You have been assigned to a being called "The Batter". The Batter has an important mission. Be sure that it's accomplished.
OFF is an RPG created in 2007 by Mortis Ghost, with music created by Alias Conrad Coldwood. Originally released in French, it has since received an English translation. The player enters his/her name and is informed that s/he is now in control of "The Batter," a quiet man in a baseball uniform and the game's main character.Fairly simple, huh? Well, it gets weirder.The game takes place in a world nothing like what you know. The Batter encounters, only a few moments after you gained control, a white, wise and snarky cat with a Cheshire Cat Grin that calls himself "The Judge." The people in this world - called Elsens, though otherwise human - are practically all Inexplicably Identical Individuals other than the items merchant Zacharie, who has perfected Breaking the Fourth Wall (not that the other characters are any better; the player is repeatedly addressed personally). Strange creatures called Spectres are terrorizing everything in sight and mighty Guardians rule over the lands of the world, called Zones.The Batter's mission is to "purify the world" from these Spectres, and you have to help him with it.The latest translation can be found here, and the original French version here. Agent JR has a complete Let's Play of it, which you can view here. There is also a soundtrack, that can be found here. Note: page is in French.NOTE: Since this game is highly subjective, be sure to put things that are implied, unconfirmed, or fantheory into a YMMV trope or the WMG section.
This game provides examples of:
Absurdly High Level Cap: You can easily complete the game without much trouble at around level 20, completely massacre everything around 25, and yet the last attack is unlocked at level 45, with steady unlocks in the way, both for the add-ons and the batter.
After the End: Assuming that The Room isn't symbolic - which it likely is - OFF takes place after the world was destroyed by some disaster; it was rebuilt by the Queen and the Guardians, who all hoped to create a new, peaceful world.
"I guess it's better that way," and variations thereof.
Art Shift: Whenever the Elsens give exposition on the elements, and sections of the Room.
Awesome, but Impractical: The Ashley Bat. It allows you to attack twice in one turn, but is only available after collecting all five of the hidden Grand Elements, which can only be found by purifying all the zones*
though one can only be obtained by buying it from Zacharie in the Room, and one as a drop from the Bonus Boss
, defeating Sugar, and talking to Zacharie in Zone 0 right before the final boss battle.
Ax Crazy: The Elsens from Zone 3 when deprived of their sugar.
Back to Front: The Room tells a story in reverse order, starting with Chapter 5 and ending with Chapter 0.
Barrier Maiden: Killing a Guardian purifies their respective zone.
Battle Theme Music: "Pepper Steak" is the regular battle theme - however, Zone 3 Area 4 and the Room have different battle themes. Every boss has a unique theme, as well.
Disturbingly, the music for the purified zones continue playing, which makes fighting the Secretaries that much more disturbing.
Biblical Motifs: The party members' classes are called "Savior," "Father", "Son," and "Holy Spirit", and the guardians are all named after people from the Bible.
Bittersweet Ending/Pyrrhic Victory: The special ending. Sure, The Batter failed, but only Zone 0 is left by the end, and assuming you kill Sugar, only the Judge, Zacharie and the lone Elsen in the safe room remain besides the Secretaries.
Bread and Circuses: Japhet attempted to provide the Elsens in Zone 2 with this, but they end up going crazy from paranoia regardless.
Brick Joke: During the Spectre attack in the residential area of Zone 2, there's an Elsen panicking in front of a locked safe room. The Elsen that locked himself in the safe room ends up being the only living Elsen left in the zones by the end of the game.
Call a Hit Point a "Smeerp": Characters have "Competence Points", or CP, instead of MP. In addition, there are a lot of bizarre names for items (a basic healing item is called a "Luck Ticket") and special moves ("Classical Talking").
Call a Rabbit a "Smeerp": The spectres that resemble bedsheet ghosts are not called ghosts, instead spectres, phantoms or ectoplasms.
