Background
It's been a minute since I published a game review on my blog. The last one I finished was a Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth review in late 2015, almost exactly three years ago (here it is!). So what took me so long? Basically a combination of work at RPGFan (especially The Retro Encounter podcast) and some embarrassment at being unable to finish my gaming goals. But today that all changes, and I'm ready to write a game review again.
OFF is an indie game made in Belgium 10 years ago, and since developed a sizeable worldwide following. It was suggested as an option for an episode of Retro Encounter's indie games month earlier this year, and the results of my limited research into OFF were so delightfully strange that I obliged. Two other RPGFan friends and I played it for the podcast and had a... good time, but a weird time. This was in January, so this review is long, long overdue.
(And wow, the title to this post is kinda dirty. But now of course I have to keep it.)
Story and Characters
Off is a story of The Batter, who finds himself stranded in a world divided into distinct zones, each filled with struggling denizens haunted by ghosts and monsters. The Batter is (mostly) stoic and determined to rid the world of these ghosts, in particular a powerful Guardian boss at the end of each zone. These zones are mysterious and twisted, from a corporate nightmare in Zone 1 to a sugar factory that consumes its own workers in Zone 3.
Avoiding spoilers (the game is only 5 hours, come on), OFF starts out as a simple "defeat the bad monsters" story through an unusual setting, and then moves to a pretty twisted place for its endgame. By the end of the game I was asking myself questions like "is the Batter the villain?" and "is the Batter more of a concept than a real character?"
In general, OFF's story is brief (again, only five hours), and has enough questions and moments to be worth the runtime. The four Guardians are pretty crazy monsters, and the encounters with them are at least interesting. I in general enjoyed OFF's story, but with the caveat that it's psychedelic and abstract and not the kind of story that's easy to understand start to finish.
OFF plays like a traditional Japanese RPG, with combat being turn-based with The Batter lined up at one side and the villains lined up on the other, and taking turns using a real-time speed meter. Enemy encounters are usually random, unless it's a boss. Navigating the world is at a top-down view, not unlike a Final Fantasy or Dragon Quest game for the SNES.
The gamespaces and "dungeons" (if you can really them that) in OFF can be fairly lengthy and challenging, especially the shopping area in Zone 2 and the factory in Zone 3. Number puzzles and word puzzles feature prominently in OFF's dungeons, and at one point I decided to check an online guide for a solution to save time (it was the factory). I didn't mind it. The battles weren't challenging, but I had to stay on my toes to win. Maybe I've just played too many RPGs?
There is a rudimentary equipment system in OFF, and at certain points you can find allies to join your party scattered throughout the world (they are expressionless, silent circles that join you like Gradius Options). Near the endgame you can re-explore conquered zones for more challenging enemies and powerful equipment, but I only explored one of the three zones a second time. In general, OFF's basic gameplay mechanics are rudimentary and nothing special (moreso in battle), but interesting enough for me to keep playing. And the puzzles are solid.
Visuals and Audio
OFF uses somewhat crude pixel art for most of its spaces, with lots of bold colors but almost no textures - they reminded me of the interiors of houses in Earthbound. Special characters like the cat who guides the Batter in his quest and the Guardian boss monsters have much more elaborate sprites, but for the most part OFF looks lower-budget than some games made by RPG Maker.
The sprite work in battle is striking. The battle sprites are hand-drawn and monochromatic, like the sketchbook of a young adult drawing vivid nightmares. Highlights include a massive phoenix emerging from the corpse of a possessed cat and the giant ghost babies encountered in the late-game. I got seriously creeped out by a few enemy encounters in OFF.
The audio in OFF is... also a little scary. The music is deliberately dissonant, with pleasant tunes usually giving way to nightmarish versions of themselves, like a music box malfunctioning until its gears grind. There's also strange use of voiceover in certain tracks. I've been avoiding this phrase this entire episode, but the OFF sound work is... sometimes off-putting.
The Final Word
I enjoyed OFF as a throwback JRPG-styled game, and was pretty impressed with its tone and themes overall. It doesn't have very compelling gameplay, but as a vehicle for this unsettling artwork and storytelling I dug it. This game stuck with me, even though I finished it in the first week of January this year, almost eleven months ago. Playing through OFF at least made for a fun podcast recording, which of course is always worth it. If any of that sounds interesting, OFF is a free download in several places, requiring only a cursory internet search. At zero dollars and five hours it's probably worth trying.
Games Beaten: 2018 Edition
1. OFF
2. Chroma Squad
3. The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening
4. Batman: The Telltale Series
5. Monster Hunter World
6. Batman: The Enemy Within
7. Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars
8. The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap
9. Professor Layton Vs. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney
10. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
11. The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
12. The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons
13. Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete
14. Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana
15. Pokemon Moon
16. Pokemon Black
17. The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages
18. Suikoden II
19. Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age
20. Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze
21. Mega Man 11
22. The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds
23. Mega Man X
24. Pokemon Soul Silver
25. 999: Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors
26.
Targets: 6/12
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Sheesh, look at all those games. And they don't even include a few abandoned playthroughs from the summer months. Ideally I get that list up to the 30-32 range before the end of the year, but it's looking increasingly unlikely. Goals are to finish Shadows: Awakening, God of War, Tales of Berseria, Tomb Raider (2013), Broken Age, Return of the Obra Dinn, and a PS1 game or two before the end of the year. Not sure I can swing it, but I'll try.
Blog-wise, I'm going to try and post two more posts on the year: one tokusatsu review and one year-end video games article. That would bring my blogging total up to 20 posts, which is beyond my expectations. I'll be quite happy if it turns out that way (which I'm pretty sure it will).
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