Play on: Portable
Current goal: Stop those damn kids
No oxen is one of my favorite games of all time. The fascinating combination of naturalistic, bantering dialogue and a spooky, podcast-like plot impressed me deeply, completely drawing me into the mysterious narrative. Strange radio signals, specters and abnormal behavior of time and space, all seen from the perspective of glowing teenagers on their last trip before college. I couldn’t recommend this to enough people.
Then a sequel came out in 2023 which I haven’t played. I didn’t want to play it. I think I was just afraid I wouldn’t be able to recreate that moment, and that moment was perfect. Moreover, since developer Night School’s 2019 in-between game Afterpartyit didn’t work for me at all. But I’ve stopped being such a substantial fool and am driven by the desire to play something narratively forceful during my miniature vacation this summer, but only equipped with my Android tablet, I remembered No beef II is part of an vigorous Netflix subscriber. And that’s great! His Really Great! It makes more mistakes than the original, parts of the story don’t quite come together (perhaps because of the choices I made it doesn’t really explain why the two main characters are so hostile towards teenage Olivia), but it is once again a stunning triumph vocal performances and an intriguing (though frustratingly unbelievable – radios don’t work like that!) plot. I’m very close to the end and I can’t wait to finally find out how it all ends. —John Walker
