Who says you can't go home?

There are points in life that can feel outside of time. Maybe you're leaving one big era of your life behind and moving to the next, or maybe a big decision is causing you to escape, flee, and reassess. It's time enough for the ghosts of the past to catch up to you. And it's those fears and doubts that Night School Studio plays on again with Oxenfree II: Lost Signals.

Night School's follow-up to the 2016 adventure game Oxenfree will feel very familiar. Though it follows an older lead, it deals with m??any of the same threats. Even its geography will feel familiar, as rather than exploring Edwards Island, you're running around the mainland town of Camena.

For all its familiarity, Oxenfree II: Lost Signals still pulls off some twists, frights, and touching moments. It might not be as big of a surprise the second time around, but Oxenfree II d??oes feel like a worthwhile return for fans ??of the first.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=KI_YGza2jt8

Oxenfree II: Lost Signals (PC [reviewed], Switch, PS4/PS5, iOS, Android)
Developer: Night School Studio
Publisher: Netflix
Released: July 12, 2023
MSRP: $19.99

Riley Poverly, the lead of Oxenfree II: Lost Signals, is a bit different from Oxenfree's Alex. While the latter was dealing with high school, coming-of-age woes, Riley is older. She's returning to her ho?metown of Camena to deal with her own issues, after spending a good chunk of her life away. Some of this is freeform and left up to the player to dictate, as they choose how much of Riley's backstory they tell other characters. It's an interesting bit of tension, in whether you want to learn more by trusting someone else. Or maybe lying feels more fitting to how you play Riley.

Regardless, there are a lot of opportunities to make these choices. Oxenfree II: Lost Signals is a dialogue-heavy adventure game, and feels even chattier than its predecessor. For one, Riley has a near-constant companion in Jacob, the well-meaning but talkative coworker. Without saying too much, he's got big Golden Retriever energy. He's an interesting foil to Riley, and frequently felt like a character to role-play your vision of ??Riley around, questioning or reaffirming different personality traits.

The overall cast is much larger, though. There's the mysterious teens working under the guise of Parentage, a local cult, who seem to be encouraging the destructive events of the night along. But Riley's walkie talkie opens up a lot more conversation. As the player progresses, different channels become the residence of charact?ers who Riley can check in with as the night goes on. For the most part, you don't meet these characters in-person; they exist as voices on the other end of the line, providing little story beats and updates.

Those storylines were some of my favorite bits of Oxenfree II: Lost Signals, to be honest. An ongoing dialogue with a grizzled sailor named Nick was a highlight, and other characters like Maria and Shelley really add to the experience. I think I'm a little less keen on the general mechanism, as the need to constantly check and see if there were more dialogue options as I wandered between story beats could start to feel tedious.?? But o??verall, I thought the walkie was a solid addition.

You can (not) re-do

You might have noticed that I'm not saying much about the main story itself. Well, Oxenfree II: Lost Signals is a heavily story-driven game, and a bit on the shorter side, clocking in at about eight hours for my own playthrough. Much like its predecessor, it is bite-sized enough to knock out in a weekend, and I do genuinely enjoy that. It also makes this a hard game to talk about, without talking directly about ?its narrative twists and turns.

Riley's ??gig, as someone basically called in to set up radio transmitters to look into the anomalies that have been taking place in and around Camena, predictably goes awry. And as you could guess if you played the first, time starts to blend and meld into a haze, too. Riley isn't coming home just for?? a temp gig, and over those eight hours, you'll get at least some insight into why she came back. It's not all laid out in plain terms, but you can get a pretty good sense of where her head's at, both in conversations and in the flashbacks to her past.

It's a compelling story, possibly because I'm in a stage of life close to Riley's. A lot of Oxenfree II: Lost Signals is about that aching feeling of time encroaching back in on you. Where life once felt like it expanded out ahead with infinite possibilities, time gradually reels that scope back in. And? what you have to decide is whether you feel like those margins have truly narrowed or not.

It'??s effective. I do think it stumbles a b??it at times, especially as it starts to tie in a lot of threads. And maybe it's that late pivot into a much broader, less personal story that left me with a few lingering wrinkles after credits rolled. They're minor and don't really detract from the overall experience. Maybe it's a sign of a good story that I wanted to jump back in and answer some questions I had about how my story resolved.

