Me and a few friends were doing a "watch-along" to this game as you could call it, and while it's not egregious or anything bad in it's own right, it's just alright overall.
There is some humorous moments, well-written moments, and generally decent things in it, but be wary that this is in no way a "game" that deserves that name, it's really and interactive TV show that is pretty okay at best.
There is some humorous moments, well-written moments, and generally decent things in it, but be wary that this is in no way a "game" that deserves that name, it's really and interactive TV show that is pretty okay at best.
all clicks when you find out the annoying one who keeps finding his way into every fucking scene is also the writer
Look /v/, I bet you didn't even play this, you just saw the trailer two years ago and creamed your pants when you saw the femboy. For better or worse, you were still right.
We Are OFK is an incredibly dull experience, showing us how it feels to be four people in Southern California trying to "make the band." And they do that by giving us the most boring, uninuitive and shallow origin story possible. There's no point in your choices, "gameplay" is just minor changes to the text, and each chapter ends with a music video you can barely interact with. These small bits are the payoff for some of the the most self-centered, insecure and downright cringe-tastic dialogue ever put in a VN. In fact, some of these characters are so privileged and financially comfortable that they have to invent new conflict so they can move the plot along. To make it short - We Are OFK is the most pretentious game that none of you played. For the few who did, our condolences.
We Are OFK is an incredibly dull experience, showing us how it feels to be four people in Southern California trying to "make the band." And they do that by giving us the most boring, uninuitive and shallow origin story possible. There's no point in your choices, "gameplay" is just minor changes to the text, and each chapter ends with a music video you can barely interact with. These small bits are the payoff for some of the the most self-centered, insecure and downright cringe-tastic dialogue ever put in a VN. In fact, some of these characters are so privileged and financially comfortable that they have to invent new conflict so they can move the plot along. To make it short - We Are OFK is the most pretentious game that none of you played. For the few who did, our condolences.
We Are OFK conta uma excelente história sobre seres humanos. Temos pessoas com problemas reais, fazendo o seu melhor para viver um dia de cada vez. O grande destaque com certeza é a evolução que estes personagens apresentam ao longo da história e como eles se esforçam para ultrapassar cada obstáculo, mesmo que nem sempre isto seja possível. Embora a história seja boa, o game acaba deixando a desejar em alguns poucos aspectos, que felizmente não atrapalham a imersão.
Por fim, We Are OFK é um jogo que recomendo para todos os jogadores que apreciam uma história interessante e bem escrita. Pois, além de uma excelente narrativa, o game consegue entregar um roteiro que cativa e faz os jogadores refletirem sobre as coisas mais importantes da vida.
Por fim, We Are OFK é um jogo que recomendo para todos os jogadores que apreciam uma história interessante e bem escrita. Pois, além de uma excelente narrativa, o game consegue entregar um roteiro que cativa e faz os jogadores refletirem sobre as coisas mais importantes da vida.
Full video review: https://youtu.be/dZXH3pqi4nY
This one has been on my radar since it was revealed at Summer Game Fest last year. It’s got a bright, poppy art style, some solid tunes, and targeted a niche that I’m generally a fan of. Now that all the episodes are out though, I’m left with just disappointment.
We Are OFK is an episodic adventure game centered around a group of friends trying to make a living in Los Angeles as musicians (the absolute classic). Of course, that is not an easy path, so a lot of the story is the little drama that pops up along the way towards this goal - my main complaint there being that a lot of it is just so predictable and not really all that interesting.
I will try to keep spoilers to a minimum. The producer character, for example, receives an offer from a big time musician to work full-time for him. Good pay, good benefits, but she will have to leave her friends behind and you bet the game makes the entire following arc about how “big music is soulless” and that it's the indies that truly shine. The bigshots are made out to be absolutely idiotic and even evil at times and the whole time I’m sitting there like - yeah, I could have written this in middle school, especially given how the characters fluctuate between acting that age and acting like adults.
I guess that comes with entering adulthood, but it also doesn’t help that the characters here all share very similar personality types - the “let’s go out and get some boba” every day type. As someone that used to live in Los Angeles, it’s actually impressive how overly “quirky” they made the characters here and the dialogue writing often makes it hard to take anything that’s going on seriously despite serious topics being discussed.
I started off relatively interested in the story after episode 1 and part of 2, but by the time 3 came around, it just wasn’t cutting it anymore and the following two episodes after that were just outright boring. I couldn’t escape this feeling that this game was made by an indie band that just wanted to get their music out and thought wrapping it up in an interactive movie would be a good approach.
Don’t get me wrong, the music absolutely slaps - both the insert songs and the soundtrack - but the rest of the experience pales in comparison. You do get the occasional bit of gameplay, but it’s limited to selecting choices that don’t matter and only change a line of dialogue or two, music videos that are a bit more interactive, but have clunky controls and offer no real reason to even interact with them in the first place, and a story that lasts five hours but feels like very little actually happens during that time.
