Video video games are a malleable medium. Some video games are about conquering a problem, filled 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 concept of being a online game, opting to focus as an alternative 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 parents attempting to benefit from 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 persona.

Coming from a small, gifted crew, We Are OFK is a weird experiment. Telling a narrative episodically is nothing new, however this title approaches issues otherwise sufficient that in the event you are available anticipating a Telltale-style title, you may stroll away upset. We Are OFK shares extra similarities with a tv present than a recreation in a number of methods. Indeed, the episodes even embrace runtimes. Not an approximation, or some coy ballpark estimate, however a tough quantity, all the way down to the minute, identical to an episode of a TV present. The episodes vary from 52 minutes, all the best way as much as 84 minutes with the season finale.

The writing feels fairly comparable in each construction and pacing to a tv collection, too, however most significantly, it hits the excessive mark you’d anticipate out of an excellent present in high quality. Most of the conversations are beautifully written, deftly mixing mundanity with severity, offering a believability that actually 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: demise, melancholy, and maybe most apparently, work-life stability. This consists of an surprising dialogue on online game crunch, a typically sensitive topic that nonetheless impacts seemingly each sector of the trade. The scene in query even explicitly mentions the Games and Online Harassment Hotline, an actual organisation. While crunch and burnout aren’t focal factors of the story, the actual fact they’re current in any respect may be very fascinating.

Each character affords an outlined persona with needs, wants, motivations, and quirks that stretch effectively past their position within the band. They have lives that exist and transfer even when the digital camera isn’t watching. Their lives evolve and alter between episodes, typically even between scenes, although not every part is convincingly conveyed to you. On some events, this will probably 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 individual. But at different occasions, you’ll really feel out of types with the story. The recreation does tend to throw a number of names at you, and typically, 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 downside will increase because the episodes go on.

In basic, the pacing loosens up because the collection 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 few 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 path 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 wise utilization of pastels and distinction to make issues pop, there’s barely a scene in the entire collection with out one thing of actual curiosity to have a look at. Which is nice, as a result of wanting is the predominant approach you work together with We Are OFK.

Gameplay – when it reveals up – normally looks like an afterthought. The overwhelming majority of your interplay with the title will probably be selecting dialogue choices. The recreation does neatly borrow a dialogue thought from Kentucky Route Zero, the place the dialogue you don’t decide nonetheless helps to tell the persona of a given character. Whether an internal monologue, a dialog, or a textual content chat, you’ll hardly ever take part in something exterior the purview of dialog.

It looks like a missed alternative, too, contemplating the sport focuses on music. There are a mess of moments that might have lent themselves to rhythm gameplay brilliantly, however decide to sit down you on the sidelines, merely watching. The interactive music movies that shut out every episode are just a little extra concerned, however the gameplay that reveals up right here is normally simply one thing to fill the time whereas the music performs. They supply nothing of actual consequence and barely quantity to greater than strolling.

On the intense facet, the songs from the in-game band that shut out every episode are unbelievable. There’s not a dud amongst them, and every is best than the final. Both the songs by OFK, and the normal 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 a number of conventional gameplay, however the characters are so well-realised and the writing so robust that although there’s not a lot so that you can do throughout every of the episodes, the act of being there and listening stays extremely participating. Between the robust artwork and soundtrack, there’s quite a bit to love, even when there’s not quite a bit to play.