Picking apart each knot of narrative threads dragged me back for third and fourth playthroughs in an effort to unearth all of Oxenfree's chilling lore. The information I found was unexpected, and as I found more answers I began assembling a picture of deepest tragedy. In a third, I stumbled upon additional collectibles that painted a haunting picture of what the entities were, spurring me to double back on my trek across the island and dig for more intel. In another, someone in your friends' group doesn't make it with you. In one ending, you barely escape with your skin. There are a handful of different endings and directions the narrative can take, and the experience of exploring Oxenfree's odds captivated me. In order to save themselves from these entities, they must figure out who or what they are and how to exorcise them. They stumble upon something odd in the depths of a cave, and after communicating with it via radio signals, accidentally unleash a paranormal force. It begins with five teenagers visiting an island near their hometown for a raucous high school party. That is the plot of Oxenfree: someone bored and restless teases the unknown, and after poking it too much, enters a downward spiral where everything goes to hell. The exhilaration of going against something, anything different from mundane life, is why we become thrill-seekers. And while the most dangerous thing I ever encountered was asbestos, it illustrated for me why we seek the unknown, even when aware of the danger. I was a dumb teenager, driven by curiosity and a confidence in my immortality.
Oxenfree reminds me of those nights in dark, weird places. I trekked through dark rooms in middle-end hotels and strangers' houses, guided by the small green light of an electromagnetic field detector. During my college years, I went on a few ghost hunts.
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