LISA the Painful. Omori. Undertale. Before any of these titles dominated the indie RPG space, there was OFF. Mortis Ghost's surreal 2008 RPG laid the groundwork for nearly every genre title that came afterwards, proving to be a massive hit after a fan translation from its original French. Between visuals that are somehow both minimalistic and grotesque, a strange, allegorical story, and a soundtrack that's still rattling around in my head, OFF was an easy recommendation for any video game fan of any kind. Well, almost. For the last 17 years, OFF has only been accessible via a random freeware download on an ancient forum, but now that's finally about to change.
After far too long, OFF is finally making its Steam and console debut, featuring new areas, an official translation at long last, and a reworked battle system. The only caveat? That original iconic soundtrack won't be returning, owing to the pseudonymous composer's reluctance to sign away the rights. While fans are naturally split on this decision, Undertale's Toby Fox has been recruited to re-score the game that inspired his own – and by all accounts, he seems to be doing an excellent job so far.
There's no release date yet beyond "this year", but I'm still counting down the seconds to try this new take on a true classic. And for those purists, don't worry – it's already been confirmed that the original will remain accessible, soundtrack and all.
