
An interesting experiment in the realm of storytelling in games, Oxenfree was a notable indie release of last year; chronicling the story of a young group of adventurers that find themselves unravelling the ghostly secrets of a deserted island. It was rather well received when it debuted on other platforms, and it seems that Switch owners in North America won’t have much longer to wait until they can try it out on the hybrid.
The listing for the game on the eShop pegs it for a 6th October release date, so it’s only a little over a week and a half away in the region. The game made its name on a smartly designed conversation system that closely mimics the nuance of real life conversations, while also having an impact on the narrative, so it’ll be interesting to see how it all holds up on the Switch. Check out a trailer below:

What do you think? Will you be picking this up? How important do you find narrative to a video game? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
[source nintendo.com]
Comments 28
May check it some time.
I was 100% into this! Until Xbox live gave it free his past week. How stupid is that and a slap in the face or switch onwers.
@Kobeskillz it's not slapping me in the face. I'd have to buy an Xbone and pay for Xbox Live subscription to get that free and unportable version ... nah. I'll just buy it for my beautiful Switch. Problem is I've got a tonne of games on my to buy list. What game to spend my limited cash on that's the question
@Kobeskillz It's not a slap. Amazed you see it that way!
@kobeskillz
Yeah, I heard about that. I wouldn't say a slap in the face, since it's a different audience of people and it was available at that price over on Xbox when it originally released, but if you own an Xbox there isn't much that beats free. It makes the Switch version a hard sell for sure.
At the end of the day, you can just think of it as paying the developers for the quality of their product. And the positive reviews say that its a quality game.
@Kobeskillz Unrelated dude. You make 2 mistakes assuming a) there is a single collective market for gaming (like a weird cult!) and b) Companies have personal agendas.
I'm sorry guys but releasing the same game for free on another console then a week later asking a different audience to pay full price for the same game is weird and the timing messed up.
I was 100% ready to buy it but how can I justify buying this copy when Xbox is giving it for free at the same time.
Even if I didn't own an Xbox it would still be s hard sale knowing it's being given away free on another console at the same time.
Now I want it!
@Kobeskillz It came out in 2016 for Xbox. I personally think you are being unreasonable but hey, it's not worth arguing over If you own an Xbox...then yeah I would come round and slap you for not grabbing it for free lol!
@Kobeskillz
If you don't own an Xbox the price on the Xbox is irrelevant
I'll pick this up defo
@Kobeskillz I own an Xbox but don't pay for their online subscription mainly because I already have one for the PS4 which is where my friends are, so no to me this isn't a slap in the face. The timing of it is just a coincidence.
Free games with gold are not free as you pay monthly/yearly subs, if you don't pay you can't play the game anymore.
I would rather own my games and be able to play them anywhere , I do pay for gold but only because I play rocket league and my son plays ROBLOX.
Obviously buying rocket league for switch and I'm buying my son a pc for Christmas , so good bye gold account.
Even if I had a Xbone and Gold (both of which I do, don't ask why, I don't know either), I'd happily pay 20€ or so to play it on Switch. Now, I may be a known and self-admited Switch Lover and while yes, the Xbone S, and even the X, are good looking pieces of hardware, the complete design of the home menu, the store and everything else is simply so clunky and hideous, I hate even launching it, let alone play something there. MS would have to pay me to play something there that isn't Banjo, Tooie or Viva Piñata.
Edit: Maybe that's why I absolutely hated playing Yooka-Laylee and gave up in the second world? Sure, the game had other problems but maybe those were worsened by terrible choice of platform.
I’ve previously bought it on iOS, but I’ll still be double-dipping on Switch! It’s a fantastic game.
Not for me. I find a lot of these xbox releases are a plod.
Is it actually a game
Games that can snuggle into a seasonal theme such as Halloween as this article suggests or say Christmas always pique my interest. Will add it to the wish list once I see the game page show up on the UK Switch eShop.
This looks interesting. I'm tempted to get it but I'll wait until I see the price before I make my decision.
Gonna admit. I'm a little tempted, despite not liking most horror games. This one doesn't look as horrifying as some others, so I'll be keeping my eye on this one.
@FragRed
Yeah maybe I'm overreacting but still Peeves me.
Nice. Another one to watch.
I'm not a huge fan of narrative-based games, truth be told. A recent example is Night in the Woods on PS4, which looks lovely and has a truly great story, but features gameplay that got really boring extremely quickly for me. I still finished it and I'm glad I did, I just wish the pacing of the gameplay had been less sluggish.
I'm getting Oxenfree on Switch, and hope it doesn't replicate NitW's problems.
It's definitely one of the few really interesting indie releases on the Switch. Looking forward to this one.
@Kobeskillz I don't have an Xbox One and never will because all the Xbox exclusives I want to play are available for PC, but then it's also currently part of a Humble Bundle for a $7 average.
I could get it there, but I want it on Switch because I want it on the hybrid platform, not tethered to my PC which is stationary. Not a slap in the face, many will make their purchase decision based off their own individual wants and which platform(s) are available to them (I also have a PS4). There are a number of games that I've decided to pay a little bit more for, or have a slightly less experience with graphically because I want that option of on the go gaming, and the more people that support these titles on Switch while available elsewhere (often for less because they've been there a while), or even double dip, the more developers will take note that it's worth putting them out for it as well.
@Kobeskillz
I don't think there is a lot of consumer overlap.
What I do think is a slap in the face is giving games away for free as throwaway bonuses for a subscription people have anyway.
That makes software seem completely worthless.
Between Inside and Oxenfree, we're catching up with not only retail games, but also indies. The wind is starting to blow our way.

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