Cerebus Syndrome: Starts out as an extremely surreal RPG about a baseball player who wants to exorcise Spectres from Wackyland. Then it turns into a surreal horror around Zone 3 Area 4, and becomes a flat-out tragedy by the Room.
Cloud Cuckoolander: Mortis Ghost, the creator, paints himself as this. His FAQ is mostly centered around his boat and the ridiculous circumstances around it, for starters.
Contractual Boss Immunity: Downplayed. Most bosses are still susceptible to status effects, but Wide Angle just produces a lot of question marks.
Deconstruction: Of the typical "Heroic Mime on a vague quest to Save The World" story. The Batter is a near-silent stoic, his small snippets of dialogue making him seem almost completely indifferent to anything outside his goal. And how he plans to save the world isn't what one would call heroic.
Deliberately Monochrome: The characters and enemies are all monochrome, and the backgrounds and settings tend to have a limited palette. However, recently Mortis Ghost drew a picture showing most characters' actual colors, so it's probably a stylistic thing.
The Batter seems to be the only truly monochrome character, however.
Divide by Zero: Zone 3's Secretaries can use "Divide by Zero". It deals a lot of damage and causes poison.
Enter Solution Here: The game has a lot of these, with codes written on walls or in books that the player must put together and either enter at a keypad-like group of blocks, or tell to a certain person.
Everybody's Dead, Dave: If you choose the official ending, everyone dies. If you choose the special ending, only the Judge, the lone Elsen in the safe room, the Secretaries and Zacharie are left alive (assuming that you kill Sugar).
Fake Ultimate Mook: The Whale enemy is enormous but a relatively weak opponent.
Japhet: So I've been slain... you can be proud to have accomplished your mission, Batter...
Enoch: So... the hero has destroyed the beast... But do you know what you have just done? This zone, deprived of a guardian, is now destined to disappear... and the men who live here, whether they deserve it or not, will fall into nothingness, never to return.
Sugar: I think the huge frightening ducky has won this round... say goodbye to Zacharie for me.
Dedan, right before you fight him, says: "I'm the guardian of zone 1! It ain't nothing without me!" - his words turn out to be literal.
The library in Zone 2 tells a lot about the rest of the game: It mentions Enoch before you properly meet him and reveals Japhet's true identity as a phoenix in the puzzle with the books.
It also contains a faded old book about orchids with no apparent name, which was given to Japhet, creator of the Library, by Hugo in Chapter 4 of the Room.
It also contains a notebook with only one page written in messy handwriting: "I have run out of oxygen-". This, added to the knowledge about smoke being what the Elsens breathe, makes for a pretty good hint that the world you are playing is After the End, which is confirmed by the Queen later on.
It also has a hidden book which contains the story: "The Toad King", which tells you about a hideous king which is challenged by a masked man, much like Batter challenges the guardians. It ends with nothing but the man killing the king, which reflects how Batter's victory literally ends with nothing.
One Elsen in Zone 2 is afraid to go in the next room because it might suddenly cease to exist. Once Japhet is defeated, the entire park disappears.
One Elsen in Zone 3 is worried that he'll wake up one day and his legs will be gone. The Burnt enemies in this zone have no legs.
While running away from Enoch, one hallway suddenly becomes completely white. After Enoch is defeated, the entire Zone looks like this.
The villain from "Panic in Ballville" is a baseball player, and when you fight the enemies in this section they appear on the right side of the battle screen, right where the Batter's party should be.
Also with Sugar, when you speak to her before fighting her, she mentions something about imagining a "huge, frightening ducky". After the fight, she says that the ducky has won this round. It doesn't make much sense at the time, but when you get to the end of the game and side with the Judge in the special ending, you'd see that the head of the Batter's monstrous form resembles a huge, frightening duck bill.
Any time you return to a purified Zone before the ending.
Throughout the story, the Batter is shown to be indifferent and outright dismissive of how miserable the lives of the Elsens are, which hints at his truenature.
