Sorry, this ended up taking a lot longer than I expected! Dragonborn is up next and then I’ll probably move on to Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood. Thanks for watching everyone!
All those tongue in cheek "a short retrospective" videos that are like 12 hours long. All they do is recount the plot in excruciating detail, then give surface level opinions
I am very surprised, but also very glad that you covered this game. I absolutely love Oxenfree. To me the story about Alex, a girl stuck in a loop of grief just hit so hard and I'm glad someone dedicated some of their time to talk about this awesome game.
Now that you mention it I think that’s where I first picked it up too! RIP Games with Gold, it had a great run. Well…maybe great is overselling it a bit, but there were some occasional gems.
I started watching your stuff even since someone dropped your Skyrim video into Private Session's discord but I never expected to see such a thorough discussion of one of my favorite video game experiences from you. Only halfway through so far, I just didn't want to forget to comment, this made my entire day better.
I went through most of my first playthorough hating Clarissa, but seeing a lot of myself in Nona, so when I took Nona to retrieve the key and got more insight into Clarissa, it broke me a little bit. I'm also realizing only now how hard it must be on Clarissa to see Alex wearing Michael's jacket, a literally constant reminder of his absence.
I remember watching/seeing Oxenfree right when it came out and i think i didn't really understand it. It was stuck in the back of my mind like yours. It was similar to other indie games at the time for me, like Night in The Woods and Fran Bow, where I liked it but couldn't tell you why. Only when I come back to these type of games with a more older and analytical take I feel like I appreciate more. I need that second loop even if its the same game. I love your content it's also great to hear people's analysis because I cannot make coherent literary analysis because I have ping pong for a brain :)
It’s also very gradual (in my experience at least). Like I don’t just hit a point and *I'm high*, it’s more like a commercial airplane taking off. I feel a lil goofy or I’ll start having thought cycles and eventually realize that yeah, I started infodumping about that weird game because I’m definitely high now.
I was wondering if the "magic" ingredient was something else... Like mushrooms of some sort...but I wouldn't know about that...just a thought most likely brought about by word association as I've heard magic used to refer to special fungi 🤣
@@kitcat8308 Oh god I hope it wasn't magic mushrooms. There are few ways I can imagine to guarantee yourself a worse time than being actively haunted by vengeful spirits *while tripping balls* 😬
it's been twelve days since this released and i just can't stomach watching it, considering the borderline traumatic relationship i have with the idea of 'coming of age' that i don't quite have the words to describe. alien? stolen? ravished? just, sorry. i'm sure it's prolly great, your stuff's always awesome. hope you keep doing more of these (!)
Oxenfree and Oxenfree 2 do approach the idea of having your time stolen from you rather directly. I don’t blame you for having trouble facing those concepts head on
This is exactly what I was thinking as well. It utterly sucks that a bunch of people feel like this/ have trauma with this idea, but in some ways it helps to see other people commenting about it here.
The way you said "heavier hitters" are undermining your AC videos man, they're straight fire and frankly the best critiques I've seen of these games. I know this one's gonna be great too, so please never stop
I wish you would’ve played OXENFREE 2 because I think it ties really well with the more adults themes that are still beneath the surface here. I love OXENFREE 1 but the second hits a lot harder now
Thank you for this video. When I saw it's promo I wasn't going to play it, but your video really made me interested in experiencing the story by myself. You did an awesome and really thorough job analysing the narrative, and the flow of your own narration is really smooth. Special thanks for extranarrative staff like references for "cellar door" concept, Gabriel's trumpet, Hawaiian mythology - I really discovered a lot of new things for myself
I love your videos so much. I’ve been rewatching the other ones waiting for you to post. Idk this game but I’m still looking forward to your analysis!! Also as a paradox player, that comment near the end was so dirty lol
😂 the video just ending abruptly kinda jumpscared me lol. I enjoyed this critique. I never would have played this. Given the lack of an ending, I have an idea that the author is not going to be able to pull all of this stuff together in 2 but am looking forward to you covering it. The 1st loop is quite entertaining just in it's little narrative bubble. You calling that a coming of age story and what comes after as a more adult story is pretty apt. I see it that way too.
