You’re sitting around a bonfire on the beach. Only one other person here is somebody you can confidently call your friend, but you’re trying to make the best of it. The sound of waves keeps you calm. But it’s still pretty uncomfortable. You’re not necessarily the most outgoing person, and in fact it seems like maybe, just maybe, you’re not as well liked as you’d hoped you are.

In “Oxenfree”, a graphic adventure mystery game released last year, the presentation and atmosphere of a scene like this shows you the thoughts expressed above, without ever spelling them out for you.

I played the PS4 version, which’ll run you $19.99 on the digital storefront. Developer Night School Studios created a startlingly simple experience that anyone can pick up and play. Despite its ease of use, it leaves a lasting impression long after finishing it.

Night School Studio’s commitment to atmosphere and setting is what really helps “Oxenfree” stand apart from its contemporaries. The haunting synth score punctuates everything with a sense of 90’s movie nostalgia, and the taut sound design infuses int game with hair raising tension without feeling intense or overwhelming. It presents what’s happening to the player directly, and allows your brain to put together the pieces of what you are feeling.

Above all else, the character writing and voice acting bring everything to life. The games zoomed out perspective leaves all emotion to be conveyed through dialogue, but the game’s cast brings their A-game. Everything feels flowing and natural, with the actors speaking, acting, and even pitch their voices to match the teenage characters they portray. There’s a naturalism to the game’s dialogue system, where the player is free to interrupt or wait for others to finish speaking before jumping in, and the window to say something is only as long as it would reasonably make sense in the conversation.

The game’s not perfect. Its supernatural elements are too literal to be treated metaphorically, yet too vague to be taken at face value. Certain choices feel obvious in retrospect. Worst of all, the game’s complex story system comes at the cost of the plot’s linearity. Inconsistencies in what the character has or hasn’t experienced slide in from time to time.

But in spite of these minor issues, the choices you make feel weighty, and the game’s commitment to immersing you forces you to take your choices seriously. The consequences of those choices are never immediate, so, like in life, you stay the course and hope everything turns out alright, even though there’s no way to know for sure what’ll happen next, and whether or not you’ll like what happens.

Like most modern adventure games, “Oxenfree” offers up a branching storyline in which your choices and conversations have lasting consequences. I’ll avoid spoiling any specific choice or plot point in the game; The immersive universe of this game puts it well above most of its contemporaries, and is something you should experience yourself.