Oakenfold Review

Game: Oakenfold
Genre: Strategy, Indie.
System: Steam (Windows)
Developer | Publisher: Rutger van Dijk | Studio Taghua
Controller Support: No, Keyboard & Mouse.
Price: US $17.99 | UK £15.29 | EU €16,64
Release Date: November 17th, 2022

Review code used, with many thanks to Pirate PR. 

Defined as a “clever time-reversible strategy game,” Oakenfold is here to entertain all RTS (Real Time Strategy) players, especially those who enjoy games like Into the Breach. It has the mechanics and flows you would expect for a game of its genre, with roguelike features that keep things different every run. Yet, Oakenfold is not just another turn-based strategy game. It separates from others thanks to a time-reversible mechanic that allows the player to return on his moves and actions. Learning to take advantage of this skill is vital to surviving this challenging experience.

Developed by just one person called Rutger van Dijk, Oakenfold is a unique experience, but still, it feels familiar to similar games that share some of its features. Playing it brings some relatedness to Slay the Spire regarding the procedurally generated directions the player can take in each run. It is a game worth exploring and offers a pretty challenging difficulty, even in the most accessible mode.

Get to the Oakenfold!

The story is set in an apocalyptic world that was taken to the brink of destruction because of humanity and their extraction of Dilithium, a resource taken from the Earth’s core. Then the Biocides appeared. They are creatures that try to finish what is left of the last humans. The only salvation for the remaining survivors is to find the last of Dilithium and escape Earth’s demise with the Oakenfold.

Built as a space colony to abandon Earth and live in space, the Oakenfold is the only way humans will survive the planet’s inevitable destruction. It is up to Asha, a skilful woman with various gadgets and weapons, to collect the remaining Dilithium while dealing with the deadly Biocides.

Mechanics & Gameplay

This game will feel very familiar and easy to learn for people who know RTS games, and for those new to this type of mechanics, it is pretty explanatory. The dedication that was put into the gameplay is recognizable compared to the rest of the Oakenfold elements. It is clear and has a fast-learning curve when getting acquainted with the game, but sometimes it can become a bit confusing having too many things to learn very quickly in the game.

When you begin a run, you pick between three mindsets: Survival, Agile and Scientific. Each has a different representation of Asha and, of course, different abilities to deal with the Biocides. The abilities are always the same on every mindset, but the player can attack upgrades that improve the ability and make each run more different from the last one.  

The map of the game shows the different roads the player can take. Each route with randomly generated locations and side quest changes every run. This gives vibes similar to Slay the Spire‘s road map but is a little more simplified. In each area, Asha has to survive waves of Biocides that try to destroy the player’s crates. This is where the game begins to show its complexity and challenge.  

To survive the waves of Biocides, Asha has to move, push, pull, attack, or design a clever plan to survive and protect the crates she brings with her. If the enemy destroys a certain number of crates or Asha loses all her life bar, that game is over, and the player needs to start a new run.

Plan with Time on your Side

What makes Oakenfold‘s strategy entertaining is that the player has all the information and accessibility to their favour. Enemies also show their next move and attack direction, and as it was mentioned before, Asha can use her TimeScrubber skill. The player has 12 moves per turn to move, attack, or/and position Asha before the enemies make their moves.

The twist of this mechanic is that the player can rewind or unwind each move if the outcome isn’t as expected. Of course, once the turn is skipped or over, the player cannot undo the previous turn, but this feature gives much tactical freedom to play with. Getting the juice out of the TimeScrubber is what highlights Oakenfold over others.

There is much more to know about Oakenfold mechanics, as it is a game with varied content and quite a few things to have in mind every run. It starts with a simple concept, but once you realize it, it becomes as complex as possible. The boss fights of each area are no exception, making it tougher to fight, protect crates and deal with a colossal Biocide ready to make Asha’s life a nightmare.

Engaging and Replayability

Faithful to its genre as a strategy-roguelike game, Oakenfold has more modes and elements that contribute to its audience engagement. Other than the classical runs, there is a weekly challenge; there are high scores and space for future updates, events, or characters. It is a game made for playing much more than once and beating numerous times. Nevertheless, it can become monotonous to play with the same mindsets and upgrades without some new content in the future.

The game does attempt to make the player compare his scores with friends or other people, but for this to be a popular feature, there must be more motivational aspects to push players to get higher scores. Be that rewards or something else.

Visuals and Audio

Oakenfold’s art style does deserve mention, mainly because of the Biocides and bosses. Most of the assets felt matching and attractive to the eye. Asha’s actions, on the other hand, felt a bit more basic or simple. Other than that, the sound wasn’t excellent or bad. The sound effects were spot on, but the in-game background music got old for me very quickly.

Conclusion

No matter the issues or unpolished aspects mentioned before, Oakenfold deserves praise for its entertaining blend of mechanics. Regardless of the lack of depth in the story, or the elements that could still be improved, this game has much to offer and might be what players from this genre are looking for. Its gameplay is very well thought out and has many ways to challenge the player. For players who enjoyed games like Into the Breach, this might be for you.

Final Verdict: I Like it