I'm so, so glad you're covering this game. I'm a die-hard fan of the series and its story is just incredible. And I'm looking forward to your thoughts on the second game! I loved it.
i played this when it came out, probably at the lowest point in my life and the suicide imagery was the main thing that stuck with me, as well as the music, i genuinely don't remember the plot besides memories of depression and lonelyness i should revisit it now that I'm in s better place
This game has haunted me for YEARS and is so deeply in the horror category for me personally 🥴 but I am obsessed with it. Thank you for covering it so thoroughly!
I love everything about this game. I'll finish another loop, head to Oxenfree II, and tour through that, then head back to Oxenfree. They really made a hella great niche project.
I'm confident that the story is mainly about transitioning into adulthood as previously mentioned. As also referenced, the sunken a "child-like" for a reason. They represent the no letting go. Growing up comes with loss in some shape or form, but loss nonetheless. The first Alex refused to let anything go, therefore is stuck with the sunken. She eventually learns and therefore warns her past herself, essentially letting go of, well.. herself. Essentially splitting herself between the part of her (or us) that wants to stay in the bliss of childhood from the adult that presses on. The reason why you go insane over time is because time marches on no matter what, to stalwartly refuse to grow up so to speak would overtime make one not be able to comprehend the reality, and therefore would have to put one in Essentially a loop to can only progress forward so far before reseting and going back.
I always thought that by tuning into the cave anomaly for the very first time, Alex fell not into a single loop in the physical world, but into a jumbled mess of infinite parallel loops on the imaginary plane of existence. The game didn't show much of the world around the island and the "Where are they now?" segments always showed obvious conclusions and weren't too descriptive, as if Alex hadn't actually experienced the life after leaving the island. Michael's resurrection coming at practically zero cost also bothered me quite a bit. Also, in what you call "the good ending", the parking lot felt like the last place an anomalous transmission from another Alex could reach. So to me, the individual playthroughs always felt like a collection of vignettes the Sunken stitched together from their and Alex's memories. If that were the truth, it would mean that from the very beginning, there were no alternative realities, no winning and no real ending, because it was all part of a big vision that would infinitely overlap and repeat itself,. But my reading feels conspiratorial, while yours is reasonable, doesn't seem to create any glaring contradictions and is a bit more hopeful, so I like it. After you skillfully picked apart AC and ACII, I was really looking forward to this critique. Thank you for the video :)
I loved my time with Oxenfree, though I only played one loop. After watching this, maybe I'll have to give another loop or two a play one of these days - maybe before diving into Oxenfree 2. Thanks for bringing this excellent game back on my radar!
Wow, this was an excellent video! I wish that your channel had more subscribers than it does. This was a tremendous Sunday morning experience. I don't play games and I never heard of this game, but it's interesting all the same. There's a quality hyperreality to games, and your analysis is wonderful.
Great video! I’m glad this game is getting the attention it deserves and you’re just the right person to examine it :D I would be interested to hear your thoughts on Afterparty, I think that game would be very interesting to critique and contrast as Night Schools second entry
Great video! About the story of the game: I liked the game when I played it, but more of the first two thirds. It's probably just a me thing, but I like something grounded or mysterious more. So, I went 100% with a game before it showed the ghosts are real and all of that. Even if it's not that straightforward. I like the Firewatch or Night in the woods approach (would be stocked to a see a video on it, btw)
17:40ish: yeah, there's clearly some psychosomatic stuff going on there. Edibles don't tend to kick in fast or hard, but they do tend to last a while. 20:20ish: you've clearly never watched Any Austin. If it's interesting, investigate it, I'd watch something like "how Skyrim uses liminal spaces." 1:57:20ish: As someone who grew up in the early to mid 2000s, "they're dead/in a coma all along" is like, the center square edgy fan theory. It's sort of an enhanced version of 'it's all a dream,' which almost always sucks as a final twist; it reverts to status quo so nothing matters, but that status quo is horrible. In most media, it feels like it's trying to be angsty for the sake of angst. I think Oxenfree could get away with it if it wanted to, but I don't think it does. 2:20:00-ish: I don't know that they do still believe in a benevolent god, so much as they're trying to communicate in a way that Alex would understand; as they say, it feels good to break the script. Maybe some part of them believes that, since Alex is still kicking, she can change things for them. Or maybe they're just trying to liven up the eternities a little. 2:25:45: As I say about Homestuck, it's about kids and fun. It's a coming of age story. It's about growing up, and it's about tragedy, and it's about love and duty and loss, and it's about perfidy. But that's a mouthful, so, 'kids and fun' it is. That's it, that's my whole spiel.
