The world of cult classics can have a strange and quirky atmosphere, no matter the medium you’re talking about. When you think of “cult classic films”, you think of titles like The Room, Attack of the Killer Tomatoes, and Brazil. Well, video games are no different. Titles like Grim Fandango, MediEvil, and Metal Slug. While never achieving critical fame, these games garnered rabid and devoted fan bases that extolled the amazingness of these games. There is another one of those titles that can be included within the world of “cult classic” video games: OFF.

Yes, fans of this unique RPG are getting a release of this title to both Steam and Nintendo Switch on August 15th, 2025. The original launch of OFF was from 2008 and was the developed and published title of Belgium-based Unproductive Fun Time. OFF was the product of Martin Georis (also known as “Mortis Ghost”) and Alias Conrad Coldwood. OFF was initially only in French, but a 2011 officially sanctioned fan translation into English brought the story to a much larger audience. The original title, developed in RPG Maker 2003, is seeing a 2025 re-release by Mortis Ghost, in conjunction with developer Fangamer.

With that’s being said, let’s dive into our review!

The World and Story

In OFF, the player controls The Batter. The Batter is a simple man in a baseball uniform who has been tasked to purify the world…by a talking cat called The Judge (let’s be honest – don’t all cats judge?). The story will have The Batter traveling to four unique zones in the unnamed world, purifying each zone and leaving a trail of dead spectres in his wake. The Batter, however, is not alone! He is assisted by three “spiritual entities” that are recruited throughout the game. Their names: Alpha, Omega, and Epsilon.

Each Zone of the game requires purification, which is achieved by killing each “Zone Guardian” who oversees the region. Now, let’s get into each of the regions below.

Zone One

In Zone One, The Batter finds a small village that is ruled over by a creature known as Dedan. Dedan oversees the work of the residents of this zone in the smoke mines and the metal farms. These locations within Zone One run rampant with spectres that require the holy blast of the Batter’s…bat. Once The Batter defeats Dedan, Zone One has been purified and with a “Zodiac Card” held by Dedan, The Batter has access to Zone Two. For context, Zodiac Cards allow The Batter access to each of the zones.

Zone Two

At a glance, Zone Two features a gargantuan library which, of course, is loaded with spectres. The Zone Guardian of this region is Zaphet, who appears to be a cat much like The Judge. Also within Zone Two is a shopping mall, as well as…an amusement park?

Much like Zone One, Japhet spends their time ruining the lives of the region’s residents. We also discover in our travels (and a conversation with The Judge) that Japhet is actually The Judge’s brother, Valerie. The climax of this region features a showdown with Japhet on the roof of the massive library, where Japhet’s true form is revealed to The Batter. Once Japhet has been taken care of, The Batter is free to enter Zone Three.

Zone Three

The Batter is greeted with a gigantic factory in Zone Three. The Elsen (those who reside in Zone Three) are non-plussed by the spectres that are a danger to them, mainly due to the misinformation of the Zone Guardian: Enoch. Enoch oversees the operations of the factory, which happens to process sugar (a vice to the Elsen, with a horrifying little secret). After making his way through the maze of a factory, The Batter has his showdown with the rather girthy Enoch.

Purification & The Room

Following the dispatching of Enoch, The Batter can now access the fourth zone: The Room. The three prior zones are now empty wastelands, and the only inhabitants left in these regions are…creepy looking babies. The zones are quiet, gray, and the only sound we hear are distant whispers. It’s unsettling…and actually kinda cool.

Before we enter The Room, let’s talk about a few scenes that we have been getting after we finished each Zone. Following the defeat of each Zone Guardian, we are given a glimpse of Hugo. Hugo, from what we can tell, is a sick boy who has some connection to our world.

The Room is…confusing, I’ll be honest. It’s chock full of symbolism that relates back to Hugo and his illness. Following The Batter’s journey through the memories and flashbacks of Hugo, he encounters the commander of all the Zone Guardians: The Queen.

SPOILERS START IN THREE…TWO…ONE

Through the conversations between The Batter and The Queen, we can deduce that they are the…parents (?) of Hugo. The Batter proceeds to kill The Queen…and then Hugo.

In the final purified room, The Batter is presented with a single switch. Before he can press it, however, The Judge reappears. He berates The Batter for his actions and what he has done and we, the player, are presented with two options. We can either side with The Batter…or side with The Judge. I opted for the “official” ending and sided with The Batter, who proceeded to kill The Judge.

After taking care of The Judge, The Batter flips the switch to off, seemingly ending the world (or dream) by doing so as the screen fades to black and credits roll.

The Good

OK…here’s where things get a little…less pleasant. I honestly…didn’t really get the point of this game or what story was trying to be told. And maybe that was the point? Maybe the point of this whole story was to present you with a “savior” character who ultimately turns out to be the villain of the story. A unique take, I have to admit, and something that many games do not do. I get why – who, ultimately, wants to be the one that brings about pain and death to the world?

Now it’s not ALL bad, though. The art style of this game, while unsettling, was honestly something so unique that I have to give credit where credit is due. It is really unlike anything else I have seen before. Initially, I thought of games like Earthbound, Undertale, and Deltarune when I initially booted up this game. But the more I played, the more I realized “Nope…not even close.”

A large component of this game was also very unique puzzles that must be solved to progress the story along and allow The Batter to move forward. I do have to say that these were some of the more challenging puzzles that I have encountered within my life of gaming. A point for OFF on this one.

The Bad

As I mentioned above, the story of this game just didn’t click with me. Maybe it was purposely meant to be strange and a little unapproachable. Or maybe Mortis Ghost was looking to create an artistic statement with OFF, as opposed to a simple turn-based RPG. I don’t know…but maybe those who are fans of this game have a better understanding of what is being told in this game.

I did also find the music somewhat forgettable in this game. That isn’t necessarily a huge dig at the game, but I found myself wishing there was a little more to the sound design of the game. However, given that this was meant to be a re-release of the original OFF, maybe the point was to bring someone back to the era of 2008 and the earlier days of RPGs.

One last piece of this game that I didn’t really enjoy was the difficulty. It wasn’t too hard…I actually found it far too easy. Most fights could be solved by just wailing on enemies with your strongest attacks until they all vanish from the screen. I don’t know if maybe a part of the re-release of this game was a rescaling of the difficulty, but I truly never felt challenged by the game…even with the culmination of all our fights in our showdown with The Queen.

The Overall

Overall, I found OFF, while being a very unique game, not something that I would ever return to. There is an absolute GLUT of turn-based RPGs out there – many of which I would recommend before OFF. That being said, if you are really looking for something that does break the mold of your standard RPG, then OFF might be the exact game that you’re looking for.

OFF is currently available for purchase now on PC (Steam) and the Nintendo Switch.

Gamer Social Club was provided an early-access code for the purposes of this review. This review was played on PC (Steam).