Off

This review contains spoilers for Off and Undertale

I actually only played Off because one of my friends loved the game. It originally didn't capture my interest. I initially started watching just a playthrough before deciding to just actually play the game myself. If there was something I was actually good at, it was turn based rpg combat. Wow, and no sudden chase sequences I would die a million times to. I'm looking at you again, The Witch's House.

I thought the twist that killing the guardians was killing all life in the Zones, that I and the Batter were not just killing spectres, was always interesting. Looking back a decade later and after spending much of my early college life obsessed with Undertale, I have a lot more thoughts on the game. There are actually a lot of similarities, in a way. There is a deception to the player on what your actions are truly causing. In Undertale, it's the reveal from Sans that EXP and LV (or LOVE) stood for execution points and level of violence. That playing the game like a normal RPG where you kill monsters and move on with your life is destroying this world, and should you take it to its fullest extent, leads to an empty and terrified underground, much like killing the Guardians kills all life in the Zones. Both games are hyper aware of the fact that you, the player, are in control and not so much the characters you play as (and then, of course, subverts this when each character expresses their autonomy, though you see this more in Deltarune than Undertale itself.)

The fun of looking back on Off now is seeing its influence on a later game, beloved worldwide, that had a much greater grip on me than Off ever did. For what Off is, it's a masterpiece. It does not overstay its welcome and its influence is felt all throughout many different RPGMaker games. I'm certain it's the cause of so many developers going for the shock twist route, but as the original, it has a much better grasp on how to execute this well.

I appreciate Off most for what it gave us moving forward: inspiration. I'd honestly like to tell everyone who enjoys Undertale to go back and play Off if they never have, though I wouldn't tell them to read this review as their reason why. Like Undertale, it should be experienced by going in blind. So go find an Undertale fan near you and tell them to play Off.