I kinda hate oxenfree, I found it really shallow on my first play-through but I'm open to having my mind changed edit: after watching it, I understand it now, I understand why people care a lot about it
2:27:00 oh thank god lol i’m glad someone else picked up on the romantic subtext there when i was a wee baby lesbian i was CONVINCED that anna and maggie were in a relationship. i mean i still believe it! i haven’t played the second game but i wonder if it’s expanded on more-it’s one of the most heartbreaking aspects of the original story to me
Sorry, this ended up taking a lot longer than I expected! Dragonborn is up next and then I’ll probably move on to Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood. Thanks for watching everyone!
Its good
brother there has to be some way to speed up these videos coming up.
I love both the games. It's worth it👍
@@kacperstrach9687 not if he wants to jeopardise his quality. And this is quality. So it’s worth the wait.
@DukeofWhales are you ever planning to do Morrowind? I’d really love to see your take on it. No pressure though.
I love these videos because they're the only "narrative critiques" that actually *critique* the narrative instead of being an extended plot summary
All those tongue in cheek "a short retrospective" videos that are like 12 hours long.
All they do is recount the plot in excruciating detail, then give surface level opinions
I can't stand when analysis channels just show a clip of the story and then rephrase what we just heard into an overraught explanation
Oh my god thank you for saying this.
I am very surprised, but also very glad that you covered this game. I absolutely love Oxenfree. To me the story about Alex, a girl stuck in a loop of grief just hit so hard and I'm glad someone dedicated some of their time to talk about this awesome game.
This video is criminally underwatched. I've come back to it a few times, actually. You deserve a million subscribers.
Oxenfree was one of those surprise bangers I got from Games with Gold back in the day.
Now that you mention it I think that’s where I first picked it up too! RIP Games with Gold, it had a great run. Well…maybe great is overselling it a bit, but there were some occasional gems.
There were definitely a few stinkers, but getting games like Dark Souls, Witcher 2, and Sleeping Dogs way outweighed the duds, RIP.
I started watching your stuff even since someone dropped your Skyrim video into Private Session's discord but I never expected to see such a thorough discussion of one of my favorite video game experiences from you. Only halfway through so far, I just didn't want to forget to comment, this made my entire day better.
Thank you, that’s so kind of you to say, I hope I did it justice!
I went through most of my first playthorough hating Clarissa, but seeing a lot of myself in Nona, so when I took Nona to retrieve the key and got more insight into Clarissa, it broke me a little bit.
I'm also realizing only now how hard it must be on Clarissa to see Alex wearing Michael's jacket, a literally constant reminder of his absence.
I remember watching/seeing Oxenfree right when it came out and i think i didn't really understand it. It was stuck in the back of my mind like yours. It was similar to other indie games at the time for me, like Night in The Woods and Fran Bow, where I liked it but couldn't tell you why. Only when I come back to these type of games with a more older and analytical take I feel like I appreciate more. I need that second loop even if its the same game. I love your content it's also great to hear people's analysis because I cannot make coherent literary analysis because I have ping pong for a brain :)
Yeah that brownie should take around 30-60 minutes to kick in. Sometimes it can be weirdly fast, but weirdly fast is still like 15 minutes.