Over the river and through the woods

The more noticeable rough patches were in traversal. A big part of Oxenfree II: Lost Signals isn't just all the different people you can talk to while traversing Camena, but also the ways yo?u get aro?und Camena itself. There are, vaugely, some time portal shenanigans. You can also clamber around the environment a bit, climbing up and down cliffsides. But the big new tool is a climbing anchor and rope, creating avenues for exploring and backtracking.

Some of this felt valuable, as I found some items that opened up areas later or letters from Maggie Adler, which return as a collectible. Areas in Oxenfree II are big though, and especially late-game, as I was trying to retrace steps to find collectibles and finish side stories, there were some frustrations in getting around. It would've been nice to sprint through big,? long stretches you'd already been through before. And the rope always felt a bit wonky, jittering down the c??liff. That's also where I'd run into weird moments of interaction in general. Nothing bugged out or broke my progression or anything, but it was a bit distracting at times.

I did end up enjoying the overall area of Camena, though only a few spots felt truly memorable. As much as I dug the vibes of the caves, they started to blend together as areas. They don't stick out to me as much as the big moments, like a really wonderful section set in the community center much later in the story. Oxenfree II: Lost Signals is gorgeous to look at, and the music and dreary tones—mixed with plenty of radio st??atic, of course—set the mood right.

Is leaving possible?

I've had a decent amount of time now, to wrap my head around Oxenfree II: Lost Signals. In some ways, it does feel very familiar. Riley's adventure has many of the same vibes, a few scattered puzzles mostly centered around turning knobs and dials, and plenty of moments where I made a choice and wondered how it might ripple out. But a few wrinkles and hang-ups left me feeling a bit weird after credits rolled. For those who enjoyed the first game, it's a no-brainer; but I'd also really recommend newcomers play t?he first game before che?cking this one out, too.

Oxenfree II feels like Night School returning to its roots in a way, and I think the confidence with which they do so is laudable. There's enough here that keeps true to its creepy, radio-static origins while expanding out the possibilities. The studio's style has clearly evolved in the years since, and seeing that come together back in the coastal town of Camena is exciting. It might not be the out-of-left-field surprise it was then, but Oxenfree II: Lost Signals is a solid adventure for those who can't get enough of strange frequencies and exis????tential dread.

The post Review: Oxenfree II: Lost Signals appeared first on Destructoid.

Take a breather

Gaming hasn't slowed down since 2023 began. Hit after hit after hit has ensured that cash has been?? frequently relinquished from our wallets. Fortunately, the industry is cooling down a little with these July 2023 games.

[caption id="attachment_387557" align="alignnone" width="1200"] Image via Disney Interactive[/caption]

Disney Illusion Island (Switch)

Publisher: Disney Interactive
Developer: Dlala Studios
Price: $29.99
Release Date: July 28
Trailer

Mickey Mouse is a keyblade wielder, a mascot at Disney's theme parks, and a part of the Funhouse Friends, but he hasn't been in a platformer for a long time. Thankfully, he and his pals are featured in an all-new 2D adventure on the Nintendo Switch. Developed by Dlala Studios (Battletoads), Disney Illusion Island's visuals are brimming with color. In fact, the Nintendo eShop listing states that you can "be a part of an authentic Mickey cartoon." With four-player co-op, you can bring friends and family to an island that has running, swimming, swinging, and jumping platform action along with bosses to de??feat and puzzles to solve. There are also "hidden secrets" to find along the way.

[caption id="attachment_387560" align="alignnone" width="1200"] Image via Capcom[/caption]

Exoprimal (PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PC)

Publisher: Capcom
Developer: Capcom
Price: $59.99
Release Date: July 13
Trailer

Sometimes it's cool to mix two unlikely things together. Pineapple and pizza, carrots and peanut butter, and fries with gravy are all examples of this. That's also the case with Exoprimal as it features mechs fighting massive waves of dinosaurs. The mixture perhaps shouldn't work, but the intense action of gunfire and high maneuverability of the mechs seem to work well against the rampaging dinos. There are three classes to consider as well, adding more depth to the seemingly simple gameplay. The game's coming to Xbox Game Pass, so hopefully, you can team up with y??our Xbox buddies and succeed.

