OXENFREE II: Lost Signals Review - Manage Your Expectations

OXENFREE is arguably one of the best indie games, at least, one of my favourites – notably for the storytelling and unique gameplay mechanics. It’d be a tough act to follow for Night School Studios to replicate that same level of love, respect, and acclaim with OXENFREE II: Lost Signals, especially when the fanbase was so infatuated with the first.

They’ve had plenty of time, though. OXENFREE II: Lost Signals was supposed to have come out last year. Why do I know this? Apart from writing about it, I too, am one of those fans and have been anticipating this for some time, though I have managed my anticipations… maturely. 

Ha! I’m human, too (mostly), and my expectations for the story and the soundtrack were high. Expectations lead to a skewed perception and, inevitably, disappointment. Yes, one of those expectations wasn’t met. I’ll tell you what that was. Like and subscribe, guys. Like and subscribe.

OXENFREE II: Lost Signals Review (PC)

OXENFREE II: Lost Signals picks up from the second story, only we play Riley Poverly, who returns to her hometown of Camena to participate in a series of weather experiments. However… Camena neighbours Edwards Island, and another series of unexplained radio signals expose her past, the community’s, and much more.

Using the same setup as before, Riley navigates Camena with the assistance of Jacob, a local whom she went to school with but doesn’t remember. He’s our tour guide, serving some well-written exposition and excellent dialogue. There’s a lot of walking, so the conversations between these two make it worthwhile.

That would be our first hurdle in OXENFREE II: Lost Signals. A map is available, with hints, from the start, but it’s easy to get lost and go the wrong way for a long time. This happened three times, and without a fast travel option, for obvious reasons, it drags if there isn’t any dialogue. I frequently wrestled with the controls on the PC when climbing ropes or walking paths. The Steam Deck was great.

Save Our Souls

Between exploring the island and conversations between the pair, Riley uses a radio to speak with other residents, a work colleague, plus many more as the story unfolds. However, some contacts are missable on the first playthrough, as are some of the collectables. Aside from the conversations, the radio is also an interactive tool to tune into radio stations, white noise and a way to communicate with the… phenomena.

Riley is as enigmatic as the narrative. At times she’s curt, indifferent – cruel even, then other times, she wears her heart on her sleeve, and her vulnerabilities are crystal clear. Still, she’s undoubtedly cool; storming up cliff faces, staring down fear, and the most challenging of all: working with teenagers.

The writing and voice talent in OXENFREE II: Lost Signals is superb. Riley was an interesting character, but Jacob was a standout, and without giving away too much, comparable to the canary you’ll stumble across at some point in the game. My reservations? The soundtrack was understated and lacked the same energy as before, but that’s a personal preference and shouldn’t affect your experience. Oh, and instead of starting a new paragraph to moan, there are no manual saves, and the autosave is poor. There have been some patches, though.

Jacob’s Crackers

This OXENFREE II: Lost Signals review is based on a review code received after the release date, but I completed my first run in less than a day – genuinely looking forward to picking up the story after last time. Another ‘advantage’ of getting this after release was reading some of the comments on Steam, notably the negative ones.

While everyone is entitled to their opinion (duh… this is my review), it’s important to appreciate that this is a different game. Whether you’ve played the first game or not, it is a standalone and self-contained story. My recommendation is to play the first OXENFREE regardless. Not only does it fill in any blanks, it does justice to the brilliant narrative and its origins.

But judging OXENFREE II: Lost Signals on the first won’t allow you to enjoy this as much. It’s like comparing Alien or Aliens – they’re the same universe, but different. This new one doesn’t introduce anything new, and there are a few technical issues, but just because the story might play out differently than you want doesn’t mean it’s bad. And for the record, I thought Jacob was an excellent, almost tragic companion essential to Riley’s journey.

Verdict

OXENFREE II: Lost Signals isn’t OXENFREE, but equally great (albeit with a musical score that’s somewhat subdued). There might have been pressure from the storytellers to go all M. Night Shyamalan and throw in twists and consulted plots for the sake of it, but besides some obvious predictions, it went very well, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It was worth the wait for the story and dialogue alone.