Game of Nim: Found in the Zone 2 amusement park, with balloon popping.*
You must get all five Grand items, defeat Sugar - you have to defeat her anyway to get one of the Grand items - and talk to Zacharie in Zone 0, then you must choose the Aries Card over the Infinity+1 Sword.
One of the puzzles in Zone 3 is unsolvable without looking at the game's Readme file, as instructed by Zacharie - though he will only tell you this if you give him the Music Box found after defeating the Pastel Burnt.
Heel Face Turn: The player gets the decision to make one at the end of the game by betraying The Batter.
Hub Level: The Nothingness, which also serves as the World Map.
Inexplicably Identical Individuals: The Elsens, save the ones wearing helmets or lab coats. The Burnts fit too, depending on the Zone - Zone 3 has two unique ones, the Pastel and Critic Burnts.
Insurmountable Waist-Height Fence: Usually in the form of little blocks. The game's creator, Mortis, even mocks this in one of his sketches.
The Batter: This block prevents access. Pfff. (Translated)
The Room has selecting areas of the level through a fake title screen at one point, and walking upside down in one of those areas.
In Zone 3, the answer to a puzzle is in the game's Readme file.
Ironic Nursery Tune: "Grey Pencil," which plays during the scribbled section of the Room, and another one called "The Race of a Thousand Ants" plays multiple times - during the scenes after defeating Dedan and Japhet with Hugo, when you use the Music Box, and during the final, red-colored section of the Room.
Due to the loud and sudden pre-battle noise, nearly every single random encounter could count as this. The Secretary encounters in the purified Zones in particular feel like this, due to the Zones' barren nature and how low the encounter rate is.
Which does pose some questions: how does a giant flying sky whale manage to sneak up on you?
Enoch also gives you a big one after running away from him, and encountering him in the Area 4 subway. The fact he's even bigger when he does doesn't help in the least.
Jumping Off the Slippery Slope: The Guardians in the Room are shown to be nice and have legitimate hopes for the rebuilt world; Dedan ends up being a Jerk Ass that abuses the workers he wished to cooperate with and Japhet ends up going crazy. Enoch sticks to his goals, however, as a Well-Intentioned Extremist.
Kill 'em All: Pretty much what happens through-out the whole game due to purifying the Zones, culminating in the official ending where all the survivors get killed due to the Batter pulling the switch.
Load-Bearing Boss: All three Guardians. After you defeat them, their Zones turn bleak, empty and lifeless.
Makes Just as Much Sense in Context: Mining for smoke? Getting metal ores from cows? Meat fountains? Don't expect an explanation for those; a lot of the wackiness is just plain wackiness.
Mind Screw: While somewhat straightforward for the most part, the Room definitely doses up on this.
Mini-Game: The balloon game and pedalo ride in Zone 2's amusement park, and the "Game Of The Mortal Fall" in Zone 3 Area 3.
Mirror Boss: A more subtle example, since near the end boss battles wont last as long, but The Judge has substitutes for most of the skills the Batter and the Add-Ons have.
Mood Whiplash: Zone 3 has this in spades. Before finding out the awful truth behind sugar, you're treated to a cheerful minigame, and right before the proper boss fight with Enoch, he chases you down with happy ragtime music and a ridiculous walking animation.
Multiple Endings: Depending on whether or not you pick the Batter or the Judge to side with in the ending choice,*
Though if you lose the final battle, the game acts as if you picked the other's ending, e.g. if you choose the special ending yet lose the fight you end up with the official ending regardless
and then whether or not you have the Aries Card in your inventory after the credits roll.
In the hallways of Zone 3 Area 4, you know shit is about to hit the fan by the suddenly disturbing music that plays, especially during battle.
The first two times when you fight Japhet, the normal battle theme is still playing. Likewise, the theme when you're talking to Enoch is still playing when you're fighting him, and when running away from him, the battle music is the same as the running away theme. Obviously, these aren't the real fights.
Also with Enoch, his music from the runaway section is a jaunty, cheerful piano remix of his actual boss theme.