[caption id="attachment_387675" align="alignnone" width="1200"] Image via Netflix[/caption]

Oxenfree II: Lost Signals (Switch, PS4, PS5, PC, Netflix)

Publisher: Netflix
Developer: Night School Studio
Price: $19.99
Release Date: July 12
Trailer

One of the most anticipated July 2023 games in the indie scene is Oxenfree II: Lost Signals. In this sci-fi follow-up, you will meet and shape the stories of those around the protagonist Riley. "Your choices impact who Riley becomes, your relationships, and the story options available to you at every turn," says Netflix on the game's Steam page.

Thankfully, for myself and others, you don't need to play the original to understand the sequel. However, Netflix suggests you'll be a?ble to "dive deeper by playing the original." You'll explore the town of Camena, will discover the strange sou??rce of radio signal disturbances, and will try to thwart the Parentage from making a new portal. It sounds like an exciting, narrative adventure full of danger and mystery.

[caption id="attachment_387677" align="alignnone" width="1200"] Image via Nintendo[/caption]

Pikmin 4 (Switch)

Publisher: Nintendo
Developer: Nintendo
Price: $59.99
Release Date: July 21
Trailer

The long-awaited Pikmin 4 finally touches down on Switch systems next month. In this adventure, you'll be creating your own explorer and, with the help of the Pikmin, rescue others like yourself. The unique spin on this sequel sees players explore a world of huge household items. Plants, benches,?? binoculars, you name it. You'll be collecting treasures and taking them to your ship as you solve environmental puzzles and have the Pikmin escort your objects safety.

The new ice Pikmin freeze enemies and immobilize them quickly. There's also a space dog named Oatchi who can take out obstacles in your way. It's not my personal cup of tea, but hopefully, the long wait for Pikmin 4 will be worth? it for fans. Let's gather in the "Forest of Hope."

[caption id="attachment_387678" align="alignnone" width="1200"] Image via Gearbox Publishing[/caption]

Remnant 2 (PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PC)

Publisher: Gunfire Games
Developer: Gearbox Publishing
Price: $49.99
Release Date: July 25
Trailer

Remnant: From the Ashes kicked ass when it released in 2019. The follow-up is hoping to continue the excellent third-person shooting gameplay. Each biome requires different gear and weapons as you approach "cunning enemies and large-scale boss battles," according to the game's Steam page. The sequel touts "endless replayability" as there are branching quest lines, lot?s of crafting option??s, and like many other live service titles, awesome loot. Gearbox Publishing says that "playthroughs will feel challenging, varied, and rewarding as players succeed against unrelenting odds." Hopefully, it will live up to the fantastic first game when it releases in July.

[caption id="attachment_387679" align="alignnone" width="1200"] Image via Thunderful Publishing[/caption]

Honorable Mentions

• Atelier Marie Remake: The Alchemist of Salburg (PS4, PS5, Switch, PC) - July 13
• Jagged Alliance 3 (PC) - July 14
• My Friendly Neighborhood (PC) - July 18
• Viewfinder (PS4, PS5, PC) - July 18
• Punch Club 2: Fast Forward (PS3, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Switch, PC)  - July 20
• The Expanse: A Telltale Series Episode 1 (PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PC via Epic Games Store) - July 27

The post Most anticipated game releases – July 2023 appeared first on Destructoid.

Spirit of the radio

Oxenfree might be a scary game, but to me, it's also a summer game. It's about the in-between parts of your life, as you move from one major milestone to the next, and all the regrets and emotions that kick up in that time. So if Oxenfree was a summer vacation ghost story, Oxenfree II: Lost Signals is a haunted summer gig.

Set five years after the first game, Oxenfree II follows Riley Poverly's return home to the coastal town of Camena. From the outset, it has a lot of summer gig vibes; you're tasked with heading to designated locations in Camena to set up radio transmitters, so that scientists can g?ather data about ?the strange radio signals happening around the area.

Obviously, this doesn't go so ??well. And what starts out as a chill job starts to feel uneasy and tense, until something paranormal and wrong ensues??????????????????????????. Phenomena occur. Portals open in the sky. Is leaving even possible?

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=RqXKb3BGVWE

Walk and talk

These are the spooky, supernatural, yet emotional and relatable feelings that drive Oxenfree, and seem to?? return?? for the sequel. While characters deal with strange occurrences, they also seem to be wrestling with their own ghosts, and navigating the former often means confronting the latter.

A big feature of Night School's work has been its walk-and-talk gameplay. You navigate aro??und Camena and its various locales, but all the while, characters still chat and respond to each other. Chat bubbles can pop up, and offer you opportunities to learn and develop as you move through the space.

