Video video games are a malleable medium. Some video games are about conquering a problem, stuffed with inputs and interactivity, with a close to limitless variety of approaches for full a problem. Others nonetheless strip interactivity again to such a level that they’re merely paying lip-service to the thought of being a online game, opting to focus as a substitute on feelings or telling an evocative story above all else. We Are OFK firmly falls underneath the latter, telling the formative story of a fictional band nonetheless making actual music.
We Are OFK affords a peek on the lives of a handful of oldsters making an attempt to take advantage of issues within the coronary heart of Los Angeles. There’s Itsumi, a pianist-for-hire; Luca, a recreation developer with a ardour for singing; Carter, a technological wizard with an digital pet, Debug; and Jey, a music producer with an intimidating character.
Coming from a small, gifted staff, We Are OFK is a weird experiment. Telling a narrative episodically is nothing new, however this title approaches issues otherwise sufficient that for those who are available anticipating a Telltale-style title, you would possibly stroll away disenchanted. We Are OFK shares extra similarities with a tv present than a recreation in numerous methods. Certainly, the episodes even embrace runtimes. Not an approximation, or some coy ballpark estimate, however a tough quantity, right down to the minute, identical to an episode of a TV present. The episodes vary from 52 minutes, all the way in which as much as 84 minutes with the season finale.
The writing feels fairly comparable in each construction and pacing to a tv sequence, too, however most significantly, it hits the excessive mark you’d anticipate out of a very good present in high quality. Many of the conversations are beautifully written, deftly mixing mundanity with severity, offering a believability that basically sells the world. Many conversations centre on meals, alcohol, intercourse, relationships, and did we point out meals?
The voice work positively helps promote this, because the performances are phenomenal throughout the board. This excessive bar in high quality helps promote a few of the extra delicate topics the sport broaches: dying, melancholy, and maybe most curiously, work-life stability. This contains an surprising dialogue on online game crunch, a usually sensitive topic that nonetheless impacts seemingly each sector of the business. The scene in query even explicitly mentions the Video games and On-line Harassment Hotline, an actual organisation. Whereas crunch and burnout aren’t focal factors of the story, the very fact they’re current in any respect could be very fascinating.
Every character affords an outlined character with desires, wants, motivations, and quirks that stretch effectively past their function within the band. They’ve lives that exist and transfer even when the digital camera isn’t watching. Their lives evolve and alter between episodes, generally even between scenes, although not all the things is convincingly conveyed to you. On some events, this will likely be welcome in that it helps so as to add layers to the characters that sit beneath the floor, unknown to you, as could be the case with any actual particular person. However at different occasions, you’ll really feel out of types with the story. The sport does tend to throw numerous names at you, and generally, it’s unclear whether or not or not the sport expects you to know who these individuals are already, or if try to be simply discovering out about them. This drawback will increase because the episodes go on.
Typically, the pacing loosens up because the sequence runs its course. Characters have extra time for self-reflection, ruminating on each their private lives and their standing with the band, however at the price of strong pacing. The previous couple of episodes actually really feel their runtimes, and scenes sag with extra regularity. Inversely, the ending really feels rushed, harming the emotional weight of what transpires. The trail to reach at this second is satisfying sufficient by itself that the finale lacking the mark is palatable, however it’s disappointing.
Visually, the title is a deal with. Between a properly stylised look and unimaginable use of color, the sport brilliantly sells the Los Angeles setting. The title is each bit as vibrant because the personalities of the characters that inhabit it, making a visually arresting expertise from starting to finish. Between a sensible utilization of pastels and distinction to make issues pop, there’s barely a scene in the entire sequence with out one thing of actual curiosity to take a look at. Which is nice, as a result of trying is the predominant approach you work together with We Are OFK.
Gameplay – when it exhibits up – often looks like an afterthought. The overwhelming majority of your interplay with the title will likely be selecting dialogue choices. The sport does neatly borrow a dialogue thought from Kentucky Route Zero, the place the dialogue you don’t decide nonetheless helps to tell the character of a given character. Whether or not an internal monologue, a dialog, or a textual content chat, you’ll not often take part in something outdoors the purview of dialog.
It looks like a missed alternative, too, contemplating the sport focuses on music. There are a mess of moments that may have lent themselves to rhythm gameplay brilliantly, however choose to take a seat you on the sidelines, merely watching. The interactive music movies that shut out every episode are somewhat extra concerned, however the gameplay that exhibits up right here is often simply one thing to fill the time whereas the music performs. They provide nothing of actual consequence and infrequently quantity to greater than strolling.
On the intense facet, the songs from the in-game band that shut out every episode are incredible. There’s not a dud amongst them, and every is healthier than the final. Each the songs by OFK, and the standard rating for the sport are phenomenal, and actual highlights of the general bundle.
Conclusion
We Are OFK is an extremely well-written recreation that stretches the boundaries of the medium. There’s not numerous conventional gameplay, however the characters are so well-realised and the writing so sturdy that despite the fact that there’s not a lot so that you can do throughout every of the episodes, the act of being there and listening stays extremely partaking. Between the sturdy artwork and soundtrack, there’s lots to love, even when there’s not lots to play.