After Xenoblade Chronicles 3 hit somewhat too near dwelling, I used to be trying ahead to We Are OFK as a lighter, extra informal expertise to take the sting off and chill out somewhat bit. What I bought was a sport that hit more durable than something I might’ve imagined.
It’s exhausting to clarify, precisely, what We Are OFK is. It’s somewhat little bit of a music sport – but it surely’s actually not a rhythm sport – and it’s somewhat little bit of a choice-based narrative sport — but it surely’s actually not massive on decisions. It’s massive on narrative, nonetheless, taking the type of a 5-episode miniseries, every episode lasting about an hour, give or take. It’s a passive expertise at its core, what you’re watching will play out just about the identical irrespective of the way you work together with it, and the alternatives you make aren’t notably consequential. That’s okay. If I wished to interrupt out the advertising dictionary, I’d say it’s a cross-format multimedia expertise, an interactive webshow tied to the discharge of a music EP, that serves as a launching platform for the semi-fictional band OFK. However I don’t wish to try this, as a result of We Are OFK is simply… We Are OFK.
Our story performs out within the coronary heart of downtown LA. It’s an alienating place at the perfect of instances, full of tradition and folks I’ll by no means perceive. I believed that may assist me really feel somewhat indifferent from the expertise. It didn’t. We open on certainly one of our protagonists, Itsumi, a social media coordinator for a giant video games firm that I’m positive isn’t imagined to mirror any real-life firm. Itsumi is a large number of chaotic queer power, bouncy and in every single place in the perfect and the worst methods. She’s a classical pianist, with a fairly large live performance alternative developing, however she’s additionally within the throes of what appears to be a fairly messy break up. She leans on her mates (who we’ll discuss later), however she’s additionally carrying the load of the world on her shoulders. That’s a troublesome place to be in, and also you get the sense fairly early on that issues are going to disintegrate. In every other sport, you would possibly have the ability to stop that, or mitigate the fallout somewhat bit. Right here, you get no such alternative. She’s going to make dangerous decisions, do dumb issues, react in horrible methods, identical to lots of people would. Itsumi just isn’t like me, however she is rather a lot like lots of people I care very deeply about, and it’s exhausting to not really feel connected and engaged with what she’s going by.
The following of our protagonists is Luca. He’s a story author for a similar definitely-not-real video games firm (although, as you’ll see, that doesn’t precisely go fairly as deliberate), a singer, songwriter, and the sort of man who’ll spend hours swiping by courting apps to seek out The One and obsessing over each match as if that is it. He additionally struggles together with his personal inventive output, in some methods far too happy with all the things he does, and in some methods ashamed and afraid of all of it. He’s indecisive and uncertain, frustratingly flaky and indifferent, and is much far too obsessive about the concept of a Christmas music that just about actually is a technique to deflect on having to replicate too deeply on the true, heartfelt work he’s doing. He’s additionally a bisexual man, in a media panorama with extremely few examples of illustration. Bi guys are virtually actually a dime a dozen within the hills of LA, however they’re not in video games, or TV, or motion pictures. Which brings us to Carter.
God I really like Carter. They’re a quiet, contained, non-binary particular person of color, a demographic that has even much less (see: zero) illustration on-screen. They’re a VFX artist, an inventor, they usually’re simply the perfect character within the sport. A wave of calm amongst the chaos, however with a tragic, usually unhealthy story effervescent underneath the floor. Carter is nearly actually underutilised in We Are OFK, popping up right here and there to be concerned in everybody else’s tales, however with out ever actually being part of them. I feel that’s largely okay, truthfully, and their soothing presence and indifferent manner is smart after we be taught extra about them within the second-to-last episode within the sport. I’d wish to have seen extra of Carter’s involvement, and it feels somewhat bit just like the holographic cat they create (Debug, an lovable little creature) takes extra of the centre stage than Carter themself does. Nonetheless, their episode is the strongest of the 5, and whereas (like Carter) it’s largely indifferent from the remainder of the story at play, it’s coronary heart wrenching and uncomfortable in a means that feels prefer it at all times needed to be.
After which there’s Jey, the 50-foot-tall lesbian goddess/audio engineer who has captured my adoration. She’s a superb one who makes dangerous decisions, as all of us do generally. Jey is passionate and highly effective, however on the similar time uncertain and unclear about what the longer term holds. She’s clearly a proficient producer, however there’s strain from her dad and mom to seek out and do one thing secure and safe. She’s risk-averse, and has each cause to be, but it surely’s self-destructive and he or she’s each well-aware of that and does little to vary it. She tries so extremely exhausting to forestall herself from turning into emotionally concerned in a lot of something in any respect, which as you’d anticipate, is a little bit of a recipe for catastrophe. Feelings will come, and you must really feel them, as a result of in case you don’t and simply bottle them up, in the end that cork is gonna pop and also you’re gonna do one thing reckless and silly that finally ends up hurting individuals. Think about that.
These characters come collectively in a messy, chaotic combine, with the hopes to kind a band (the titular OFK), make music, and escape the tedium of on a regular basis life. It’s not a straightforward journey, and there’s heartbreak and upset alongside the way in which, but it surely’s a narrative that displays the lives of the individuals who’re telling it. After I say it’s messy, too, I’m not joking. There’s free threads, you’ll be bouncing in every single place, there’s stuff you received’t see that you simply in all probability ought to have, and issues you will note that you would’ve completed with out. I’m a giant fan of this explicit sort of mess, and I feel it makes the expertise distinctive and fascinating… however your mileage could range. That goes for lots about this sport, actually.
