Developed and Published By: Fangamer
Category: RPG
Release Date: 08.15.25
Price: $14.99
*Game Download Code graciously provided for the purpose of review
I never played the original OFF developed by Unproductive Fun Time. Hell, I haven’t even heard of it until the start of this year. But once I saw it for the first time in January, I noticed that it was popping up everywhere. But at the time, I wasn’t too interested in it, and I thought it was being over-hyped.
But that was before I found out that Toby Fox was working on the soundtrack and I began doing some more research. That’s when I started noticing all the similarities to Undertale, including that this was one of the inspirations.
So I joined in on the hype and patiently waited for its release. I was able to learn more about it while I was at PAX East in May, and then it finally released in August. As someone who never played the original, but loved Undertale and other games in the genre, was the hype worth it?
The protagonist of OFF is simply known as The Batter, his only objective being to purify the world. We don’t truly know what that means at the start, but as you learn more about the world and characters, some of your choices on the matter influence the ending.
One cool concept about the story is that you’re not controlling The Batter in the traditional sense. He’s completely under your control but he knows that it’s you, the player, controlling him. Many of the other characters know as well. I really like when games go this route, like with OneShot, so I was fully invested in seeing where the story took us.
The world is broken into multiple colorful zones that must be purified by beating powerful specters. Combat is pretty simple, utilizing an active time, turn based system that includes unique “party” members and the ability to see when a critical hit will land in advance.
Personally, I think the combat was a bit bland though and would get very easy very fast. There were times where I would just spam attacks so that I could get back to progressing the story. Boss battles and other certain encounters were a different story though.
That’s really all there is to say about OFF. It has a weird atmospheric vibe with a hint of creepiness, and it really makes you get philosophical at times. This might not be for everyone, but I enjoyed the world building and story way more than the combat and exploration.
OFF is an interesting and thought provoking RPG. You should be able to beat it in under ten hours, which is solid for its $14.99 price tag. I can’t say how much of an improvement it is over the original, but it’s an enjoyable experience overall.
8/10
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