Let me preface this review by saying We Are OFK is definitely and indisputably not a game for everyone. At its core, We Are OFK is an interactive ad for a band you may or may not have heard of and their upcoming EP. However, if you try it, I’m almost confident you’ll find that it’s so much more than just a way to drum up publicity. We Are OFK is compelling, engaging and oh so good to listen to and look at.
When I first decided, on a whim, to jump into We Are OFK, I went into the game expecting your cookie-cutter episodic choice-based game, a style that pretty much always entertains. However, that’s not what I received, not by a long shot. Essentially, We Are OFK is less of a “game” and more of an animated miniseries with some interactive elements mixed in – and if that doesn’t sound like the game for you, that’s okay. We Are OFK has a very specific audience in mind, and you’ll know if that’s you from the description alone.
The story of We Are OFK follows a group of friends who are living in Los Angeles and takes us along as they try to navigate their work, friends, family, and relationships, all while trying to fulfil their dreams of creating art. Where many TV Shows over the years have shown the ups of being a young adult and having a close friend group, We Are OFK focuses less on the “life is a fairytale” part and more on the “this is the reality and the struggle” part.
That’s not to say that We Are OFK is all serious because the story and characters can be just about as fun-loving as it gets, it’s just that this is a more realistic look at the complexities of life management than what we are usually shown. According to the game’s creators, We Are OFK is a memoir of sorts, acting as a fictional telling of the forming of a real-life virtual band.
Now here’s the thing, as I said at the start, We Are OFK is not going to be a game that has mass appeal. Even calling it a game feels very much like a stretch. However, if you’re shopping around for a narrative-centric experience, you could do a lot worse than We Are OFK.
On paper, I think I’m the exact audience the game is geared towards. I’m young-ISH. I love music and have a close friend’s group. I’m also a writer trying to build a life for myself out of a dream, and so are pretty much all of my friends. So when I found myself a couple of hours into We Are OFK, there was a sense of relatability between me and the characters that few other games have managed to invoke.
The meat and potatoes of We Are OFK come down to the very thing the game is promoting: the music. At the end of each episode, there is an interactive music video for you to play through, and this is where the style of the game comes to life. Now I’m no stranger to virtual bands like K/DA or Gorillaz, and while I don’t think I would ever have considered listening to OFKs music before playing through the game, I think I’m a fan now.
Even though I can’t say I’m the biggest fan of the format, and We Are OFK did very little to win me over genre-wise, I am still delighted I own this game, and it’s one I don’t struggle to recommend to others. At the end of the day, We Are OFK seeks to tell us a story, and it does so brilliantly.