We Are OFK is a sport by, about, and for LGBTQ+ individuals. In the event you’re not queer, you would possibly wrestle to see the attraction past its flashy (and very good) music movies. However as a queer particular person myself, I see somewhat little bit of myself in every of those characters. I’m a queer, bisexual inventive that struggles to make the leap, identical to Luca. I’m an anxious mess of intense feelings and wasted inventive power, identical to Itsu. I’m a quiet, calm, and picked up presence in most eventualities, identical to Carter. And I’m a (former) audio engineer with a ardour for music however a want to maintain myself closed off from others and never take dangers, identical to Jey. I see much more of those characters in my mates and family members. I used to be instantly sucked into the lives of this band-to-be, I cared about them deeply, I harm once they bought harm and I cried when dangerous issues occurred to them. It is likely to be tough for lots of people to care about these unashamedly queer, unashamedly millennial dorks, doing their dorky music factor, however for me it was like seeing the lives of me and my mates play out on display screen, in a means I didn’t assume I’d ever see. It’s an expertise that feels purposely made particularly for me and folks like me, and which means it’s in all probability going to be divisive.
What I feel will probably be (hopefully) rather less divisive is the music, as a result of goodness me, it’s completely implausible. I didn’t assume I used to be a lot of a fan of this explicit model of pop music till I heard it and skilled it in-game, and now every music in We Are OFK might be in my prime 50 (I hearken to numerous music, okay, it’s exhausting to slender it down a lot additional). Every episode has a music sequence, often occurring proper in the direction of the tip of the episode however generally a teensy bit sooner. The songs are carefully matched to line up with what’s taking place within the sport, and provide a implausible little bit of synergy that’s not often seen in lyrical online game music. I don’t know if the music was written first after which the sport’s narrative adopted, or vice versa, or they have been developed deeply in tandem, however they match completely.
Observe/Unfollow is the sport’s headlining monitor, and it’s a implausible, high-energy bop that’s heavy in synth and coronary heart. The vocal efficiency is completely wonderful, as with each monitor that follows, and the instrumentation is highly effective and overbearing in a means that feels proper for these characters and this band. The second episode’s monitor, Idiot’s Gold, takes a extra sombre tone, with some reversed audio clips which are at instances uncomfortable and at instances ethereal and comforting. It’s in all probability my favorite of the songs, musically, however the way in which others, like Infuriata, play out on display screen made way more of an impression general. It’s exhausting to speak about this type of music in a sport evaluate, as a result of it’s all actually about The Vibe of all of it. And The Vibe hits proper each single time.
As for the gameplay elements, effectively, there’s probably not a lot right here. The overwhelming majority of We Are OFK performs out in a visible novel-style format, the place you’re watching greater than taking part in. You’ll make little choices right here and there, in conversations and textual content chains scattered all through the expertise, however these decisions don’t impression the story in any notably significant means. It’s extra such as you’re crafting your personal explicit picture of those characters in how they work together with one another; the conversations that occur and the implications of these conversations will occur it doesn’t matter what you decide, however the heat-of-the-moment dialogue is formed somewhat bit by these decisions. The music movies provide somewhat extra interactivity, providing a number of little WarioWare-style microgames because the music performs out. There’s no fail state, no win state, you may’t do a foul job, precisely. They’re simply one thing foolish and enjoyable to do whereas the music performs out, and that’s nice! I want a few of them had been somewhat extra clear, there have been instances the place I wasn’t positive if I used to be in management, and if I used to be, what I used to be imagined to be doing, however as I mentioned, it’s foolish little timewaster stuff that doesn’t actually matter past being a Factor to Do.
As for the way the expertise holds up on Swap, it’s pretty strong, general. I had two exhausting crashes, which was somewhat bit irritating, however there’s a really beneficiant and well-timed autosave system that meant I truly didn’t must replay/watch a single second I’d already seen. Apart from that, the sport appears good, sounds good, performs effectively, simply as you’d anticipate from a sport that’s as mild on interactivity as this one.
There’s additionally somewhat little bit of an odd scenario across the launch of We Are OFK. It’s being launched episodically, but it surely’s additionally sort of not? In the event you obtain the sport at launch, you’ll have the primary two episodes obtainable to you, with the opposite three episodes releasing weekly after that. They’re all included within the obtain, the episodes are 100% completed and able to go, and I’ve even performed all of them, however you received’t get to play them . It’s a call I perceive, that is as a lot a restricted TV collection as it’s a sport, and permitting time to have the story beats sit and stew in your mind is essential to that have. Nonetheless, it’s prone to be some extent of frustration for some gamers, so in case you can’t see your self coming again week after week, it is likely to be higher to attend til all of the episodes can be found and play them multi function massive five-hour block.
We Are OFK is a splendidly queer and splendidly consultant expertise, even when it’s not precisely what most individuals would take into account “a sport”. Like something of this nature, a lot of what you get out of it comes from what you place into it. It’s an expertise formed by who you’re, and the life you’ve lived. It received’t be for everyone, but it surely actually was for me. There’s numerous issues that could possibly be modified or improved, however even when I had the possibility to take action, I don’t assume I’d change a single factor about it.
Ranking: 4.5/5