It’s also very gradual (in my experience at least). Like I don’t just hit a point and *I'm high*, it’s more like a commercial airplane taking off. I feel a lil goofy or I’ll start having thought cycles and eventually realize that yeah, I started infodumping about that weird game because I’m definitely high now.
I was wondering if the "magic" ingredient was something else... Like mushrooms of some sort...but I wouldn't know about that...just a thought most likely brought about by word association as I've heard magic used to refer to special fungi 🤣
@@kitcat8308 Oh god I hope it wasn't magic mushrooms. There are few ways I can imagine to guarantee yourself a worse time than being actively haunted by vengeful spirits *while tripping balls* 😬
Oh awesome a new DoW video is a perfect excuse to rewatch all the DoW analyses
it's been twelve days since this released and i just can't stomach watching it, considering the borderline traumatic relationship i have with the idea of 'coming of age' that i don't quite have the words to describe. alien? stolen? ravished?
just, sorry. i'm sure it's prolly great, your stuff's always awesome. hope you keep doing more of these (!)
Oxenfree and Oxenfree 2 do approach the idea of having your time stolen from you rather directly.
I don’t blame you for having trouble facing those concepts head on
This is exactly what I was thinking as well. It utterly sucks that a bunch of people feel like this/ have trauma with this idea, but in some ways it helps to see other people commenting about it here.
oxenfree and darkwood in the same day crazy 11hours of content to watch
wait who dropped darkwood
@@vivanesca pyrocynical made an 8 hour video on it
The way you said "heavier hitters" are undermining your AC videos man, they're straight fire and frankly the best critiques I've seen of these games. I know this one's gonna be great too, so please never stop
I wish you would’ve played OXENFREE 2 because I think it ties really well with the more adults themes that are still beneath the surface here. I love OXENFREE 1 but the second hits a lot harder now
Absolutely wonderful game my man, I gotta say you don't fire often, but you never miss
I’m so excited for Dragonborn. Your critiques are incredible, and I hope you keep going and get the recognition you deserve
Babe wake up Duke of Whales posted
Thank you for this video. When I saw it's promo I wasn't going to play it, but your video really made me interested in experiencing the story by myself. You did an awesome and really thorough job analysing the narrative, and the flow of your own narration is really smooth. Special thanks for extranarrative staff like references for "cellar door" concept, Gabriel's trumpet, Hawaiian mythology - I really discovered a lot of new things for myself
I love your videos so much. I’ve been rewatching the other ones waiting for you to post. Idk this game but I’m still looking forward to your analysis!!
Also as a paradox player, that comment near the end was so dirty lol
It's really interesting to hear your perspective on Oxenfree! I'll have to play it again with some of the ideas you surfaced in mind.
Played it once in one sitting and was impressed. Forgot it existed ever since lol. I should play the second one I think
😂 the video just ending abruptly kinda jumpscared me lol. I enjoyed this critique. I never would have played this. Given the lack of an ending, I have an idea that the author is not going to be able to pull all of this stuff together in 2 but am looking forward to you covering it. The 1st loop is quite entertaining just in it's little narrative bubble. You calling that a coming of age story and what comes after as a more adult story is pretty apt. I see it that way too.
How do you always manage to pick some of my favorite games for critiques? I love it! I think about your Skyrim and Firewatch videos fairly often.
Hell yeah, welcome back. One of my favorite rising star channels. I absolutely adored Oxenfree so I'm happy you covered this.
I'm so, so glad you're covering this game. I'm a die-hard fan of the series and its story is just incredible. And I'm looking forward to your thoughts on the second game! I loved it.
Was just rewatching your Skyrim video, what a treat this is!
i played this when it came out, probably at the lowest point in my life and the suicide imagery was the main thing that stuck with me, as well as the music, i genuinely don't remember the plot besides memories of depression and lonelyness
i should revisit it now that I'm in s better place
This game has haunted me for YEARS and is so deeply in the horror category for me personally 🥴 but I am obsessed with it. Thank you for covering it so thoroughly!
