OFF

The most influential jRPG of the bunch. The father of Omori, Undertale, and countless others. Truly a unique narrative, almost making fun of the jRPG core gameplay

Finished playing “OFF” last night, honestly a **** class RPG (which Kate narrated for me, really drove home the tone of the game thank you) I knew a bit about the game going into it as Kate explained the plot and a hint of the ending a while back, but nothing truly prepared me for what this game had to **** game really is like catching lightning in a bottle, it has so much charm and creativity, it’s cryptic and horrifying; not in the scary jumpscare sense, but it’s existential as ****. It tackles morality better than any game I’ve ever played, after finishing the game (and pondering throughout playing) it made me think for a good while, it’s one of those games at really makes you think and get excited for. I think the writing and pacing of OFF is perfection, it leaves enough mystery and weirdly cryptic dialogue to make you ponder, but it doesn’t spoon feed you “deep lore”, it’s incredibly humble in its writing and perfectly cryptic enough to give you chills. It’s also good at not going overboard with that dread factor, there’s enough weirdness, twists and turns that makes it a perfect experience. There’s so many clever choices made in this game that I’ve not seen before in a game or many forms of media, it’s hard to explain without spoiling but the game is full of surprises and I adore how it is executed. The dilemma between the batter and the judge is clever and makes you ponder what is morally right the more you uncover about this odd world, there’s also a bit of 4th wall breaking throughout the game too which isn’t some edgy “look at how clever this is lol”, but it’s more a necessary plot point about the game as a whole; as in if you, the player (who is acknowledged by some characters as an entity puppeteering the batter), has a role in the outcome of this world by simply not playing the game is a decision therefore what is to come cannot happen. I love turn based combat and as simple as it is it’s so cool, the art in the battle sequences are ace, it’s a driving point for the game and makes each encounter interesting. The system works really well, it’s balanced and the wording of the battles makes sense, it’s all quite ominous how a lot of this game is written. Even the dialogue from the batter is flat and unnerving, he spouts some terrifying one liners at times. The music too is, **** wacky, and it works so well for the atmosphere of the world around you and the battle sequences. The final part of the game is where the music drives that terror factor home. I could go on but I’ve said enough so I’ll conclude with this.Some people may not agree or see it, but from experiencing OFF like this it feels like such a special game, it was intriguing from start to finish with a sick world, neat game mechanics, great OST, and brilliant writing. This game is simple but works so **** well, it’s perfect in my eyes and I can see why it’s such an inspiration ****. Love it so much, I’ll definitely play it again one day.