[caption id="attachment_387219" align="alignnone" width="640"] Image via Night School[/caption]

Oxenfree II amps up the walk-and-talk with one of its new features: a walkie talkie. This clever addition isn't just for wordplay, but for communicating with other characters at an??y time. In the demo I played at Summer Game Fest 2023, I was able to flip between channels and chat about my surroundings with Evelyn, my point-of-contact back at base. It was a nice way to encourage me to explore a bit more, finding new objects or points of interest I could chat with Evelyn about.

It's a smart system that opens up extra dialogue, makes walking around and taking in the sights more interesting, and keeps the tangible feel of Oxenfree's tech front-and-center. A lot of Oxenfree II deals in the same tangible, analogue tech as the first game. Turning radio dials, keying into different channels, and activating your walkie has an intent behind it. You push a button, or turn a knob, and something happens. It's that feeling of continuing to turn and press, despite the strangeness of what's happening in front of you, that sells Oxenfree's tension and horror so well.

[caption id="attachment_387217" align="alignnone" width="640"] Image via Night School[/caption]

Night terrors

Of course, I might be overselling the scares of Oxenfree II. I wouldn't say it's a horror game in the sense of jump-scares or any??thing. Though, there are certainly moments where sudden cuts or shifts happen in rapid succession.

Oxenfree II has more of a surreal, creepy, supernatural vibe. It's the kind that makes you wonder if something's wrong with your TV. The style of horror that slowly seeps in ??and starts to make you question shadows, ?or wonder what's lurking just behind the purview of the screen boundaries.

[caption id="attachment_387220" align="alignnone" width="640"] Image via Night School[/caption]

There's still downtime without the scares, where Riley and her new coworker Jacob can get to know each other. I ran into a heap of wonderful little moments of sincerity and social awkwardness. If you've ever been working on a job and had a coworker?? you barely know suddenly ?ask if you believe in ghosts, this will strike a chord.

As you'd expect, the great mystery is why the radio portals are back. And of course, the looming question mark of Edwards Island, what effect the events of Oxenfree had, and how they carry over into Oxenfree II. There are some moments when you chat with people abou?t something that happened there, but otherwise, all we? have is speculation... for now.

Left of the dial

I only got to play the first 30 minutes or so of Oxenfree II: Lost Signals, but it was easily more than enough. I've enjoyed Night School's take on the narrative adventure genre, and the way the team there tackles both gameplay and writing around interesting topics. Oxenfree II, in its ?first 30, didn't disappoint on that fr??ont.

I've got a lot of questions about what awaits in Camena, and even Edwards Island. But thankfully, it's not a long wait. Oxenfree II: Lost Signals arrives on July 12 for PC, Switch, PlayStation, and the Netflix platform.

The post Oxenfree II: Lost Signals gets spookier ?and?? chattier appeared first on Destructoid.

A little look at what's new for indies this year

Nintendo aired a new Indie World Showcase today, spotlighting what's to come for independent games on the Switch. Clocking in at roughly 20 minutes, it's a neat litt?le look at what indies have in store am?id the coming months.

Really, it was a strange show. The games shown were neat, but this showcase felt a little slim when it came to firm updates. Several projects popped up that we've known about, and a lot of windows wer?e confirmed, but there was less in the way of hard dates.

Still, there were some surprises, as always. And even a few "out later today" appearances, which are always a highlight. I'll also just pre-emptively say this now: sorry Silksong sickos, but no news.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=brNLmMMB-J4

Without further ado, let's get into the recap.

Everything shown at the Nintendo Indie World Showcase for April 2023

• The show kicks off with Mineko's Night Market, a charming shop sim with absolutely gorgeous graphics. I love the vibes here, and the minigames combined with running the stall make it seem like this could be a pleasant little slice-of-life game with some rural, spiritual vibes. That's out on September 26, 2023.

[caption id="attachment_374418" align="alignnone" width="640"] Image via Nintendo / Meowza Games[/caption]

• Farming and mining game My Time at Sandrock, the follow-up from the My Time at Portia team, is slated for a Switch port in summer 2023.
• Chaotic co-op restaurant game Plate Up! is already a blast on PC, but Switch players will get to hop into the ever-evolving sim later this year. It's aiming to hit Nintendo Switch sometime in October 2023.
• Quilts and Cats of Calico is adapted from real-life tabletop game Calico. It also simulates a very real reality of cats walking all over your tabletop games. Still, fans of feline friends and Clubhouse Games may find something to enjoy here. That arrives sometime in fall 2023.
• Rift of the Necrodancer was a not-so-surprising hit from my time at PAX East 2023, and we got some looks at the different musical bouts and mechanics coming to the rhythm game sometime this year.