God it's always such a treat to see your vids, thanks for lowkey making my week ❤
I audibly gasped when I saw this ! I love Oxenfree, so excited
I love everything about this game. I'll finish another loop, head to Oxenfree II, and tour through that, then head back to Oxenfree. They really made a hella great niche project.
I’m a simple man. I see DukeOfWhales upload, I click
I'm confident that the story is mainly about transitioning into adulthood as previously mentioned.
As also referenced, the sunken a "child-like" for a reason. They represent the no letting go. Growing up comes with loss in some shape or form, but loss nonetheless. The first Alex refused to let anything go, therefore is stuck with the sunken. She eventually learns and therefore warns her past herself, essentially letting go of, well.. herself. Essentially splitting herself between the part of her (or us) that wants to stay in the bliss of childhood from the adult that presses on. The reason why you go insane over time is because time marches on no matter what, to stalwartly refuse to grow up so to speak would overtime make one not be able to comprehend the reality, and therefore would have to put one in Essentially a loop to can only progress forward so far before reseting and going back.
I always thought that by tuning into the cave anomaly for the very first time, Alex fell not into a single loop in the physical world, but into a jumbled mess of infinite parallel loops on the imaginary plane of existence. The game didn't show much of the world around the island and the "Where are they now?" segments always showed obvious conclusions and weren't too descriptive, as if Alex hadn't actually experienced the life after leaving the island. Michael's resurrection coming at practically zero cost also bothered me quite a bit. Also, in what you call "the good ending", the parking lot felt like the last place an anomalous transmission from another Alex could reach. So to me, the individual playthroughs always felt like a collection of vignettes the Sunken stitched together from their and Alex's memories. If that were the truth, it would mean that from the very beginning, there were no alternative realities, no winning and no real ending, because it was all part of a big vision that would infinitely overlap and repeat itself,.
But my reading feels conspiratorial, while yours is reasonable, doesn't seem to create any glaring contradictions and is a bit more hopeful, so I like it. After you skillfully picked apart AC and ACII, I was really looking forward to this critique. Thank you for the video :)
I loved my time with Oxenfree, though I only played one loop. After watching this, maybe I'll have to give another loop or two a play one of these days - maybe before diving into Oxenfree 2. Thanks for bringing this excellent game back on my radar!
Wow, this was an excellent video! I wish that your channel had more subscribers than it does. This was a tremendous Sunday morning experience. I don't play games and I never heard of this game, but it's interesting all the same. There's a quality hyperreality to games, and your analysis is wonderful.
Love the video! I hope you do a critique of the sequel
love your content. have not played this game, likely will never play this game, but i am seated and listening.
These are always a treat to listen to
The venn diagram of games you cover and games I enjoy is just one circle.
another rly good vid Duke!! rly enjoyed your breakdown and critique & might just check oxenfree out esp now there's a follow up!
I really enjoyed the game but put it down after my first playthrough, but you’ve inspired me to pick it up again. I’ll be back to finish the video!
Shoutout to the puget sound
Very impressive work, thanks for sharing, cheers!
Great video! I’m glad this game is getting the attention it deserves and you’re just the right person to examine it :D I would be interested to hear your thoughts on Afterparty, I think that game would be very interesting to critique and contrast as Night Schools second entry
The chosen one has returned!
I’m loving your approach toward stories in games, Duke! Have you played Pentiment? It seems right up your alley
Fantastic! Very thoughtful.
Have never played this game, will likely not do so in the future, but you dropped a video, therefore, I watch. Simple.
one of my favorite games so excited to see your thoughts!!
