Oxenfree is well written, immaculately acted, and superbly paced. And the most important thing is a conversation system that brings to life lived-in characters actually talking to each other instead of struggling to emerge from a turn-based dialogue game. Oxenfree is the Robert Altman of videogames.

Oxenfree is a fantastic horror game, and Night School Studio has definitely pulled out all the stops to bring this story to life. Its classic Telltale meets the horror movies of the 1980s, and they’ve hit all the right notes. The branching storylines, likeable characters, and underlying dread and mystery really help this game to accomplish everything it could. Oxenfree is sure to keep you guessing until you reach the final ending screen. At which point I can’t promise you won’t just start over, ready to explore the ghostly realm ocne again.

Night School’s creepy teen horror more than succeeds at being a chilling supernatural tale, but its real strength lies in its rough, earnest, truthful account of five teen lives and the ways that they grow and fracture under the worst, most unearthly kind of pressure.

Oxenfree is a story about human interaction and how we choose to treat each other, all set against a backdrop of supernatural horror. It just feels really human in spite of all the weird stuff.

Oxenfree is a wonderful narrative and explorative experience that succeeds in innovating the way in which dialogues are incorporated in videogames. It’s a big feat, that together with the interesting story and the stellar audio production values is well worth the price.

In the end, Oxenfree is absolutely a game about teenage bullshit (forgive me for being a little disingenuous earlier). But it manages to revitalize that narrative by focusing on feeling more than substance; it glances at each character’s inner struggle rather than serving it up for a full meal.

Pacing is a problem, but the experience can be a memorable one if you buy into Night School Studio’s concept.