This is the type of game that would have been better off as a 6 or 7/10 Netflix movie or series to digest and forget by next week, but instead it’s that in video game form and feels worse off as a result. I wanted to like this game, especially given the music, the visuals, the overall aesthetic, but it was honestly a struggle.
Overall
So no, I cannot recommend We Are OFK. It does some things right with regards to its visuals and music, but the story is just not interesting as a video game and the lack of anything else really to elevate it leaves this as an experience best left forgotten.
This one has been on my radar since it was revealed at Summer Game Fest last year. It’s got a bright, poppy art style, some solid tunes, and targeted a niche that I’m generally a fan of. Now that all the episodes are out though, I’m left with just disappointment.
We Are OFK is an episodic adventure game centered around a group of friends trying to make a living in Los Angeles as musicians (the absolute classic). Of course, that is not an easy path, so a lot of the story is the little drama that pops up along the way towards this goal - my main complaint there being that a lot of it is just so predictable and not really all that interesting.
I will try to keep spoilers to a minimum. The producer character, for example, receives an offer from a big time musician to work full-time for him. Good pay, good benefits, but she will have to leave her friends behind and you bet the game makes the entire following arc about how “big music is soulless” and that it's the indies that truly shine. The bigshots are made out to be absolutely idiotic and even evil at times and the whole time I’m sitting there like - yeah, I could have written this in middle school, especially given how the characters fluctuate between acting that age and acting like adults.
I guess that comes with entering adulthood, but it also doesn’t help that the characters here all share very similar personality types - the “let’s go out and get some boba” every day type. As someone that used to live in Los Angeles, it’s actually impressive how overly “quirky” they made the characters here and the dialogue writing often makes it hard to take anything that’s going on seriously despite serious topics being discussed.
I started off relatively interested in the story after episode 1 and part of 2, but by the time 3 came around, it just wasn’t cutting it anymore and the following two episodes after that were just outright boring. I couldn’t escape this feeling that this game was made by an indie band that just wanted to get their music out and thought wrapping it up in an interactive movie would be a good approach.
Don’t get me wrong, the music absolutely slaps - both the insert songs and the soundtrack - but the rest of the experience pales in comparison. You do get the occasional bit of gameplay, but it’s limited to selecting choices that don’t matter and only change a line of dialogue or two, music videos that are a bit more interactive, but have clunky controls and offer no real reason to even interact with them in the first place, and a story that lasts five hours but feels like very little actually happens during that time.
This is the type of game that would have been better off as a 6 or 7/10 Netflix movie or series to digest and forget by next week, but instead it’s that in video game form and feels worse off as a result. I wanted to like this game, especially given the music, the visuals, the overall aesthetic, but it was honestly a struggle.
Overall
So no, I cannot recommend We Are OFK. It does some things right with regards to its visuals and music, but the story is just not interesting as a video game and the lack of anything else really to elevate it leaves this as an experience best left forgotten.
Don't get the hate for this game at all. It's really charming and well written, the characters are a standout, specially since episode 3; the music is fantastic and the musical sections, even if they are the poorest thing about the game for its lack of mechanical engagement, they're imaginative and very consistent with transmitting how the band itself is trying to communicate with its audience, special mention to the section in the last episode that made me tear up with joy.
The most problematic thing about this game is that at times I get the same feeling as watching a Noah Baumbach movie, this (featuring a diverse and brilliant cast) feels too much like a White First World Problems story. It is undoubtedly a story that talks about priviledged people living very specific lives being anoyed by not getting the fullest of it all. The most important thing if you can cope with this, is that the game goes beyond the most standard and superficial layer of this classic L.A characters to focus on modern relationships, the hardships of working together and the how all of this relates to an artistic job that feels impossible to tackle and success.
This game has a discourse and heart, and for what it tries to say I think it manages in a pretty beautiful way to elevate all of this characters and their relationships to the point the player can relate to them feeling a part of the team. Really hoping this game gets on Netflix or any subscription service that can make an audience resonate with it.
It deserves more.
The most problematic thing about this game is that at times I get the same feeling as watching a Noah Baumbach movie, this (featuring a diverse and brilliant cast) feels too much like a White First World Problems story. It is undoubtedly a story that talks about priviledged people living very specific lives being anoyed by not getting the fullest of it all. The most important thing if you can cope with this, is that the game goes beyond the most standard and superficial layer of this classic L.A characters to focus on modern relationships, the hardships of working together and the how all of this relates to an artistic job that feels impossible to tackle and success.
This game has a discourse and heart, and for what it tries to say I think it manages in a pretty beautiful way to elevate all of this characters and their relationships to the point the player can relate to them feeling a part of the team. Really hoping this game gets on Netflix or any subscription service that can make an audience resonate with it.
It deserves more.
