Oxenfree. (Gaming)
by cheapLEY 
, Saturday, January 16, 2016, 21:05 (3234 days ago)
I know we had some Life is Strange fans in here, so I figured I'd throw out a recommendation for Oxenfree.
I've only played for about two hours, so I can't definitively say it's great or worth playing or if the story pays off in the end. What I can say is that after two hours I'm absolutely enamored with everything about it. There's not much actual gameplay besides just walking around and exploring the island that you're on, but the writing is good (in that it reasonably depicts teenagers, much like Life is Strange did), and the atmosphere is just vaguely creepy and mysterious enough to really have me enthralled.
I suspect some are probably pretty tired of this sort of walk around, have conversations, don't really do anything style of game, but as someone who was only really introduced to them with Life is Strange (and then Tales from the Borderlands), I'm loving Oxenfree. It doesn't do anything groundbreaking, but so far it's been unique enough to seem new and different. Also, the conversation system presented here is pretty neat, I think. You have conversations while you're walking around, rather than stopping and being stuck in a conversation menu. You can interrupt the other characters. It all seems much more natural than in something like Life is Strange where the NPCs just stand around waiting an eternity for you to pick your dialogue.
I'll definitely post an update in this thread once I've finished it within the next couple of days.
Looks like if John Hughes did Paranormal Activity.
by Funkmon , Saturday, January 16, 2016, 21:49 (3234 days ago) @ cheapLEY
Looks like I'll be watching some Let's Plays. Can't afford that $20.
I lied. Playing it. Liking it. Recorded a boring Let's Play.
by Funkmon , Saturday, January 16, 2016, 23:52 (3233 days ago) @ Funkmon
In about 5 hours, that video will work.
I like the talking while walking around doing stuff. It's very cool, so you don't feel like you're wasting your time talking to anybody since you just get it on the way. That being said, the game appears to be largely designed for that, so walking anywhere takes a long time. If you make some wrong turns and the conversation's already run out, the game becomes dull. I also don't really like the art style.
And the conversations aren't realistic, but they do have personality, which is something nice. I don't have a problem with seemingly one sided characters, like Lara Croft in the new Tomb Raiders, whose only real thing is to help people, and, if possible, find tombs, but in a game like this, where the gameplay is there largely as a vehicle for the conversations amongst the people, it's important that they have character. And they do, though the characters don't make a lot of sense to me at this point, and I hate Ren. Me and Jonas are BFFs though. He might not know it yet, but we totally are.
I lied. Playing it. Liking it. Recorded a boring Let's Play.
by cheapLEY , Sunday, January 17, 2016, 00:28 (3233 days ago) @ Funkmon
I also don't really like the art style.
): The art style is a huge selling point for me. I adore it.
And they do, though the characters don't make a lot of sense to me at this point, and I hate Ren. Me and Jonas are BFFs though. He might not know it yet, but we totally are.
Ditto to all that. Ren is almost on Warren's level. Omg, Warren. It all makes sense, now. Fuck, I hate Warren.
How far have you played so far? I haven't played yet tonight, but am going to here pretty soon (I have to watch the Packers hopefully stomp all over the Cardinals first, although that's not looking great right now). I really enjoyed the first encounter with the supernatural stuff (I guess it's only the first encounter if you go to Ren first), the whole section that culminates with you playing around with the soccer ball (which doesn't sound very creepy when described like that, even though it totally is).
I lied. Playing it. Liking it. Recorded a boring Let's Play.
by Funkmon , Sunday, January 17, 2016, 10:28 (3233 days ago) @ cheapLEY
edited by Funkmon, Sunday, January 17, 2016, 10:46
Well, I went to the cave and talked to the sentient triangle first. Very very cool. Then we talked to Ren and Clarissa, and I went to see Clarissa first because she had a radio and I hope Ren dies. We played a game of Jonas gets possessed trivia hangman with scary eyes guy, then talked to myself in the mirror, then Clarissa killed herself, then we went to go see Ren. Then we played soccer. That sequence was a bit irritating, but overall not unfun.
But honestly. Whose dad doesn't tell his son that the woman he is moving in with had a kid die? What is wrong with that dad?
Anyway, I JUST got to Ren and I decided to quit. I'm 90 minutes in.
Related: the prefix step is related to the old term for bereavement, and used to be attached to orphans. They were called step children, as in grieving children, since their parents died. Stepfather, stepmother, stepson and stepdaughter were used to explain an orphan brought into a new family. Stepbrother and sister are also present. Old Norse had neat shortened versions, like stjúpa for stepmother, some of which have survived into modern Icelandic.
Seems you played it quicker than I did, and I didn't really explore all that much. It took me almost two hours to get to Ren, and I went to him first.
I really enjoyed. Almost as much as Life is Strange. As you said, relationships can develop a lot more than I expected.
I didn't let Clarissa die. Would have no question if it would have been Ren, though. I'm probably going to play it one more time and play around with the conversations and the decisions.
I also didn't explore much. I found a letter and missed some photos, I think. Killing Clarissa wasn't about not liking her, honestly. I was just thinking if I was in that situation and talking to ghosts, my first offer would be to let them take all of my friends and leave me alone. They clearly have the power, and the rest of the stuff we were working with was iffy. The fact is, I don't have a single friend I wouldn't sell out to ghosts. No problem.
I guess I can get that.
I can't say I wouldn't do the same. In a real life situation, I'd have probably given Clarissa up in a second, considering she's not even really Alex's friend, just some pissy girl her brother used to date. I'd probable nope the hell out and let the ghosties have her.
