OXENFREE II: Lost Signals Review

If you are a fan of slightly spooky and unsettling story driven games then I cannot praise the OXENFREE game series highly enough. OXENFREE II: Lost Signals is the second game to the series developed by Night School Studios and published by Netflix. It’s a direct sequel to the first game continuing the story of the supernatural occurrences on Edwards Island. There’s ghosts, time rifts and freaky voices that only communicate through radio frequencies. If any of this sounds like your kind of thing, we guarantee you’ll adore this game.

Our protagonists this time are Riley Poverly, an environmental researcher who has returned to her hometown of Camena for work, and Jacob Summers, a handyman who still lives in the town. Recently, bizarre radio frequencies have been playing havoc with the towns’ electronic equipment.  It is Riley and Jacob’s job to investigate this strange phenomenon and in doing so, discover the dark history of the nearby Edwards Island and even come face to face with a mysterious cult who are purposefully trying to open a new rift.

For those who have previously played OXENFREE you’ll notice that the gameplay style and mechanics work in a similar way for this game too. The game focuses heavily on choice based dialogue and its iconic radio frequency mechanic. This feature was such a unique and memorable aspect from the first game that I was delighted to see it brought back a second time. You can tune into different radio frequencies to discover some quite cryptic and creepy broadcasts as you’re walking through the map. And trust me, there’s a whole lot of walking and trekking back and forth in these games, so having something like this to occupy your time as well as develop your knowledge of hidden story elements is a fantastic addition. 

And now in this game, there’s also a Walkie Talkie function that you can use to chat with various NPC’s as you’re hiking your way through Camena. You can use these contacts to ask for information if you get stuck, find out extra story elements or ignore this feature entirely. The same with the radio, it can be great for keeping you occupied but if you forget about it, it won’t negatively impact your gameplay. Having fun extras like this is perfect for those of us who like absorbing every aspect of a story, and by making it an optional extra, it won’t detract from the main gameplay. Speedrunners rejoice!

I couldn’t write about OXENFREE without commenting on how the game looks and sounds. It’s beautiful. Beautifully foreboding that is. The dark greens, blues and greys of the colour palette, and the sharply drawn trees and cliff faces are terribly eerie. Your player character, Riley, stands out in her bold yellow jacket against the jagged rock faces and murky grey skies almost like a beacon, attracting bad news her way. Every new path you take makes you feel like something terrifying is about to happen. And of course, the glitchy jump scares and melancholic music adds to that feeling. Fans of the score for Stranger Things will definitely appreciate the uncanny music of OXENFREE II. 

If you are looking for a little something to get your blood pumping without scaring the pants off yourself, I’d 100% recommend this title. OXENFREE focuses more on the unsettling and eerie feeling of a thriller rather than that of a full on horror game. There isn’t any combat and all the enemies you face might appear scary, but you can’t die from them. If someone is looking for an introduction into horror games I’d say start here. You won’t be disappointed.

OXENFREE II: Lost Signals Fact Sheet