(EDIT after Episode 5: upgraded my review to 2/5. The final episode was the longest by far and did get the story back on track and even gave the story a conclusion which meant that one day, maybe, I'd like to see a second series of We Are OFK. But please put that on Netflix or something, don't release it as a game or pretend it's interactive beyond 5 short 3-minute segments within a 5-hour runtime. Thanks.)
I wouldn't usually review an episodic game before it's finished, but with 4/5 of the game completed and the final episode dropping in a few days, I really feel the need to warn people not to waste their money on this 'game'. I was already having a mediocre time, but Episode 4 totally rubbed me the wrong way and I want to hopefully save other people from dropping £15 on this.
Initially I was really intrigued by this, the trailer that dropped a few months ago made it look like Sayonara Wild Hearts with a band documentary graphic novel attached. 98% Positive reviews on Steam gave me the all-clear to purchase.
Firstly, the positives. The interactive music videos, the part of the game that drew me in from the trailers, are great. They do remind me of Sayonara Wild Hearts, and are fairly creative. The music itself is... actually really damn good. I'm into electro-pop anyway but the 4 songs I've heard so far are good to excellent, especially Follow/Unfollow. Occasionally the art direction also does a really good job, especially in the aforementioned music videos, but the cinematography of certain scenes at least makes the game nice to look at if nothing else. The voice acting is also really good and dialogue felt genuine, even if it occasionally strayed into that Life is Strange-esque 'hella' cringe talk.
However... 4/5 of the way through this game, these interactive music videos have been maybe 12 minutes total out of 4 hours so far. And what's in the rest of this 3 hours 48 minutes?
Boredom. Boredom is what remains. 90% of this game is sat watching cut-scenes. Not even pressing X like a graphic novel - literally just watching scenes play out with no interactivity at all. This would be forgivable if there was literally any other gameplay, but there isn't. The other 10% is pressing X to cycle through some text message conversations. Occasionally you'll get the opportunity to pick one of three choices (gasp! interaction! a game?) but these don't do anything. Don't get me wrong, I love graphic novels, I have fairly strong patience for games that stretch the definitions of what a game can be, but the lack of interactivity for long swathes of this game stretched my definitions too thin.
Worse still, so much of the story in this game is just mind-numbing filler. There's a ton of potential in a mockumentary game about a band forming and breaking up and getting back together and so on. But so often this game seems to forget what the story thread is. You'll lose interest frequently as two characters stop discussing the drama at the centre of this story, and segue into talking about enchiladas or Boba or skateboards or something.
Episode 1 was a decent intro, and had potential to really build into something (it helps that the best song debuted in this ep). Episode 2 literally had me throwing down the controller twice and loudly exhaling "BORING" (I'm no professional game critic but I don't think this is a good thing). Episode 3 was actually a decent recovery, remembered the story was about the formation of a band, managed to stay on topic, included some decent drama beats and mostly washed the taste of Episode 2 out of my mouth. It even had a strong cliffhanger. I felt positive about this game moving forwards and could see the 2-3/5 approaching.
I've just finished playing Episode 4, which by the way is the longest episode of the 4 released so far at a gargantuan 65 minutes long. Literally, NOTHING happens in this episode. I am not exaggerating, nothing happens, at all. One character, who up to this point has done nothing in the story, goes off on their own little voyage of discovery, or something. Nothing. Happens. There's barely any mention of the band, it builds upon nothing in Episode 3, there are just so many bizarre segues and conversations about ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. Then there's the cursory interactive music video, chucked in with about 5 minutes left of the episode. It's fun for the 3 minutes it runs, then it's over.
A game like this really lives or dies on its story, especially when it doesn't even give you the cursory Telltale 'your choices matter' stuff, I mean most of this game is just cut-scenes. And the story here is really lacking. I am really frustrated because occasionally this game picks up a thread, and a story feels like it builds, and then it's dropped because one member has to travel out to the desert to go buy a graphics card (?) for a whole hour of this 5-hour game I spent £15 on. Sometimes this game feels like they only had about 30 minutes of story to tell, so packed 210 minutes of fluff about nerd culture and zoomer comedy to massively extend its run-time.
One of the few other Backloggd reviews for this game mentions that this is probably a vanity project for the band. Indeed, the writer and director of this game is also the lead singer of OFK irl, and also the voice-artist of Lucas, the lead singer of this slightly fictionalised version of OFK. This game really does feel like an extended advert for their music, it's actually pretty good music (your mileage may vary) but I am so irritated that it's wrapped in this massive nothingburger of a 'game' that I feel like I wasted money on. Irritated might be a little strong, but at a minimum I'm upset I took a chance on a new game and got burned for it.
I am upset I dropped £15 on this game when I could have bought Cult of the Lamb or Rollerdrome or just anything else that released in 2022. Unless Episode 5 is like Citizen Kane, I fully expect We Are OFK to be my Worst Game of 2022. To replicate the good parts of this experience, go stream Follow/Unfollow, then watch an hour of a 'LoFi Beats to Study To' music stream on YouTube, and save your money.