[caption id="attachment_341528" align="alignnone" width="640"] Image via Brace Yourself Games[/caption]

• We're kicking off a DLC addition-specific section with A Little to the Left DLC coming in June. The premium DLC will add 25 new messes to the game, and it looks to be a little more tactile.
• Shovel Knight Pocket Dungeon gets the Puzzler's Pack DLC for free this spring, with some new characters and hats.
• Cult of the Lamb ushers in the Relics of the Old Faith DLC on April 24. I played a little of this at PAX East, and it certainly offers more of what Cult of the Lamb does: creepy-cute animals and intense combat, with a hearty side of base-building.
• YouTube's Dunkey arrives to introduce Animal Well, an indie project under his Bigmode publishing label that's aiming for early 2024. Even before the pickup, this curious puzzler was on my radar, so I'm looking forward to seeing what mysteries the final version holds.

[caption id="attachment_374416" align="alignnone" width="640"] Image via Nintendo / Shared Memory[/caption]

• The surprise hit of the showcase for me is Crime O'Clock, a game that's a little hard to discern from gameplay alone. It seems like you travel through different areas and times, attempting to solve mysteries. Both the art style and general concept intrigue me, and I'm curious to see how it all comes together on June 30.
• Both Teslagrad 2 and a remastered version of Teslagrad are out today, for those who want some immediate exploration in their lives.
• Shadows Over Loathing has a digital version out today, with a physical version planned for the fall.
• The dark and grim sequel Blasphemous 2 is looking to hack, slash, rip and tear this summer.

[caption id="attachment_374417" align="alignnone" width="640"] Image via Nintendo / The Game Kitchen[/caption]

• Oxenfree II: Lost Signals resurfaces with a firm release date of July 12, 2023. Easily one of my most anticipated indie launches this year.
• And now we're into the montage. The pretty game Paper Trail leads off with an August 2023 window.
• The adorably named Little Kitty, Big City continues the virtual cat trend sometime in 2024.
• I couldn't glean much from the trailer for Chants of Sennaar, but I was pretty intrigued by it. That's arriving on September 5.
• The action-heavy Brotato will hit Switch sometime in 2023.
• Escape Academy: The Complete Edition brings virtual escape rooms to the handheld system in fall 2023.
• Five Nights at Freddy's: Security Breach is available later today, for those who want their animatronic scares on the go.
• Lastly, a surprise date for Bomb Rush Cyberfunk closes out the montage portion. Maybe I'm biased, as someone very much looking forward to Team Reptile's title, but this August 18 release date felt like it deserved more fanfare.

The post Everything shown at ??the April 2023 Nintendo Indie World Sho?wcase appeared first on Destructoid.

Spirits of the radio

A spooky summertime adventure is in store for July. Night School Studio's Oxenfree II: Lost Signals is scheduled to launch on July 12, 2023.

The follow-up to 2016's Oxenfree sees protagonist Riley Poverly return to her hometown in Camena. As a newly hired research assistant, ?she's investigating the local phenomena that's been interfering with electronics and radios. Her job is to set up radio transmitters around certain areas and report the data. Should be easy, right?

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7AJBSII0Q8

Well, get a cult and some spirits involved, and you've got a long night ahead. Much like the first Oxenfree, choices will shape your story and future, as you deal with the strange oddities creating all these disturbances. As shown in a trailer d??uring today's Nintendo Indie World Showcase, things may not always go as planned.

All the outs in free

Oxenfree II sees Night School returning to the spooky 2016 adventure, following 2019's partying romp through the underworld in Afterparty and a few other projects.

Meanwhile, it's also Night School's newest project under Netflix, as the studio was acquired by the streaming giant in 2021. It's nice to?? see that the acquisition didn't cancel the studio's plans for a sequel at the time.

