![]() It is an epic of the quietest kind, whispering across 600 years in a voice no louder than a librarian's.ĭoerr does not overstate the importance of the story-within-a-story. The greatest joy in it comes from watching the pieces snap into place. For his central, eponymous hook, Doerr invents what is a ridiculous, Big Rock Candy Mountain kind of ancient Greek yarn about a dim shepherd named Aethon who hears a story of an imaginary city in the sky where there is no pain or hunger or suffering and believes it real who is turned into a donkey, a fish and an owl in his pursuit of this place - each echoing the lives of those characters whose stories intersect across the centuries, whose lives are shaped by Diogenes's comic tale. He breaks the story into a thousand pieces, then spends every page carefully putting it all back in order again.Ĭloud Cuckoo Land is a book that is in love with nature and with libraries, that disdains advancement and yet embraces technology (to read his descriptions of the construction of a massive cannon outside the walls of Constantinople or the experience of virtual reality aboard a space-ark a century from now are masterpieces of worldbuilding and wonder). Between the covers, across hundreds of pages, he has everything - birth and death, love and war, heists, escapes, the particular (though not unique) perils of growing up in 1453, 1940, 20. He makes links that persist across centuries, flits from place to place and person to person with an enviable grace, making seemingly impossible logical and temporal leaps seem as natural as breath. There’s also both controller and touch-screen support, and Point-and-click adventure games feel great when you can and click on things.Doerr does amazing things with his story, with this narrative spread unevenly across such disparate characters, such different voices. It makes great use of the haptic feedback of the Joy-Con, and that helped immerse me even more into the wonderful story. It contains the really interesting New Game + mode that was added to all versions after launch, as well as now featuring localizations in French, German, Spanish, and Italian. The Nintendo Switch version of Oxenfree might be the very best way to play. Switch Impressions by Marty Sliva (October 5, 2017) The music adds to that feeling, often tinged with sadness, and together the art and soundtrack deepened my connection to a game all about human connections. ![]() The characters are also really small as a part of the art style, which made me feel like everything that was happening was much bigger than I was. Alex talks a lot about her memories of the island, so walking through a beautiful forest or in an eerie, crystal-filled cave made me as fond of her childhood haunt as she was. ![]() Slow walking isn’t conducive to exploring, but it does encourage admiring the gorgeous landscapes. I did replay it, though, and I enjoyed experiencing it with a fresh perspective. but in a game that’s focused on characters and how they interact, that sluggishness made me a little more reluctant to repeat this story than I’d have liked. That might be the point, and it’s one of Oxenfree’s strengths that it’s not overloaded with pointless things. I sometimes felt like I didn’t have enough to do. ![]() Long walks from area to area make sense because they leave room for important conversations, but walking often dragged on too long. However, Oxenfree’s pacing is strangely inconsistent. It’s a smart touch that’s consistently effective. Your companion might be in trouble, and how you react to that might affect how much they care for you at the end. Sudden time loops add mystery and urgency to conversations, and that urgency in turn furthers the development of the characters and their relationships, which are so integral to Oxenfree’s story. Time and AgainThe time-travel aspect of Oxenfree is fascinating enough on its own, but it’s excellent because of its effect on the characters and their dynamic. And, without spoiling anything, there’s also a neat social integration that makes time loops extra intriguing. A campfire appeared where there wasn’t one before, and then a soccer ball that I had trouble kicking. I’d be walking through Oxenfree’s island and talking somewhat casually, only to be torn back to an earlier point in time and notice things are subtly and unsettlingly different this time. “Time loops” warp the environment, reset conversations, and reveal the darker parts of the characters and their world. Creepy audio crackles through the radio, and then everything changes. Oxenfree’s story progresses as you build and discover relationships with its interesting characters, but the clever twist is using a radio to tune into the supernatural side of things.
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