I will return after Episode 5, and if it's as much a non-entity as Episode 4 was, I WILL drop my review to 1 star. And if the story does pick up I will improve my review too, I'll be fair. I just hope the game finds its way and manages to tell some sort of story, I really do.
I wouldn't usually review an episodic game before it's finished, but with 4/5 of the game completed and the final episode dropping in a few days, I really feel the need to warn people not to waste their money on this 'game'. I was already having a mediocre time, but Episode 4 totally rubbed me the wrong way and I want to hopefully save other people from dropping £15 on this.
Initially I was really intrigued by this, the trailer that dropped a few months ago made it look like Sayonara Wild Hearts with a band documentary graphic novel attached. 98% Positive reviews on Steam gave me the all-clear to purchase.
Firstly, the positives. The interactive music videos, the part of the game that drew me in from the trailers, are great. They do remind me of Sayonara Wild Hearts, and are fairly creative. The music itself is... actually really damn good. I'm into electro-pop anyway but the 4 songs I've heard so far are good to excellent, especially Follow/Unfollow. Occasionally the art direction also does a really good job, especially in the aforementioned music videos, but the cinematography of certain scenes at least makes the game nice to look at if nothing else. The voice acting is also really good and dialogue felt genuine, even if it occasionally strayed into that Life is Strange-esque 'hella' cringe talk.
However... 4/5 of the way through this game, these interactive music videos have been maybe 12 minutes total out of 4 hours so far. And what's in the rest of this 3 hours 48 minutes?
Boredom. Boredom is what remains. 90% of this game is sat watching cut-scenes. Not even pressing X like a graphic novel - literally just watching scenes play out with no interactivity at all. This would be forgivable if there was literally any other gameplay, but there isn't. The other 10% is pressing X to cycle through some text message conversations. Occasionally you'll get the opportunity to pick one of three choices (gasp! interaction! a game?) but these don't do anything. Don't get me wrong, I love graphic novels, I have fairly strong patience for games that stretch the definitions of what a game can be, but the lack of interactivity for long swathes of this game stretched my definitions too thin.
Worse still, so much of the story in this game is just mind-numbing filler. There's a ton of potential in a mockumentary game about a band forming and breaking up and getting back together and so on. But so often this game seems to forget what the story thread is. You'll lose interest frequently as two characters stop discussing the drama at the centre of this story, and segue into talking about enchiladas or Boba or skateboards or something.
Episode 1 was a decent intro, and had potential to really build into something (it helps that the best song debuted in this ep). Episode 2 literally had me throwing down the controller twice and loudly exhaling "BORING" (I'm no professional game critic but I don't think this is a good thing). Episode 3 was actually a decent recovery, remembered the story was about the formation of a band, managed to stay on topic, included some decent drama beats and mostly washed the taste of Episode 2 out of my mouth. It even had a strong cliffhanger. I felt positive about this game moving forwards and could see the 2-3/5 approaching.
I've just finished playing Episode 4, which by the way is the longest episode of the 4 released so far at a gargantuan 65 minutes long. Literally, NOTHING happens in this episode. I am not exaggerating, nothing happens, at all. One character, who up to this point has done nothing in the story, goes off on their own little voyage of discovery, or something. Nothing. Happens. There's barely any mention of the band, it builds upon nothing in Episode 3, there are just so many bizarre segues and conversations about ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. Then there's the cursory interactive music video, chucked in with about 5 minutes left of the episode. It's fun for the 3 minutes it runs, then it's over.
A game like this really lives or dies on its story, especially when it doesn't even give you the cursory Telltale 'your choices matter' stuff, I mean most of this game is just cut-scenes. And the story here is really lacking. I am really frustrated because occasionally this game picks up a thread, and a story feels like it builds, and then it's dropped because one member has to travel out to the desert to go buy a graphics card (?) for a whole hour of this 5-hour game I spent £15 on. Sometimes this game feels like they only had about 30 minutes of story to tell, so packed 210 minutes of fluff about nerd culture and zoomer comedy to massively extend its run-time.
One of the few other Backloggd reviews for this game mentions that this is probably a vanity project for the band. Indeed, the writer and director of this game is also the lead singer of OFK irl, and also the voice-artist of Lucas, the lead singer of this slightly fictionalised version of OFK. This game really does feel like an extended advert for their music, it's actually pretty good music (your mileage may vary) but I am so irritated that it's wrapped in this massive nothingburger of a 'game' that I feel like I wasted money on. Irritated might be a little strong, but at a minimum I'm upset I took a chance on a new game and got burned for it.
I am upset I dropped £15 on this game when I could have bought Cult of the Lamb or Rollerdrome or just anything else that released in 2022. Unless Episode 5 is like Citizen Kane, I fully expect We Are OFK to be my Worst Game of 2022. To replicate the good parts of this experience, go stream Follow/Unfollow, then watch an hour of a 'LoFi Beats to Study To' music stream on YouTube, and save your money.
