Before there was Undertale, there was OFF! I feel like OFF is not talked about as much as others from the list of quirky RPGs like Earthbound and Undertale. Also, I haven’t played any of these beloved classics, but after watching the trailer for OFF and not being able to comprehend anything from it. My interest was piqued. Don’t let the 8-bit graphics fool you OFF has a lot to offer with its funny dialogue, a strangely atmospheric setting and solid turn-based RPG gameplay. The games incorporation of a couple tedious puzzles and and lack of a memorable party bring the experience down a bit, but I am glad I didn’t write OFF this unconventional seven-hour adventure.
A curious tale
In this odd adventure you play as yourself! The game makes it clear that the soul of The Batter, the character you control, is the player. This batter is prompted with a divine mission to cleanse the zones of this off world. With the help and guidance of The Judge, a well-spoken cat that makes tons of fourth wall breaks. Not only is he amusing, but he helps point the batter get what he needs to confront the specters and corrupted guardians of the zones. Speaking of zones, they are all intriguingly built. There is fascinating lore to this world where the four elements of Plastic, Smoke, Metal, and Meat all play a role. It’s explained how these elements are pivotal to the existence of this world and each zone you visit within this world has inhabitants and their purpose is to create one of the elements. This lore took me by surprise, and it’s an aspect of OFF I enjoyed. The lore being incorporated into the gameplay even made it easier for me to buy into and immerse myself into this bizarre setting.
At the heart of OFF is solid turn-based RPG gameplay with its own unique twist. You might be used to a sensible strategy triangle such as fire being weak to water which is weak to electricity. But in OFF, specters are weak to metals, which resists meat, but meat is susceptible to plastic. After getting used to these unusual categories it’s fairly a straightforward turn-based RPG. At first they are pretty simple battles, but as the game progresses you will have to strategize how to defeat enemies. Certain enemies will make the batter “lethargic,” which means your cool down is longer, but one of your party members has an antidote to this status making it a crucial move to cure the batter, which is the heavy hitter of the part.
The Batter is joined by Alpha, Omega, and Epsilon on this bizarre adventure. As cool as it sounds to have the Greek alphabet as members of your party, they have no personality. I believe some of the most memorable parts of an RPG is your party, but Alpha, Omega, and Epsilon are literally just “add-ons.” No dialogue, nor do they even look any different. They’re all circles! Even in battle, it’s hard to tell the difference between the three. Maybe the symbolism of the Greek alphabet went over my head but having party members with no relation to the main characters feels like a missed opportunity. Thankfully, they are differentiated by move set which comes in handy. They all level up and learn different types of moves which helps make the battles feel a bit layered.
Puzzling puzzles
The puzzles that OFF throws at you are somewhat of a mixed bag, personally. There are some puzzles that really make you think. There is a balloon popping puzzle which I thought was deceivingly challenging to complete due to overlooking a key hint from an NPC which I thought was impressive. There was another clever puzzle where I had to decipher a code through button inputs. Puzzles like these were fun and satisfying to complete. The puzzles I disliked is where I had to recall a six digit password that was spread across two floors filled with random encounters. Another irritating puzzle where I had to answer questions based on 3 different posters to recall multiple (six) very specific details such as specific names of saints, or to recall the number of ‘3’s on the poster? Both of these puzzles pushed me to annoyingly pull out my phone and record the numbers and take pictures of the posters so I don’t have to go back and forth wasting my time. The fact that it had me take out my phone just pulled me out of the experience. But they were just those two puzzles, once I was got passed these two puzzles, I was able to immerse myself back into the atmospheric world of OFF.
Graphics and performance
I played OFF on my PC and it performs well enough. The game did crash on me once during a loading screen. Another issue which occurred frequently was an audio issue where the music would stutter when performing certain actions, such as talking to an NPC or entering and exiting an area. I would say that the audio issue actually enhanced the creepy off-putting situations of this game. When I was first hunting for specters underground the audio stuttered and I genuinely thought it was part of the game
OFF’s graphics are similar to those of an NES 8-bit game. Still with such simple graphics they are able to convey a lot of detail. I was personally struck by some of the creative designs of the enemies in this game. And by creative I mean downright spine chilling. Not just that, a lot of the sounds the characters make in this game are unsettling. This is why some of the audio stuttering enhances the atmosphere of this game. The game is all ready eerie to start but these designs and their artistic medium take it up a notch.
Conclusion
With this remaster of OFF, I feel like this is an opportunity for it to get some recognition it deserves like other obscure RPGs of the genre. With it finally coming to modern platforms, OFF was my first adventure of RPGs of this genre. I was astounded to find such a abnormal world that has such charming writing and creative lore. A lore that is thoroughly explained and by the end of the playthrough comes to an even deeper meaning for what things represent. The weirdness is everywhere from striking enemy designs and even the battle system matching the weirdness. There is a lot to love here, but the critiques I have most are the mind-numbing memory recollection puzzles that took me out of the experience and the lack of a memorable party. Still, this is a adequate adventure that is full of moments of laughter, disturbance that is one of kind.
The Review
Good
