Welcome to 2008. The heyday of the Xbox 360, and the International Year of the Potato. Obama was also first elected, and Bitcoin was introduced. Amongst all of this, a bizarre indie RPG known as OFF released on the RPG Maker website, entirely in French.
A fan translation arrived in 2011 to a Velvet Underground-esque reaction. Not everyone played it. But many of those that did went on to create their own inspired games. We’re drowning in a sea of RPGs this year, so is this new version of OFF worth playing?
Let’s start by breaking it down. OFF is really a rather simple RPG with an abstract art style and story. You play as the Batter – a blank canvas sprite of a baseball batter, who uses typical RPG mechanics to ‘purify’ the world of ghosts and spirits. This is achieved by going through four zones, solving puzzles and fighting turn-based battles.
Fights take a familiar turn. You’ll be pushed into a battle screen where you attack, defend, flee or use special abilities called ‘Competences’. You can recruit extra members to your party who all have their own ‘Competences’ and can level yourself up with equipment and so on. It’s mostly standard fare. If you’re looking for an RPG with deep mechanics and a battle system with layers and intricacies, that you can play with and manipulate so that attacks increase and evolve, look somewhere else.
The RPG elements in OFF are simply there to give you something tangible to grasp onto as it locks you into its unconventional world and eerie atmosphere. It’s like the Wicker Man luring you into its horror by using the trappings of a detective film.
OFF’s atmosphere is the whole point, I think, and the entire thing comes together well. The graphics are abstract enough to be unsettling, using big, chunky sprites and odd drawings. They also evolve throughout the game, becoming increasingly detailed and horrific as the story progresses. I’m not sure if this is deliberate or a result of the developers gaining more confidence as they grew their pixel art skills.
The music and sound effects add to the feeling of claustrophobia. Especially the inhaling sound the villagers of the zones make, which is both irritating and unsettling. It’s no surprise that Toby Fox has contributed to this re-release’s soundtrack, as there’s clearly a lot of OFF in Undertale.
It plays with the medium in fun ways. Whilst you kind of play as the Batter, there is a pretty clear delineation between you and the character, with multiple points and characters in the game being aware of the separation. I’d advise to keep a pen handy, as puzzles often require you to note things down or take a reference. I will be honest; I sneakily looked at a guide for some of the more difficult or abstract brain teasers. You might want to do the same as it’s a weird mash up of difficulties. The fights lean towards the easy side, whereas some puzzles can lean more towards being infuriating.
The game world is certainly unique, and it does a great job of pushing its weird atmosphere centre stage. It’s also a perfect weekend game, requiring a time input of around seven hours. If you’re an Undertale fan, you should buy this straight away. If you’re the kind of person who loves delving into a unique world and exploring its pockets and corners, OFF gives you a lot to delve into.
I did, however, find OFF difficult to love. I can see the interesting decisions, and appreciate how it creates an unsettling atmosphere, but I never found myself being pulled back to play it. This results in something difficult to score. For a certain type of player, such as someone who loves Undertale and is keen to explore its influences, and someone who loves abstract worlds that they can luxuriate in, this is a ten out of ten game and an essential play. For some people, OFF is going to be a core tenet of their personalities.
For me, who needs a bit more humanity in his stories, this is a competent RPG with interesting puzzles, with a unique story and atmosphere, but something that’s difficult to fully love. I guess either way, it’s worth a play to find out which side of the fence you land on.
Fangamer’s OFF is out now on Switch.