I will return after Episode 5, and if it's as much a non-entity as Episode 4 was, I WILL drop my review to 1 star. And if the story does pick up I will improve my review too, I'll be fair. I just hope the game finds its way and manages to tell some sort of story, I really do.
Edited my original review as I can't be bothered reviewing each episode.
It blows my mind that this got such a huge marketing push and is so mediocre. Feels like they must have some huge money behind the game or something because I find it hard to believe Geoff Keighley saw the game as was like "WOW!!!".
Really ugly, bad writing (I'm sure real people actually speak like this but I don't want to spend time with them) and the sparse gameplay bits feel awful to play and I could genuinely make all of them in Unity if you gave me a week.
They honestly should have just tried to get this on Netflix as an interactive story instead of pretending it's a "game".
(Also it had a good trophy list but had some really annoying trophies at the end which require you to replay the final 1h20m chapter except it's not like "look how different it can be if you make different choices!", all 3 playthroughs are almost exactly the same but you get a different cutscene at the end.)
It blows my mind that this got such a huge marketing push and is so mediocre. Feels like they must have some huge money behind the game or something because I find it hard to believe Geoff Keighley saw the game as was like "WOW!!!".
Really ugly, bad writing (I'm sure real people actually speak like this but I don't want to spend time with them) and the sparse gameplay bits feel awful to play and I could genuinely make all of them in Unity if you gave me a week.
They honestly should have just tried to get this on Netflix as an interactive story instead of pretending it's a "game".
(Also it had a good trophy list but had some really annoying trophies at the end which require you to replay the final 1h20m chapter except it's not like "look how different it can be if you make different choices!", all 3 playthroughs are almost exactly the same but you get a different cutscene at the end.)
good Cowboy Beebop reference
pretty art wasted on some white guy's ego
This review contains spoilers
I love the intent behind the project, but man, the execution of this game was so poorly done you just recoil and cringe. As someone who doesn’t play a lot of VNs, this is a game that tries to do more with its story than its capable of in its current form.
Unlike many talking simulators, your dialogue choices are of no difference to the story. All that changes is a few words and you’ll get a callback to them in the ensuing conversation a few minutes later, to convey the illusion that the game is dynamic. In reality, you are on a track for a fixed amount of time and no dialogue option makes any difference as to how those 40-60 minutes progress. The only truly “interactive” moments are the music videos where you can do things, but these are limited to the length of the music itself and seem to be there just for show.
This project seems like that it was shopped to Netflix (to make something like Bandersnatch), and when it was turned down, it was flipped into a game. I don't see why they (theoretically) would have turned it down - the audio quality and delivery of the voice talent is not lost on me. Neither is the fact that the assets are fairly polished and artistically consistent. If you can forgive the moments that the models literally slide from place to place, it’s not at all hard on the eyes.
The premise (being that you’re four people in SoCal trying to get together and make something for yourselves) is something noble, and elements of which I am incredibly familiar with myself. Specifically, getting the project done and distributing it, networking yourself as a creative, and dealing with interpersonal drama via DMs are all things incredibly online people like us can relate to.
None of the characters are caricatures or walking stereotypes, which defied my expectations in a good way. However the fact that all the characters have it too good and there are no real issues like housing security or what they actually do for money marginalize the “life” part of “slice of life”.
These characters have it easy - and seem out of touch to the Angeleno who might be working two or three jobs just to live in their home and pay the bills. Everyone appears to be solidly employed (even Luca, who found a job as a bartender immediately after being laid off), or in the case of Jey, a creative with a very nice expensive house and home studio that is either being funded by her parents or some incredibly successful career we don't get to notice until now. It doesn't conform to the economic realities of most artists.
Further, it drives me nuts that a lot of the story of We Are OFK was changed from the first time it was revealed. Back in 2020 at The Game Awards, viewers were treated to a virtual live performance by Luca and the rest of the band. You never get to perform as a band in We Are OFK, and I think the origin story is great and all - but where is that big performance you are building towards?
The fact you can’t change anything about the road you go down is the biggest disappointment though. You can't stop Jey from taking that stupid deal (but don't worry, she'll go back on it). You can't have Carter bitch-slap the person who touched her wrist. You can't have Luca fight for his job back or get something suited for his talents. You can't have Itsumi immediately dump her revenge date.
The game seems to have gotten all the attention it can organically obtain. As I said, it looks like a project that spent a lot of money and ultimately didn't recoup all of it. It could have done a handful of things differently to be more successful. Namely - it needed to be more relatable, needed more options for its characters, and needed to be more of a game.
Unlike many talking simulators, your dialogue choices are of no difference to the story. All that changes is a few words and you’ll get a callback to them in the ensuing conversation a few minutes later, to convey the illusion that the game is dynamic. In reality, you are on a track for a fixed amount of time and no dialogue option makes any difference as to how those 40-60 minutes progress. The only truly “interactive” moments are the music videos where you can do things, but these are limited to the length of the music itself and seem to be there just for show.