The boss battle in Panic in Ballville is a chiptune remix of the final boss battle.
No Ontological Inertia: Played straight with the Zones. Somehow though, a sole Elsen survived by hiding in a safe room.
Non-Standard Game Over: During the tutorial fight, if you keep using Auto mode the Judge will die a most annoyed death from Batter's attacks, bringing the game to an end.
The Zones after defeating the bosses. The colors are gone, anything readable turns gibberish, all NPCs disappear - with the exception of a lone Elsen in a safe room and a mourning Judge in Zone 2 - the encounter rate is lower than usual, and the only enemies the Secretaries, which are creepy doll-looking things. The music - Not Safe - makes this even worse, with it turning creepy and full of demonic whispering, random slamming noises and muffled cries.
The fact that the Secretaries are never alluded to by other characters and that the Battter truly thinks their presence is best says a lot.
Some of Zone 3 Area 4's hallways turn bleak and white, after running away from Enoch and before the proper fight with him. The fact no proper explanation is given for this may or may not make it worse.
The Room can also count - while being all dark and derived of color, many rooms inside are empty, or turn empty depending on what you do. One Chapter of the Room fills some sections with shadows, and in one Chapter is a section resembling a very sketchy doodle design, complete with similar enemies. The music in some sections doesn't help either.
Elsen: This... This is not a serious injury... I'm sure...
Paper-Thin Disguise: Elsens are easily fooled by using a necktie. They only catch on when you finish whacking spectres in the residential zone, at which point they'll promptly evict you. And take the necktie.
Real Song Theme Tune: Judy Garland's "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" plays through the credits of both the official and special endings as a Solemn Ending Theme.
Room Full of Crazy: A hallway in Zone 3 Area 4, before meeting Enoch, is full of posters only saying: "Executive suite's note: You must not be here."
Sequence Breaking: If you go to Zone 0 and manage to discover Sugar before going to Zone 3, you'll discover sugar as an element before it's properly introduced.
Suspicious Video Game Generosity: The game always has a save point before the boss, as well as a dialogue asking if you want to continue.
Tag Line: In some of the game's artwork, "Somewhere Over the Rainbow..." is used to this effect.
The End: Shows up not in either of the normal endings, but for comical effect in the Secret True Ending.
Theme Naming: Just about the only sense the attack names make for both enemies and allies. Examples include the Secretaries hitting you with mathematical operations, your add-on Omega using graphic edition terms (blurs and perspectives), and Dedan attacking with clock hands. More details on the characters page.
Title Drop: "The switch is now on OFF." You finally find out what "OFF" means at the very end of the game.
Unexpected Gameplay Change: The "Game of the Mortal Fall" minigame that plays in Zone 3 Area 3, when you jump down the chimney.
Verbal Tic: Every character except the Batter has some sort of signature sound when talking, as detailed on the characters page.
Violation of Common Sense: There's a part in Zone 3 where the only way to progress is to jump inside a smokestack. Though hitting the floor doesn't kill you, the minigame on the way down could very well do so.
The Walrus Was Paul: Certain things in the game are explained, but just barely. A lot of the backstory is left open to interpretation.
Entering the sugar refinery in Zone 3 and finding out how it's made. The rest of the zone gets worse after that.
If that wasn't bad enough, entering a purified Zone for the first time and realizing that maybe the Batter's mission isn't so righteous after all.
And if you haven't been to a purified Zone yet by Zone 3, Enoch will flat out tell The Batter what he's done... and The Batter literally doesn't care.
What the Hell, Hero?: At the very end of the game the Judge calls out the Batter for killing his wife and child and the playerfor blindly helping him do it.
White Void Room: The purified Zones bear a striking resemblance to this.
You Cannot Grasp the True Form: The special ending tends to bring up implications of this sort. Perhaps you could only see the Batter's true form when looking through the Judge's eyes, and all the time, that abomination you're fighting now never actually looked like a human.
, and the original French version here.
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