Oxenfree II: Misplaced Alerts performs one thing like a thematic flip of its glorious 2016 predecessor. The place the unique sport adopted a teen named Alex and a gaggle of her buddies on a coming-of-age journey that had the group confronting a nebulous future, Misplaced Alerts finds 30-something Riley Poverly feeling caught in maturity and returning again to her childhood residence, the mining city of Camena, as a way to “begin over.”
It’s an attention-grabbing flip on the same old coming-of-age story that makes the sequel really feel refreshing, but acquainted—it’s not merely retreading the identical floor with a brand new group of teenagers. As somebody who’s experiencing a midlife disaster as his thirties are quickly barreling down on him, Riley’s dilemma resonated with me. She wonders if she’s made the fitting decisions in life, in addition to questioning the affect she’s had on the folks and the world round her.
Riley and her outdated highschool acquaintance, Jacob, are given the task of going round Camena and inserting antennas to trace the unusual indicators which have been interfering with digital tools all through city. No sooner do they place the primary one than one thing unusual occurs on Edwards Island, the setting of the primary sport—they usually go to research. Though Misplaced Alerts is meant to be a standalone story, I might extremely suggest enjoying the unique sport first as a way to perceive why Edwards Island is so vital. In any other case, you would possibly really feel misplaced proper off the bat. (Even Camena was briefly seen within the authentic sport’s secret ending, although it’s enormously expanded on right here.) Technically, sure, Riley’s story is her personal. Nonetheless, it’s stuffed with references to the occasions of the primary sport, and characters from it make appearances as nicely. You’ll miss a lot context for those who don’t at the least play the earlier sport as soon as.
All of this performs out in scrolling 2D gameplay, as you navigate Riley by way of the attractive hand-drawn environments of Camena and past. You’ll sometimes have to unravel easy environmental puzzles by tuning Riley’s radio to match sure frequencies, and the occasional alternative to enterprise off the overwhelmed path in quest of collectibles lends the motion a little bit of an journey platformer vibe.
Nonetheless, Misplaced Alerts is arguably extra of a visible novel than an journey sport, and also you’ll spend a lot of your time partaking in conversations and selecting between varied dialogue choices. The sorts of solutions you select will affect the ending. Whereas a dialog about dad and mom may appear minuscule, the best way that Riley chooses to reply has colossal ramifications in a while. Will you act mean-spirited and dismiss different folks’s considerations? Or will you present kindness all through the journey and have favors repaid down the road?
It’s not lengthy earlier than Riley and Jacob’s investigation into the mysterious indicators haunting Camena begins to threaten their sanity. Together with different anomalies, phantoms with purple eyes seem immediately out of nowhere, talking in cryptic messages and fragmented sentences, with phrases separated by static, invoking an uneasy feeling everytime you encounter them.
Naturally, witnessing such inexplicable horrors places them on edge, and I cherished the nonchalant dialogue between them as they tried to maintain themselves from dropping their minds. It’s shocking how entertaining it’s to listen to two folks simply discussing whether or not libraries ought to deliver again late charges for overdue books.
However this isn’t all simply idle chit-chat. For one factor, Jacob’s dynamic with Riley makes their interactions as revealing as they’re entertaining. He’s totally different from her in that he’s by no means identified life outdoors Camena, but additionally much like her within the sense that they’re each looking for their function in life. And secondly, the best way Riley responds to Jacob and different characters will have an effect on the ending. For instance, If Riley is overly impolite to Jacob or ignores his makes an attempt to bond, then he may not observe her to the top. The conversations circulation extremely nicely—all of them sound pure and reasonable, because of the wonderful script and phenomenal voice appearing.
Misplaced Alerts can be significantly better paced than its predecessor, with occasions delving far more shortly into the ghostly and supernatural in a method that grabs your consideration and retains you hooked. It does this, although, with out sacrificing the quiet moments that helped make the primary sport so charming, with the banter between Riley and Jacob as they search for locations to place down their antennas capturing a lot the identical feeling of Alex and her buddies riffing off of one another within the authentic.
One small however vital enchancment over the primary sport is the person interface. Whereas enjoying Oxenfree, I keep in mind being confused that the B button on my Pleasure-Cons was used to set off an motion as there was no indication of that. In Misplaced Alerts, strolling as much as interactable objects like a ledge will present an enormous fats B with a circle round it, and equally, different face buttons now seem when selecting between dialogue choices.
Misplaced Alerts makes glorious use of time-travel components as nicely. Like Alex within the earlier sport, Riley will expertise time loops all through the story, giving us a glimpse into Camena’s darkish previous. Misplaced Alerts generally has puzzles the place Riley should tune her radio’s frequency to match a tear in space-time, ripping it open and entering into the previous. A caved-in tunnel would possibly block Riley’s path, for example, however by turning again time, she will soar to a interval the place it doesn’t. It makes for a really compelling gameplay mechanic much like Titanfall 2’s time gauntlet. I simply want it had been used extra typically.
The brand new main antagonist, a cult known as Parentage, tries to use Camena’s supernatural phenomena like time journey and house portals for its personal ambitions. As a result of Misplaced Alerts’ tone is extra unsettling than scary, Parentage isn’t engaged within the sorts of really grisly enterprise you would possibly get from one thing like Resident Evil’s Umbrella Company. The truth is, all through the sport, as you come throughout murals devoted to the cult, Jacob will even touch upon how the group simply appears a bit too desirous about astrology and seem slightly innocent.
Because the story progresses, although, Riley and Jacob be taught that Parentage’s members are extra misguided than they’re sinister. Nonetheless, the group’s strategies nonetheless put lives in danger. Somewhat than simply being unhealthy for the sake of being unhealthy, Parentage finally ends up being a vital avenue of delivering Misplaced Alerts’ themes of loss and craving. Parentage’s targets act as a distinction to Riley’s. Whereas Riley is grappling with the results of her previous selections and combating learn how to transfer ahead in life, some members of Parentage are unable to let go of their very own previous and need to relive a sure second time and again.
Whereas I received’t go into spoilers, these themes are exemplified nicely within the sport’s totally different endings. The informal conversations between Riley and Jacob as they discover Camena collectively function a foreshadowing of their fates. Jacob yearns to be remembered for one thing that issues. Riley has a lot to sit up for sooner or later, however can she let go of her previous so as to take action? As Parentage’s motivations turned clearer over the course of the story, I truly discovered myself sympathizing with its members. Ultimately, I truly wound up giving them what they wished.
Maybe it was my want to return and relive my youthful days that made me facet with them. Many video games function sympathetic villains, however I by no means would proactively facet with them. Nonetheless, Misplaced Alerts succeeded in making me achieve this.
Whereas Oxenfree II: Misplaced Alerts isn’t an overhaul in comparison with its predecessor, it didn’t should be. It tells a wonderful story with a solid of well-developed characters, and the smaller adjustments are what assist outline the sequel. Higher pacing, smoother controls, and extra attention-grabbing gameplay concepts make it a worthy follow-up to the supernatural coming-of-age story that first graced our hearts seven years in the past.
