unavailable in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), despite being available for pre-order in the U.S. and dozens of other countries. Reddit users first discovered the conspicuous omission earlier this month, which Digital Trends has since confirmed. As of this writing, Sony still hasn't updated its store with pre-order options for those nations.

Read more
How to beat the Green Monster of the Swamp in Lies of P
The green monster of the swamp in a swamp.

People are drawn to challenging games like Lies of P for a variety of reasons. Some enjoy the atmosphere, the storytelling, the exploration, and more, but for many, it is the bosses that make or break the experience. Without a doubt, Lies of P delivers on providing the kinds of challenging bosses fans of other soulslike games are after, but some may push things a bit too far. By the time you've reached the Barren Swamp, the game fully expects you to have mastered all the mechanics, weapons, Legion Arms, and more. At this point, you will be faced with the Green Monster of the Swamp. This boss's patterns are incredibly hard to read, plus it can inflict you with Decay if you're not careful. If this creature from the swamp is giving you grief, here's how to best this foul beast in Lies of P.
Green Monster of the Swamp strategy

The Green Monster of the Swamp fight will have two phases, the first of which it will bear the normal name. To most easily counter this form, you will want a Legion Arm or weapon that can deal fire damage, which is its elemental weakness. For yourself, equip something like the Defense Parts that buff your resistances, as well as Attribute Resistant Ampoules and Purification Ampoules to counter any Decay.

Read more