Strength of an Ox

Recently I just completed another play-through of Oxenfree, all for the sake of getting the one remaining achievement.

But during the credits, I noticed something I never did previously: In amongst the Special Thanks portion is the name Midnight Oil.

Clearly Night School studio have great taste in music.

That was the year it was: 2018

And so another year comes to an end. And with the end of the year, Game Tumor goes into hibernation and I am liberated from the pressures of coming up with more posts for this corner of cyberspace (at least until next year....).

So what has 2018 has to show for itself? Well I had the pleasure of casting more games from my Hall of Shame: Homeworld and God of Thunder were both beaten at long last, Trails in the Sky SC was finally concluded and Oxenfree turned out a massive delight; I finally entered the current console generation with the purchase of an Xbox One; mini retro consoles are proving to be a huge success; and Blizzard has made a major mistep that has thrown the internet into all sorts of chaos.

But whatever.
You may have noticed that this post marks the 900th post to this blog. Yeah, I can hardly believe it myself. So after nine years and 900 posts this blog is still going.
It just refuses to die!
One would think that I would eventually run out of things to say (especially considering that I'm shooting out fewer posts annually than previously) but apparently not. One would think that, seeing as this blog has lasted longer than the usual internet time span, that it's time has well and truly gone but no. I suppose as the wonderful world of gaming keeps trucking on, i will have things to say. And as long as I keep having games left unplayed, this blog will keep on going.

So here's the future and I hope to speak you all again when the curtain rises on 2019.

Freedom isn't Free

Another game has been struck down from my Hall of Shame. Clean out your desk Oxenfree, you're outta here!

Original image located here. Accessed 2nd February 2018 

Of course, saying I've completed this game is somewhat meaningless - and people who have played this game will know why. For now, however I have beaten this game but only for the first time. Needless to say, I will return to Oxenfree sometime in the near future. 

In the meantime however, I did enjoy this game a lot. I've played a lot of adventure games and have found their strengths lie in the writing. And this is what Oxenfree understands and accomplishes in flying colors: The characters are well-written and believable, the dialogue is natural and delivered with superb acting and we have a game wherein we have teenagers acting ....well...like teenagers.

In fact, that last point really says a lot about the game,. Sure the mystery surrounding the setting was engaging, the supernatural parts were freaky, the atmosphere was abundant and the music was stunning. But at the end of the day, the MVP is the best portrayal of teenagers I have ever seen - perhaps moreso than any other game, movie or TV series.

In fact, replaying this game now suddenly feels like a substantial enticement - a sign that this game must've done something right