This project seems like that it was shopped to Netflix (to make something like Bandersnatch), and when it was turned down, it was flipped into a game. I don't see why they (theoretically) would have turned it down - the audio quality and delivery of the voice talent is not lost on me. Neither is the fact that the assets are fairly polished and artistically consistent. If you can forgive the moments that the models literally slide from place to place, it’s not at all hard on the eyes.
The premise (being that you’re four people in SoCal trying to get together and make something for yourselves) is something noble, and elements of which I am incredibly familiar with myself. Specifically, getting the project done and distributing it, networking yourself as a creative, and dealing with interpersonal drama via DMs are all things incredibly online people like us can relate to.
None of the characters are caricatures or walking stereotypes, which defied my expectations in a good way. However the fact that all the characters have it too good and there are no real issues like housing security or what they actually do for money marginalize the “life” part of “slice of life”.
These characters have it easy - and seem out of touch to the Angeleno who might be working two or three jobs just to live in their home and pay the bills. Everyone appears to be solidly employed (even Luca, who found a job as a bartender immediately after being laid off), or in the case of Jey, a creative with a very nice expensive house and home studio that is either being funded by her parents or some incredibly successful career we don't get to notice until now. It doesn't conform to the economic realities of most artists.
Further, it drives me nuts that a lot of the story of We Are OFK was changed from the first time it was revealed. Back in 2020 at The Game Awards, viewers were treated to a virtual live performance by Luca and the rest of the band. You never get to perform as a band in We Are OFK, and I think the origin story is great and all - but where is that big performance you are building towards?
The fact you can’t change anything about the road you go down is the biggest disappointment though. You can't stop Jey from taking that stupid deal (but don't worry, she'll go back on it). You can't have Carter bitch-slap the person who touched her wrist. You can't have Luca fight for his job back or get something suited for his talents. You can't have Itsumi immediately dump her revenge date.
The game seems to have gotten all the attention it can organically obtain. As I said, it looks like a project that spent a lot of money and ultimately didn't recoup all of it. It could have done a handful of things differently to be more successful. Namely - it needed to be more relatable, needed more options for its characters, and needed to be more of a game.
I'm not particularly much of a Netflix user so I cannot really construct a model for your usual netflix show to make a proper comparison with it but I imagine your run of the mill canceled season one Netflix show can do much better than this. If you've never played this game (or even heard of it), We Are OFK's presentation is a sort of streaming UI pastiche (does that make sense..??). It attempts to emulate (and I believe nails) the interfaces of streaming services--particularly Netflix-- so for example the main menu looks like a desktop and you start the game by pressing on the episode you want to play, said episodes have a bar on the bottom that shows how long you have until the episode ends and they were released weekly in a span of 4 weeks, saves are like the little user icons on Netflix, etc.. It's screaming to get on Netflix's game tab but had to settle for Steam where the only movie you can get is the Indie Game movie (also available on Netflix).
We Are OFK follows the life of four friends as they try to live it up in L.A. while formingan emo a pop band. The main girl we follow in episode 1 is facing an unsurmountable difficulty: having to move into a new apartment and 😱having an ex! To help her, the player has to make some arbitrary decisions that probably don't change anything but they had to shove interactivity in there to make it a videogame.
The other character we follow, who is leagues more entertaining, is a not-Overwatch writer twink who is not allowed creative liberty on the newest character and instead has to write some lame shit. This causes him to leave it all behind and chase his pipedream: writing the Steven Universe musical. With the help of some woman, he begins to sing the first song of the game: Follow/Unfollow. Meanwhile, the main girl I mentioned before gets shitfaced drunk and you have to maneuver her through what I assume was an attempt at making some playable music video but it just sucks soooo much. Also idk what the lyrics have to do with the space opera the guy wanted to write but he's permitted to cook and then gets fired from not-Overwatch team. Then the episode ends. Actually it doesn't there's one more scene but he's not in it so whooooo cares
This is where I would love to have some knowledge in Netflix sludge because I have no frame of reference to understand if all Netflix shows are this lame. The main girl has NO shit going for her character and the game does a really bad job at making you care for her struggles which are so baseline insignificant. You're moving into L.A.. Boo-hoo. Wait 'til you see the digits on the rent. At least your friend has got something a REAL issue: working for the videogames industry.