It's exciting to see Oxenfree II get a date locked in, and to have it during the summer too. Sure, the original was released in January 2016, but it's a distinctly "summer" game to me. It's about a bunch of angsty, worrying teens on their final summer vacation, and absolutely worth your time ahead of the sequel's launch. And with a July launch, the sequel is also thankfully av??oiding ?the traffic jam of games in June.

Oxenfree II: Lost Signals hits Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PS5, PC via Steam, a?nd the Netflix platform on July 12, 2023.

The post Oxenfree II: Lost Signals tunes into some otherworldly myster?ies this July appeared first on Destructoid.

A little more time to tune in

Over the weekend, Night School Studio confirmed it needs a little extra time for its next Oxenfree entry. Oxenfree II: Lost Signals has been delayed to 2023.

"To make Oxenfree II truly special and add more localizations, we're moving our release window to 2023," said the studio on social media. "Thank you for your patience, support, and un?derstanding, We can't wait to share the game with you. Stay tuned!"

Originally revealed as a stinger in a 2021 Nintendo Indie World Showcase, Oxenfree II has been pushed back a few times. The follow-up to 2016's surprise horror hit Oxenfree se??ems to need just a little more time to come together.

If you haven't got around to the first Oxenfree though, there is some good news. Netflix subscribers can now play Oxenfree: Netflix Edition on their phones via the Netflix app.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_PACN9W370

Somewhere further down the dial

While it's a bummer for anyone who's been eagerly awaiting the next slice of Oxenfree, hopefully this makes the work come together for Night School. The original Oxenfree was incredible, and I enjoyed the unique twists and mechanics of Afterparty as well.

Night School itself has been busy, too. The studio was purchased by Netflix roughly a year ago today. This is certainly a studio that can bring some storytelling power to Netflix's gaming selection.

I'm eager to see what's been going on with the island and how Oxenfree II carries on the story five years later. Our preview made it sound like it was coming together, and hopefully a little extra time helps Night School ??br?ing it all home.

Oxenfree II: Lost Signals is p?lanned for a 2023 launch on PlayS??tation consoles, Nintendo Switch, and PC.

The post Oxenfree II: Lost Signals has?? been delayed in?to 2023 appeared first on Destructoid.

The future is lookin' bright for narrative games

So, that's another year of summer game announcements on the book. There are a few more streams on the horizon, but for now, we've gotten a taste of just about all of the upcoming games we can handle. Developers threw what felt like an endless stream of new titles at us, and while a lot of ??the space horror game??s kind of blurred together after a while, there were plenty of titles that stuck out to me as games I'd be looking forward to the most. Naturally, most of them are narrative games, and so for my sake and yours, I decided to compile a list of what I think are the best-looking narrative games that were highlighted these past few days/weeks.

Keep in mind that some of these don't advertise the story being the cen?tral mechanic or the main focus of the game, but the narrative looked intriguing enough that it's one of the features that drew me to it the most. Whatever, it's my list and I'll do what I want.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xmx0w-eAoTk

The Invincible �Annihilation meets Firewatch

This one kind of came out of nowhere, and it was one of the most pleasant surprises of the weekend for me. Based on the influential 1964 hard sci-fi novel of the same name, The Invincible follows?? a scientist named Yasna as she at??tempts to piece together what happened to a lost crew on a hostile alien planet. The premise alone doesn't sound like anything to write home about, but the trailer sent a chill down my spine.

I consider myself a pretty voracious reader, so hearing that we're getting a game based on a novel definitely makes my ears perk up. The trailer had a slow-paced sense of dread that really works, and while I haven't read The Invincible, I imagine it captures the feeling of the novel quite well. I just finished reading the first book in the Southern Reach trilogy, Annihilation, and I think the trailer we saw captured a similar sense of awe m??ixed with h??orror.

Like I said, I had never heard of The Invincible before I saw the gameplay trailer ?during the PC Gaming Showcase, but now it might just be the one game I'm looking forward to t??he most.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=xpT-74avAR0

Oxenfree II: Lost Signals �a return to an old favorite

This is one of the games I was fortunate enough to play a preview of for the Tribeca Games Fest this weekend, and I am pleased to report that it's everything I want from an Oxenfree sequel, considering the first one is one of my favorite narrative games of all?? time. It's got the same spooky flair and atmosphere you'd expect from the series, but one of the thing??s I'm most excited about is seeing the series move away from a cast of teenagers to a protagonist in her 30s.

