Recent reviews by working on it

(the demo itself is free, idk if that qualifies for the "product received for free" box or not, but it's checked just in case)
spoilers, obviously.
also, it's been a bit since i played the original!! i might've misremembered some things, but i wanted to get a review up before steam fest was over in case it wouldn't allow me to do so afterwards!!! there's also a TL;DR at the end if you don't want to read a wall of text lol

i have. Complicated Feelings towards this.

on one hand, the remake on it's own is very good! if the original OFF didn't exist, then i think my list of complaints would be shortened down to "some of the sound effects are weird, and some of the art doesn't feel like it matches fully (i.e.: battle sprite for Batter vs menu UI sprite for Batter).

however, original OFF does exist, and the remake feels very sanitized because of it.

===== the UI =====
very polished looking, this is both good and bad (bad is discussed later). i also like the pillar art! very nice, and it's a good way to fill up the empty space, although i think it can be a little distracting at the moment. maybe make them a little be desaturated so that it isn't fighting for your attention?

===== the soundtrack =====
this section was truly doomed before anything even was made. the original soundtrack is WAY too iconic to be replicated.

please know it hurts to say this, but toby fox really wasn't a great choice for replacing pepper steak. not only is the original song WAY far out from his musical style, but the OST replacement we got was... way too relaxed? pepper steak was a song to get the blood pumping, and the new one feels like something you'd hear at a jazz bar or a lounge.

also, WTF why is bonetrousle here??? that was NOT originally there in Dedan's theme. i get that papyrus was inspired from Dedan and all, but like.... no, man. just no. i immediately clocked that and was NOT vibing with it.

===== the art style =====
i... really don't like the art style of some of the new graphics. to me, it looks off (not in a good way). this is further discussed below. although, i DO like the new sprite for post-fight Dedan, it makes it look like we actually fought lol.

===== the MOVEMENT omG =====
okay, so: weird bug(?), moving left or right can register up and down movement too. makes sense, right? so naturally, you'd expect going up/down to register left/right movement too, right? but it DOESN'T. i'm not sure if this is just some weird bug in the code for deciding how the player moves, but it's very weird. to be fair, this isn't really a problem until the Postal Service, at which point, navigating around the boxes becomes really tedious.

not necessarily movement, but semi-adjacent. pressing X during dialogue immediately jumps to the next dialogue box; discovered this when trying to speed up the text, and pressing Z wouldn't work on some of the smaller strings.

===== the atmosphere / visual effects / sound effects =====

starting off: sound effects. some of these are good, like the ones for the Elsen! they feel fitting, and don't trigger any recoils at the sound. same canNOT be said for Dedan. i'm not sure who was in charge of the new sound effects, but please switch their role with someone else's. like, literally anyone would be better. i physically recoiled at the Dedan sound effect for the dialogue (not lying). at least it still has a low pitch like the original, but the warping sound at the end makes me thing of a wobbly sheet of metal being bent, which feels REALLY weird to associate with Dedan. also, Dedan's boss fight. i saw that the comments said it was bad, i wasn't expecting "cheesy drum effects" kind of BAD. wow. if it was like that in the original, ignore that point, but i SWEAR it wasn't.

the visual effect (and newer artstyle as a whole) feel really out of place. i mean, the battle UI sprites look gritty, the dialogue portraits look gritty, what atmosphere the remake has feels semi-gritty... and then you open the menu, and see a cartoony drawing of the Batter and the Addons. this also applies to the pillar art-- it feels way too polished. either fully redo the old art to match the newer style, or keep the old, scratchy style. personally, i think the scratchy style fits the game WAY more. to be honest, the new artstyle was one of the first "huh, that's... not good" feelings I got from the remake announcement. i looked at the cover art, and i hoped it was an early rendition. not a good sign, tbh. also, the walking effects. the rain ones look good, but the cloud ones almost look like they were ripped from animal crossing, which is REALLY not good. i think it's something to do with how white the clouds are in comparison to the rest of the environment-- maybe change them to be transparent so they blend in more?

because of the above, the atmosphere REALLY takes a hit. most of the untouched, older content (like the "four elements" cutscenes and the battle sprites) still carries that gritty tone that fits with the story, but the newer assets don't. they feel sanitized compared to the older content, and that's really a shame. a good part of what drew me to the original OFF WAS the gritty atmosphere, and more importantly: it's what made me actually PLAY the game, and come back to it later! there's definitely a way to do the cool, new art pieces well, so removing them isn't the solution. really, the problem is the clashing art styles for the game.

===== the battle system =====
i like the new "parry" feature (this is what i've seen others refer to it as, idk if that's actually the name), i think it's neat. i think i prefer the original layout of party members in the battle UI, but this isn't too bad i guess.

===== things i personally would've changed, but aren't really that big =====
i would've changed the elevator input for the Postal Service elevator from a number that you tick the digits up/down into a box where you can type in the numbers directly. this was a thing in the original, and i had issues with it back then, but i can see why it's not like that. would've been a nice QoL feature though.

hello??? why is the calendar puzzle still Like That. like, at LEAST put some way to pull up the posters? even if it was only like, one of them or something. either that, or redesign them. a good chunk of the difficult here doesn't even come from the puzzle itself, but trying to remember what detail was tied with what. i'm all for games that require you to have pen and paper right beside you for puzzles, but this is kinda ridiculous.

maybe add a skip button for the worldbuilding cutscenes in zone 1? i absolutely love them, but it might be nice for repeat playthroughs. although, a game like OFF doesn't really have any reason for a new game+ (unless they're cooking something up for that? in which case, ignore me), so maybe have it available in the config menu or something.


TL;DR: the music would be great if the original OST didn't exist, the new combat system is good, some of the sound effects are AWFUL, there's a weird movement glitch tied to multiple inputs, the Alma calendar puzzle still sucks, and the new art style clashes HARD with the original art style and the game's overall tone.

i don't think a #/10 ranking would really help here because this is a demo, but if this carries throughout the full game, then it'll probably be a 6/10. however, a much more helpful rating: at the moment, i'd recommend the original OFF over this immediately, which makes me really sad :(

very nice, music is 10/10