1:59:58 "Fished Up from the very depths of Kanaloa" is metal as...hell
I'll see myself out
Great video! About the story of the game: I liked the game when I played it, but more of the first two thirds. It's probably just a me thing, but I like something grounded or mysterious more. So, I went 100% with a game before it showed the ghosts are real and all of that. Even if it's not that straightforward. I like the Firewatch or Night in the woods approach (would be stocked to a see a video on it, btw)
Now I sort ofwish you made a narrative critique of Night in the woods - a superficially simmilar game I feel like I chose over Oxenfree years ago
Imagine giving 0.01% of Concord's budget to indie devs like that...
I jokd oxenfree as one of my favorite games. So haooy to see someone talking about it
Where are the Grey Knights when you need them?
Thanks for the content ❤
Huh… this game is like a side scrolling version of Alan Wake. Or at least I can imagine this game being set in the AWverse.
I’d love to find some way to help you produce these faster
i love oxenfree!!! this is fantastic
oh thank god, I was worried you were gone
17:40ish: yeah, there's clearly some psychosomatic stuff going on there. Edibles don't tend to kick in fast or hard, but they do tend to last a while.
20:20ish: you've clearly never watched Any Austin. If it's interesting, investigate it, I'd watch something like "how Skyrim uses liminal spaces."
1:57:20ish: As someone who grew up in the early to mid 2000s, "they're dead/in a coma all along" is like, the center square edgy fan theory. It's sort of an enhanced version of 'it's all a dream,' which almost always sucks as a final twist; it reverts to status quo so nothing matters, but that status quo is horrible. In most media, it feels like it's trying to be angsty for the sake of angst. I think Oxenfree could get away with it if it wanted to, but I don't think it does.
2:20:00-ish: I don't know that they do still believe in a benevolent god, so much as they're trying to communicate in a way that Alex would understand; as they say, it feels good to break the script. Maybe some part of them believes that, since Alex is still kicking, she can change things for them. Or maybe they're just trying to liven up the eternities a little.
2:25:45: As I say about Homestuck, it's about kids and fun. It's a coming of age story. It's about growing up, and it's about tragedy, and it's about love and duty and loss, and it's about perfidy. But that's a mouthful, so, 'kids and fun' it is.
That's it, that's my whole spiel.
Would you rather have unlimited bacon, but no more games
Or games, unlimited games- but no games
fine, i'll finally play oxenfree so i can watch this vid.
so how come this uploaded while i was going through ya videos, huh? fuckin spyin on me...
Duke of Whales video, we love to see it folks
Yes!! Boredom delayed for several hours!
Platinumed both games 10/10 would do again:)
did anyone else not play a 2nd loop thinking that was just the end of the game 😮
your voice is way too bass boosted
YES so excited to dig into thi
Patreon when king?
I’d really like you to play oxenfree II. I have a theory about it that I think is somewhat spoilery for those who haven’t played it.
Thanks🎉❤
ahh damn was hoping for brotherhood
If you ever make a patreon I am there for it
brb gonna replay the game and report back lol
I played this game a long time ago and I forgot everything about it other than it was a big mind fuck
Fuck yeah my guy
I LOVE DUKE OF WHALES‼️‼️‼️
Duke of whales I love you
I kinda hate oxenfree, I found it really shallow on my first play-through but I'm open to having my mind changed
edit: after watching it, I understand it now, I understand why people care a lot about it
As someone who is also getting older I can confirm corollas are the most boring and best cars out there
miss measuring the magic isn’t how it works but he for sure took too much lol
you have to be very passionate to work on a video of this lenght for 3 months, when your video is about a game no one has heard of.
Skyrim meme hehe
balls
Only 2 views, man has fell down…
1:50:35 my goodness
2:27:00 oh thank god lol i’m glad someone else picked up on the romantic subtext there when i was a wee baby lesbian i was CONVINCED that anna and maggie were in a relationship. i mean i still believe it! i haven’t played the second game but i wonder if it’s expanded on more-it’s one of the most heartbreaking aspects of the original story to me
Unless you count the Morse code bits as subtext too, "Love, Anna" sounds relatively explicit.