And it's a shame because aside from the color palette I think the game looks real pretty but god the writing is so dull. I would've played more but my totally legal copy only came with 4 episodes and while I could totally just watch the last one on YouTube as the devs probably intended, I'm not gonna give them the satisfaction
We Are OFK follows the life of four friends as they try to live it up in L.A. while forming
The other character we follow, who is leagues more entertaining, is a not-Overwatch writer twink who is not allowed creative liberty on the newest character and instead has to write some lame shit. This causes him to leave it all behind and chase his pipedream: writing the Steven Universe musical. With the help of some woman, he begins to sing the first song of the game: Follow/Unfollow. Meanwhile, the main girl I mentioned before gets shitfaced drunk and you have to maneuver her through what I assume was an attempt at making some playable music video but it just sucks soooo much. Also idk what the lyrics have to do with the space opera the guy wanted to write but he's permitted to cook and then gets fired from not-Overwatch team. Then the episode ends. Actually it doesn't there's one more scene but he's not in it so whooooo cares
This is where I would love to have some knowledge in Netflix sludge because I have no frame of reference to understand if all Netflix shows are this lame. The main girl has NO shit going for her character and the game does a really bad job at making you care for her struggles which are so baseline insignificant. You're moving into L.A.. Boo-hoo. Wait 'til you see the digits on the rent. At least your friend has got something a REAL issue: working for the videogames industry.
And it's a shame because aside from the color palette I think the game looks real pretty but god the writing is so dull. I would've played more but my totally legal copy only came with 4 episodes and while I could totally just watch the last one on YouTube as the devs probably intended, I'm not gonna give them the satisfaction
I actually love this games visual identity. It's just so pretty, with a really great pastel color palette. It's also what hooked me in at first - the entire presentation of We Are OFK is really great, the music and soundtrack especially! The story (and CHARME) of the first three chapters managed to really hook me in. Even if it's essentially an animated series with some choices (mostly done in chat-form) sprinkled inbetween. I actually do think that this is also a strength of the game, it knows what it wants to be and does not add any gameplay flugg where it wouldn't have been necessary in the first place - the way the story is told doesn't really allow for that.
It's kinda sad for me, then, that the final episode really didn't pull the entire experience together as I would've hoped. The first three episodes work really well together, with the fourth being kinda disconnected from them, but still managing to hold its own. The fifth and final beat of the story was a really disjointed experience in my opinion (the German word "zerfasert" sums up my feelings perfectly). I really think splitting the fifth episode up into two would've been the wiser decision, although definitely more costly. And I think that was a really big factor here: the budget. We are OFK cuts a lot of corners, and although it does it really well and sometimes quite charmingly, you can definitely feel it throughout the experience.
Especially noteworthy, though, is the diverse cast, this games' biggest strength. They're loveable and lovingly portrayed, queer as fuck, come from very different backgrounds and the game talks about all that. I really, really like that.
Kinda ironic, that I don't really know how to pull this review together, in the end - I don't really want to make a grand statement. Maybe... just play this, if you're interested. It is kinda binge-worthy, like a good Netflix series you remember once every three months, go "yea, that was quite nice" and then move on with your life. And the amount of online hate this game has been getting is honestly so confusing to me. It's a cute little thing! Who would feel the want to hate a cute little thing?
...
...
for a glorious moment I forgot gamers exist
It's kinda sad for me, then, that the final episode really didn't pull the entire experience together as I would've hoped. The first three episodes work really well together, with the fourth being kinda disconnected from them, but still managing to hold its own. The fifth and final beat of the story was a really disjointed experience in my opinion (the German word "zerfasert" sums up my feelings perfectly). I really think splitting the fifth episode up into two would've been the wiser decision, although definitely more costly. And I think that was a really big factor here: the budget. We are OFK cuts a lot of corners, and although it does it really well and sometimes quite charmingly, you can definitely feel it throughout the experience.
Especially noteworthy, though, is the diverse cast, this games' biggest strength. They're loveable and lovingly portrayed, queer as fuck, come from very different backgrounds and the game talks about all that. I really, really like that.
Kinda ironic, that I don't really know how to pull this review together, in the end - I don't really want to make a grand statement. Maybe... just play this, if you're interested. It is kinda binge-worthy, like a good Netflix series you remember once every three months, go "yea, that was quite nice" and then move on with your life. And the amount of online hate this game has been getting is honestly so confusing to me. It's a cute little thing! Who would feel the want to hate a cute little thing?
...
...
for a glorious moment I forgot gamers exist
Cool concept, loved the weekly release schedule, outstanding voice acting, really striking scene blocking and cuts, and from a production standpoint I was really impressed with the corners they cut (this sounds like a backhanded compliment but I promise it isn't, games are hard to make).
Unfortunately despite how strong the package is the actual content is just sort of boring. I think the developers expect us to love these characters because they're stylish and quippy but there's so little real drama throughout the game that it's hard to get really attached. As a story of twenty-something uncertainty, everything's too light and fluffy to have any weight; as a story about the music industry, it doesn't feel lived-in. I have a million nitpicks about its portrayal of industry life but the biggest one is this: the characters don't start referring to themselves as a "band" until episode 3, and up until then their actions never feel like there was an expectation of them being a band in the first place, to the point where I would be really surprised if anyone playing this game really felt like they were watching one come together in those first couple episodes.