Finished it. Highlight of the game for me: *very short VID*
by Funkmon , Sunday, January 17, 2016, 13:16 (3233 days ago) @ cheapLEY
I guessed right after I unpaused the game, and got it correct. Noice.
At the end, I did something only 3% of players did (I killed the hell out of Clarissa), which is weird because I felt very strongly about it. The game took me three and a half hours to complete, but I think for some people it will have a lot of replay value, since you can explore different relationships with the people you're with.
I don't get Russel. Laughed at Tim, though.
by ZackDark , Not behind you. NO! Don't look., Sunday, January 17, 2016, 13:55 (3233 days ago) @ Funkmon
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Russel -> rustle -> sound paper bags make.
by Funkmon , Sunday, January 17, 2016, 14:05 (3233 days ago) @ ZackDark
Also works with "who sleeps in a pile of leaves" or "who hides in bushes."
What do you call a one legged woman?
Eileen.
What do you call a man with no arms and legs in a lake?
Bob.
What do you call a man who has been struck by lightning?
Rod.
What do you call a man who comes through the mailflap?
Bill.
What do you call a man who hangs out between buildings?
Ali.
What do you call a man who loves editing school essays?
Mark.
What do you call a man who is always under his car?
Jack.
It goes on. They're all pretty awful.
I really liked all of them
by ZackDark , Not behind you. NO! Don't look., Sunday, January 17, 2016, 14:53 (3233 days ago) @ Funkmon
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Thanks for posting this. I'll play it. The next game I'm playing, though, is Gone Home. I've been looking forward to it for while.
I just finished Oxenfree. Gone Home is probably next for me.
I'm going to try it, but I don't think I'll like it.
by Funkmon , Monday, January 18, 2016, 04:41 (3232 days ago) @ Kermit
I'm all for adventure games like Oxenfree or Choose Your Own Adventure games like Tales From The Borderlands or Life Is Strange, but Gone Home seems just tremendously dull, like a freeware game from the early nineties. Explore a house, discover clues about your family through snooping. Yikes. It was extremely well reviewed, though, so I am going to try it.
I'm going to try it, but I don't think I'll like it.
by Korny , Dalton, Ga. US. Earth, Sol System, Monday, January 18, 2016, 05:23 (3232 days ago) @ Funkmon
I'm all for adventure games like Oxenfree or Choose Your Own Adventure games like Tales From The Borderlands or Life Is Strange, but Gone Home seems just tremendously dull, like a freeware game from the early nineties. Explore a house, discover clues about your family through snooping. Yikes. It was extremely well reviewed, though, so I am going to try it.
That's the issue with folks and expectations/hype. Gone Home is not a "video game", it's a short story; a visual novella that is told best through an interactive medium. It's very difficult to describe, but if you go into it hoping to be entertained, you're going to totally miss the point, and be disappointed. I guess you could say that it is "tremendously dull", but that's looking at it from a gaming perspective, which you shouldn't be.
if you go into it hoping to be entertained, you're going to totally miss the point, and be disappointed. I guess you could say that it is "tremendously dull", but that's looking at it from a gaming perspective, which you shouldn't be.
Definitely not going to play it. Sounds absolutely awful. Why would anyone do anything like this if it isn't entertaining?
Well that settles it then.
by Korny , Dalton, Ga. US. Earth, Sol System, Monday, January 18, 2016, 23:15 (3231 days ago) @ Funkmon
if you go into it hoping to be entertained, you're going to totally miss the point, and be disappointed. I guess you could say that it is "tremendously dull", but that's looking at it from a gaming perspective, which you shouldn't be.
Definitely not going to play it. Sounds absolutely awful. Why would anyone do anything like this if it isn't entertaining?
That's on par with saying "why read a book that doesn't have any pictures?"
It's a story told through the interactive medium only available in video games.
It's a great story, and the more you take in, the more you explore and extrapolate, the richer the experience.
I'd give Gone Home a 5/5 for what it is, but action-packed FPS, it is not.
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if you go into it hoping to be entertained, you're going to totally miss the point, and be disappointed. I guess you could say that it is "tremendously dull", but that's looking at it from a gaming perspective, which you shouldn't be.
Definitely not going to play it. Sounds absolutely awful. Why would anyone do anything like this if it isn't entertaining?
That's on par with saying "why read a book that doesn't have any pictures?"
Because it's entertaining.
It's a story told through the interactive medium only available in video games.
Sounds entertaining.
It's a great story, and the more you take in, the more you explore and extrapolate, the richer the experience.
Sounds entertaining.
I'd give Gone Home a 5/5 for what it is, but action-packed FPS, it is not.
So should I be entertained or not?
So which is it?
by narcogen 
, Andover, Massachusetts, Tuesday, January 19, 2016, 10:34 (3231 days ago) @ Funkmon
I'd give Gone Home a 5/5 for what it is, but action-packed FPS, it is not.
So should I be entertained or not?
I think posters are backing off the word "entertaining" because it often gets equated to "fun" when it comes to playing games.
It's like talking about horror movies or games. They're supposed to scare you. Is being scared "fun" or "entertaining"? No, not really, but some people still seek out those experiences and get something out of them.
I think people are saying that Gone Home can be a worthwhile experience if approached with the right mindset, but trying to extract the same kind of entertainment or fun you can get from Halo or Destiny might result in disappointment.
When you select dialogue, sometimes Alex's face will appear in a speech bubble from the person you're talking to. I'm not sure if it's just indicating like/dislike of whatever you just said. That's what it seems, but it's so small I can see if there's a difference in expression or something to know if it means one or other, or if you're not supposed to know and it just indicates that you have affected that character somehow, but you're not supposed to know specifically how.
Has anyone figured it out?