The new player character Riley is returning home and dealing with her past after being away for a long while, which I think is a cool direction to move in after the first game was about high schoolers trying to figure out their places in the world. I've done a lot of growing up myself since I played the first Oxenfree, so having each game relate to me at different parts in my life is a pretty cool thing. I'm looking forward to the creepy, sentimental rollercoaster ride that Oxenfree II: Lost Signals is likely to be.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=zBgA7zRbhKY

American Arcadia �The Truman Show with a twist

I'm not gonna lie �I love The Truman Show. When I saw that there was a game on the horizon inspired by the film, I knew it was going to be right up my alley, and it turns out, it very much is. American Arcadia is another game I got to preview for Tribeca, and it exceeded the expectations I had going ?in. No??t only does it look absolutely stunning with its colorful-retro-future-70s aesthetic, but it has a ton to offer by way of gameplay.

It's part 2.5D sidescrolling platformer, part puzzle game, part first-person stealth game �and while I was worried that it had too much going on, it all fit together surprisingly well to create an experience I've never quite seen before. Sure, any individual element of American Arcadia isn't exactly reinventing the wheel, but it's the final pr?oduct that I think is going to blow me awa??y. As far as narrative games goes, it ticks all the boxes for me so far.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=sEStlPKIGL8

Immortality �FMV is yet again revolutionizing narrative games

Sam Barlow has been one of games' most creative minds for years, and now he's back with his most ambitious project yet. Immortality is a full-motion video game (a rare breed at this point) that centers on the disappearance of a woman named Marissa Marcel. Players are tasked with going through old reels of three different unreleased films she starred in to piece the mystery?? together, and it's one of the most stylish-looking games we got to see this weekend.

I'm always looking for games that are doing things we haven't seen before, and Immortality looks like it's going to give us a newer, even more complex take on the ideas that Barlow masterfully executed in his earlier titles. The writing team includes talent that worked on shows like The Queen's Gambit and Mr. Robot, so?? I have nothing but high hopes for this narrative-centric FMV m?ystery.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXq20gant-4

Pentiment �Ye old video game

Wacky art styles are a surefire way to get me interested in a game, and in that regard, Pentiment had my attention right out the gate. It's a medieval-themed narrative game that looks balls-to-the-walls crazy, and we certainly haven't seen anything like it from Obsidian, the studio behind The Outer Worlds and Pillars of Eternity. They had a smaller internal team break out to work on Pentiment �something I would love to see from more big-budget studios w?ho have the capacity to make some aw?esome smaller-scale projects.

It's got a painterly, storybook art? style that's evocative of the period it's set in, and features classically medieval things like writing beautifully decorated manuscripts, discussing the latest news from Italy, and of course, violent mobs burning buildings down. It looks like an exciting adventure full of twists and turns, and as something of a casual history buff, this one is already sitting pretty on my Steam wishlist.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=au_ek16Bm-o

The Alters �Clones? Clones.

The newest title from 11 Bit Studios, The Alters follows Jan, who creates alternate v?ersions of himself to survive on an isolated planet. In terms of gameplay, each one of the clones is supposed to have different powers that the player can use to their advantage, but each will also have a different perso??nality that's based on different moments and paths in Jan's life.

The announcement trailer didn't give us much information about what it will feel like to play just yet, but on premise and 11 Bit's reputation alone, I can tell that this is going to be one hell of a ride. The studio always does an awesome job of incorporating a well-told story into games that also have really solid gameplay, so I'll be looking forward to hearing more about The Alters as the studio continues its development.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=nCk1__TYksU

High on Life �The Rick and Morty guys finally got me onboard

Okay, I'm gonna be honest here, I've never seen Rick and Morty. Maybe I just never got around to it, maybe it was the fandom that turned me off, but it was never something I felt drawn to. That's why I was so surprised when I saw the trailer for High on Life, and actually thought it seemed like a hila??rio??us, goofy time.

The idea is that you're a bounty hunter who needs to take out aliens who are using humans as some kind of drug. It's got a colorful, eccentric art style, the quippy, zany tone you'd expect from Squanch Games, and of course, the real highlight of the trailer, talking guns. Games like High on Life aren't usually my kind of thing, but it looks so out there and different that I know I'm gonna be itching to try it. Plus, I'm just a sucker for an FPS, and this one looks like it'll have some really unique ??shooting mechanics.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=P4l6uWxe-vk

Stray �/em> a cat-centric narrative game