They released this like a TV show and it's framed as such in-game too, and that is not just an affectation - picking a save slot shows a Netflix-ish UI and asks "Who's Watching", and that is exactly the level of interaction you can expect. I have a very broad definition of what games are, and I have no issue with games that are input-simple, but this stretches the definition basically as far as it can go. You are mostly going to be sitting there with the controller on the couch watching scenes play out, occasionally picking dialogue options that lead to nearly identical responses. You can't even skip dialogue, so a lot of the game is looking at an unmoving image of a character while a texting conversation slowly unfurls in front of you. The exception is the playable music videos in every episode but the control on them is really squirrely and it never feels like you're being asked to do very much other than randomly waggle your stick around or hold down a button.
The thing is, once you make something so TV-like, with so little player input, it's hard not to compare it to actual TV shows. In that respect, We Are OFK is closest to one of those Netflix shows that pops up every couple weeks, which is perfectly digestable, but there's no real pizzazz and every episode is at least 10 minutes too long. It's a shame because there are cool ideas here, and the music is at least solid (though I actually liked the background music more than the proper "OFK" tracks), but it just ain't it.
Unfortunately despite how strong the package is the actual content is just sort of boring. I think the developers expect us to love these characters because they're stylish and quippy but there's so little real drama throughout the game that it's hard to get really attached. As a story of twenty-something uncertainty, everything's too light and fluffy to have any weight; as a story about the music industry, it doesn't feel lived-in. I have a million nitpicks about its portrayal of industry life but the biggest one is this: the characters don't start referring to themselves as a "band" until episode 3, and up until then their actions never feel like there was an expectation of them being a band in the first place, to the point where I would be really surprised if anyone playing this game really felt like they were watching one come together in those first couple episodes.
They released this like a TV show and it's framed as such in-game too, and that is not just an affectation - picking a save slot shows a Netflix-ish UI and asks "Who's Watching", and that is exactly the level of interaction you can expect. I have a very broad definition of what games are, and I have no issue with games that are input-simple, but this stretches the definition basically as far as it can go. You are mostly going to be sitting there with the controller on the couch watching scenes play out, occasionally picking dialogue options that lead to nearly identical responses. You can't even skip dialogue, so a lot of the game is looking at an unmoving image of a character while a texting conversation slowly unfurls in front of you. The exception is the playable music videos in every episode but the control on them is really squirrely and it never feels like you're being asked to do very much other than randomly waggle your stick around or hold down a button.
The thing is, once you make something so TV-like, with so little player input, it's hard not to compare it to actual TV shows. In that respect, We Are OFK is closest to one of those Netflix shows that pops up every couple weeks, which is perfectly digestable, but there's no real pizzazz and every episode is at least 10 minutes too long. It's a shame because there are cool ideas here, and the music is at least solid (though I actually liked the background music more than the proper "OFK" tracks), but it just ain't it.
it feels painfully obvious that this should have been one of those interactive shows on netflix instead of a video game released on steam but for what it is, it's very good
California
After the first chapter I can safely say the game is as tone deaf as it initially seemed. This is a total vanity project that really begs the question of "who the hell funded this?" Since the author is basically just some random indie dev with a small resume. Some good stuff but nothing crazy.
This is essentially a parody game since its played so straight. Well, its not a parody, or a game, so that doesnt quite work. We Are OFK is just an aggressively smarmy, paid ad for a mediocre band of internet nerds. The blue haired character is basically a self insert fantasy for the mastermind of the project, who is just some dorky white dude.
The dialogue is so....annoying? Everyone is just a smug hipster with aggressive vocal fry and an obsession wirh sarcastic quips and saying internet words verbally. They're not people, they're characters, a band of 4 scrappy doos.
The beauty of We Are OFK is the trainwreck aspect of it. Since theres no gameplay to mess up, anyone can watch it on Youtube and cringe at the dialogue for free. Its not quite gaming's "The Room", its more the recent movie "Music". A tone deaf misfire of a vanity project that makes you embarassed for the band and the inevitable wheel spinning that will follow.
This is essentially a parody game since its played so straight. Well, its not a parody, or a game, so that doesnt quite work. We Are OFK is just an aggressively smarmy, paid ad for a mediocre band of internet nerds. The blue haired character is basically a self insert fantasy for the mastermind of the project, who is just some dorky white dude.
The dialogue is so....annoying? Everyone is just a smug hipster with aggressive vocal fry and an obsession wirh sarcastic quips and saying internet words verbally. They're not people, they're characters, a band of 4 scrappy doos.
The beauty of We Are OFK is the trainwreck aspect of it. Since theres no gameplay to mess up, anyone can watch it on Youtube and cringe at the dialogue for free. Its not quite gaming's "The Room", its more the recent movie "Music". A tone deaf misfire of a vanity project that makes you embarassed for the band and the inevitable wheel spinning that will follow.