User:MrCoolice111/sandbox

OFF is an independent Role-playing video game created in 2007 by a Belgian artist nicknamed Mortis Ghost. It is the first game released by Morits Ghost and his first production that has achieved such popularity. OFF is currently available online for free on the creator’s webpage. Although it was released initially in French, due to it’s popularity there are many fan translations available. The game was made in RPG Maker 2003 software.

The game takes place in a strange universe, separated only into areas called zones, which are inhabited by various creatures. The player controls the character of The Batter. He is a black and white sprite of an average looking baseball player. At the beginning of the game The Batter claims that his task is to purify the zones, and that he will need the help of the player to do that. The gameplay is based on solving puzzles and fighting monsters, all while traveling through the different zones.

Gameplay
Combat plays a huge role in the game. As with many RPG Maker productions, OFF has a turn-based combat system. Throughout the game the player might encounter ring-like beings known as add-ons. One add-on joins The Batter during his adventure in each of the zones. They are named consequently Alpha, Omega and Epsilon. None of them have any dialogue options, although they certainly hold some level of consciousness. The Batter and the add-ons each have a set of skills. While the add-ons have different set of attacks, The Batter has a set of abilities related to baseball, such as various levels of home runs or base saves. The add-ons have different themes each, with Alpha’s abilities being based on chains, Omega’s on various types of perspective and Epsilon’s on drama from different time periods.

The enemies encountered throughout the game tend to vary from zone to zone, although the most common enemy type is a phantom and can be encountered throughout the entire game. The phantoms are the most important group of enemies that The Batter has to purify. Other enemies include ghouls, which has creatures ranging form a simple ghoul to a whale, and inhabitants of different zones that were possessed by phantoms or made to attack The Batter in some other way.

Zone 0
Zone 0 is a tutorial area, here the player starts the game and encounters a mysterious character known only as The Judge. He has a form of a cat with grotesquely large grin. The Judge plays a role of the guide to both the player and The Batter, instructing them in how to solve puzzles and how the combat works in the game. The zone itself is a mixture of different apartment buildings melting into each other. The weather in this zone is particularly sunny and the zone itself has an overall nice feel to it. At the end there is a monorail station that leads the player towards zone 1

ZONE 1
Zone 1 has a much darker tone, compared to zone 0. Zone 1 is filled with smoke in it’s atmosphere. It’s inhabitants have a look of pale office workers with visible bags under their eyes. The zone itself is an industrial sector, containing a mine, a cattle farm and a gigantic office building. In here the player encounters first plot elements, he is also faced with the first real antagonists of the game, henchman of a mysterious entity known as The Queen. After defeating her agents the player moves up to the second zone.

ZONE 2
Zone 2 is made up of another complex of buildings, although this time they seem to play much more social role. The area itself contains a library, a shopping mall, an amusement park and a residential area. Here the player also encounters the a friendly NPC named Zachary, who is also a shopkeeper willing to trade with the player. Like many characters in the game, Zachary is also prone to breaking the fourth wall and talking directly to the player. The guardian of this zone and the last enemy encountered is a strange being taking on a form of a large, mythical bird, with appearance similar to that of a phoenix. After purifying the guardian, the player gets to advance towards zone 3.

ZONE 3
This zone is made up almost in it’s entirety of a factory. Zone 3 is the main production place of sugar, which turns out to be a highly addictive substance to inhabitants of the game world. Much like in zone 1, the inhabitants are tired looking office workers. After advancing through the entire factory, the player gets to face the large overseer of the complex named Enoch. He has a form of a caricatured large man, with a tiny face in his round head. Although forced to retreat in the first encounter, the player eventually defeats Enoch and is able to advance towards the final area of the game

The Room
This area is much different from all the other zones. Instead of any building the player is greeted with much darker surroundings. The only enemy of this area is The Queen, who turns out to be a famine looking monster and is in fact overseeing all of the other zones. She is also the source of the ghost infestation, which removal of was the initial goal of the player. After defeating her The Judge appears and the player is faced with a choice, either fight The Judge or join him and fight The Batter. If the first choice is picked, after the fight a huge switch appears in the middle of the room. Flipping it simply gives the message „The switch is now OFF” and the game ends. If the latter choice is picked, after the fight a cut-scene plays of The Judge walking through all the zones once again before the credits roll in.

Soundtrack
The music for the game was created by Alias Conrad Coldwood, an electronic music artist who is also Mortis Ghost's friend. Alias himself described the soundtrack as "sweet blend of electro hovering and rhythmic, sometimes fun and sometimes scary". The soundtrack combines many different genres and instruments, ranging from soft ambient music to high paced elctronic sounds. The soundtrack is availbe for free in it's entirety on the french RPGmaker webiste for the game.

Reception
Although the game wasn't reviewed by major gaming sites, it was still very well received by players. There have been many fan versions of the game, as well as multiple translations into different languages and fan art. To date, the game has garnered a large fandom, with people creating many original characters or adding modifications to the game. While Mortis himself has stated that the game won't have a continuation, there are fan-made games available, which either coninue to develop the plot in OFF, or simply take place in the universe of the game.