The latest Nintendo Indie World showcase ended with the surprise announcement for Oxenfree 2: Lost Signals. The sequel will take place after the events of Oxenfree and features a new character named Riley.
Oxenfree was a 2016 critically-acclaimed indie adventure game from Night School Studio. It followed five teens having an overnight party on an island who suddenly get caught up in a supernatural event. While the game had some puzzle elements, the real focus of the game was on the dialogue between the teens themselves. As the characters explore the island and try to unravel the mystery, they unpack the weighty relationship drama that they’ve been avoiding talking about for months. The dialogue responses the player chooses affected the relationships in the game, resulting in different endings for the characters.
According to Night School Studio, Oxenfree 2: Lost Signals will focus on Riley, an environmental researcher returning to her hometown of Camena to investigate mysterious radio signals that are plaguing the town and interfering with electrical equipment. While Night School Studio emphasizes that the game will feature an entirely new cast of characters, it does make an effort to note that the Oxenfree 2: Lost Signals is set five years after the events of the first game. The sequel also shares the same locations as the original game: the fictional town of Camena, Oregon, and the nearby Edwards Island.
How Oxenfree 2: Lost Signals Can Connect to Oxenfree
![Oxenfree 2: Lost Signals – Who is Riley?](https://static1.srcdn.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Oxenfree-Alex-Dialogue.jpg)
Although Oxenfree 2: Lost Signals is focusing on new characters, there’s plenty of possibility that the game will reference, or even cameo characters from the previous game. Alex and the other characters from Oxenfree were high schoolers on the verge of going to college. It’s possible Riley was a classmate of theirs, as five years is enough time for Riley to have gone to college and started a new career before coming home. It’s also possible the mysterious phenomenon on Edwards Island will find some way to bring back the original characters. Some of the effects witnessed in the first game played with time, meaning that just because Oxenfree 2: Lost Signals takes place five years after the first Oxenfree doesn’t mean the past can be completely discounted.
Whatever the case may be, it’s clear that Riley will be investigating very similar events to the first game. The teaser trailer for Oxenfree 2: Lost Signals shows players manipulating radio signals to create triangle portals, a key game component of the original Oxenfree. The trailer also features a glimpse of mysterious masked figures near a beach bonfire, an image which harkens back to an early scene in Oxenfree. Players will have to wait and see how the two games connect when Oxenfree 2: Lost Signals releases later in 2021.
Oxenfree 2: Lost Signals will be available for Nintendo Switch and PC in 2021.