Oxenfree borrows from a number of other recent narrative-driven games. The way it introduces its characters is reminiscent of Until Dawn, its exploration and coms towers call back to Firewatch, and its horror elements crib from any number of recent indie horror titles. However, despite its influences, Oxenfree is very much its own experience, perhaps because of its stripped down approach to gameplay and stylization.

Of the four face buttons on Oxenfree’s interface, three of them are devoted to selecting dialogue options. That leaves only one button for physically interacting with the environment, along with a shoulder button to bring up a radio (which is crucial for many of the game’s puzzles and events), and another shoulder button for the map. Given the limited and seemingly wasteful control scheme, it would be understandable to assume that Oxenfree is poorly designed or, at the very least, under-engaging.. However, because half of the game’s buttons refer specifically to dialogue and character interactions, they end up emphasizing that portion of the game and re-orienting the player away from traditional game elements and toward narrative and conversation.

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For three entries now, the Uncharted series has established itself as the best in the video game industry at spectacle and set-pieces. What Naughty Dog achieved over the last console generation was largely unmatched, and their blend of explosive action, great dialogue, and tight mechanics is carried forward in their latest, and supposedly final, Uncharted title. But despite its similarities in form, Uncharted 4 is operating on a different level than its predecessors. After their landmark title The Last of Us, Naughty Dog was no longer content to simply do action movie tropes very, very well. For the final entry in the series, they really want to say something about Nathan Drake, his relationships, and his addiction to adventure. What they accomplished is not only more spectacular than most of Hollywood’s biggest summer films, but far more substantive and meaningful as well.

This approach does come with a price. Uncharted 2 is perhaps one of the greatest games of all time, largely because of how brilliantly paced and constructed it is. No sequence feels like it outstays its welcome, and the transitions between the various types of gameplay are perfectly orchestrated. But because story is so important to Uncharted 4, and because Naughty Dog really wants to nail every element of the series one last time, the game’s segments can run longer than in previous games. This has led to complaints from a number of game critics, particularly due to the game’s first and final acts.

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