Games have the ability to explore many frontiers, from the darkness of space to fantastical fantasy worlds. However, those that explore the modern world with its social media, school life, and contemporary struggles have been groundbreaking. Games like Life is Strange have a paranormal twist, but sit alongside teenage drama and present-day issues. Night in the Woods was critically acclaimed for its handle on millennial experiences.
Yet another title has joined this list of modern stories, and it is an indie game called We Are OFK. The game has gotten very positive reviews from publications like The Sixth Axis, NME, and Gayming Magazine. It is about four friends living in Los Angeles and the protagonist, Itsumi Saito, trying to build a music career for herself. Like Life is Strange, the game is split into five episodes.
The Themes Of We Are OFK
We Are OFK is definitely a game for gamers that want story and character-driven narrative. The themes are the games' greatest strength, and like Life is Strange and Night in the Woods, the modern characters are incredibly relatable. They are struggling to make money while also trying to follow their artistic dreams, and the game gets into the struggles of climbing the corporate ladder versus doing what makes one happy.
The friendship between the characters is important and feels incredibly real. Players have found themselves loving these characters and getting very into the game because of them, even if they had grievances with the gameplay elements. Like Life is Strange and Night in the Woods, the characters are very introspective. They feel authentic and complex, which is a perfect component for the complex themes of passion versus meeting one's money needs. The game also has LGBTQIA2S+ characters, which is another commonality with Life is Strange and Night in the Woods.
The Gameplay
We Are OFK is not a traditional video game. It plays like an interactive TV show, playing scenes and giving the player choices in those scenes. In making choices, there will be different reactions from a choice, and like the first Life is Strange game, players can rewind to make different choices (though rewinding choices is not a story element). Each episode takes about an hour and ends with an interactive music video. In-between episodes there is a sort of meta-texting interaction about what has happened so far in the story.
In terms of gameplay, We Are OFK is incredibly minimalist, and is highly accessible to non-gamers and veterans alike. While is it comparable to Night in the Woods and Life is Strange, gamers should not expect exploring or the ability to jump around.
The Art
The art is another unique aspect of We Are OFK, which is unlike Life is Strange or Night in the Woods. It is its own thing, and reviews have compared its scenes to paintings. The colors are bright, the characters are animated well, and it does Los Angeles justice with the design of its various locations. The music is another big part of the story and was composed by Omniboi, who works in the genre of dance and electronic music. Across the board, the music compliments the story.
An incredibly talented team of actors makes up the cast of We Are OFK. Greg Chun from Squid Game, Deedee Magno Hall from Steven Universe, Erika Ishii from Deathloop and Apex Legends, Syhaya Aviel from The Circle, Yuri Lowenthal from Marvel's Spider-Man, Miguel Caballero from Killer 7, Krizia Bajos from Far Cry 6, Fiona Rene from I Know What You Did Last Summer, Ally Maki from Toy Story 4 and Dear White People, and Kimberly D Brooks from Psychonauts 2 all are part of the games' cast. The game is fully voice acted, too, meaning that all of these performances get time to shine.
We Are OFK is currently available for the Nintendo Switch, PC, PS4, and PS5.