Visual novels are a whole genre that people either love or hate. There are very few that have come out in the past that anyone who isn’t overly into the genre can get into. We Are OFK is a new game that is 99% visual novel, and 1% interactive music video. Now for anyone who watched the trailer thinking “I’ve never heard of this OFK band,” they’re not an actual band, the developers did assemble a band to compose, record and release an EP with real songs from the fake band on streaming platforms, in order to add some extra realism to the story.

The story of We Are OFK is quite relatable, as it’s more than just a clichéed “hey friends, we should assemble a band” plot. It manages to be relatable, with characters being bound to resonate with players in some kind of way. Whether it’s the stress and anxiety of work, getting fired, being single, or just having to work with people who are unreliable. The story is a bit uneven, but all in all, it was pretty enjoyable.

The thing that I could see being a turn off for some people is the art style. Personally, it wasn’t an issue for me, but some of the characters seem to be so minimally detailed. The reason this wasn’t an issue for me personally is firstly, the fact that the music videos are fairly well designed, also the game has so much more focus on things happening around the characters than just the characters themselves, taking your attention away from just how the characters look.

One main dislike of We Are OFK is the fact that I don’t exactly understand why you’re given options on what to say. They don’t exactly change anything besides maybe the response you get back. The actual outcome of the story will still remain the same. This character is still going to date that character, these characters are still going to fight and make up, and so on. At the end of the day it doesn’t feel like there are any consequences for making your character give the rudest or nicest answers. It would be nice to feel like there’s a reason I’m actually “playing” this game, as opposed to just listening to a story that’s going to playout the same way regardless.

On a brighter note though, We Are OFK also does something that I feel every visual novel game could learn from, I’m sure it’s helped by the fact that it’s entirely voice acted, but each chapter tells you how long it is. It’s great to be able to say “yeah, I can sit down for 52 minutes and actually take in this entire chapter without needing to leave.” You can also pause at any time during and see how long is left, it’s like a Netflix visual novel.

There are elements in We Are OFK that other narrative-driven games should take a look at. At the same time, feeling like your decisions don’t matter is a bit of a turn off. The story in here is great, it’s relatable, all thanks to a great cast of characters. It’s also refreshing to witness a tale of people coping with anxiety and stress, giving us an opportunity, an inside look on how others also struggling with these issues actually feel on the inside. All in all, I feel like it’s an important story to be told, and hopefully it helps people see they’re not alone.

Graphics: 8.0 Personally, I think there’s charm in the minimalist approach. Giving focus to the primary characters and the story being told as opposed to being distracted by every little thing happening in the background, or on the walls.	Gameplay: 6.0 The story itself is great, having segments where you actually control a character during music videos is great. However, feeling like your choices don’t actually matter isn’t great. The story will play out how it plays out and that’s the end of it.
Sound: 10 Not enough good can be said about the voice acting throughout We Are OFK. All the characters feel like they match their voices, they feel authentic, and the soundtrack is great as a bonus.	Fun Factor: 8.0 It was enjoyable to sit down for an hour at a time and tackle the episodes of We Are OFK as if it were a TV series. Feeling like you had a say and could impose your own personality in the story was nice, but again, felt a bit unneeded with the fact it doesn’t change anything
Final Verdict: 7.5

We Are OFK is available now on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PC.

Reviewed on Nintendo Switch.

A copy of We Are OFK was provided by the publisher.