We Are OFK has a really cool premise. Mixing together the notes of a visual novel and a biopic, it is the origin of a band known as OFK--their first single, Follow/Unfollow, debuted during The Game Awards 2020 while the rest of the group's first EP will release over a five-week period later this year.
OFK is a real band, albeit one that features virtual members. This isn't a case where developer Team OFK is making a music-based game and subsequently releasing the soundtrack. The team has designed OFK in the same vein as other virtual music artists and groups, like Hatsune Miku or K/DA. We Are OFK is the "televised" biopic of how the group's four members--pianist Itsumi Saitō (Ally Maki), singer/songwriter Luca Le Fae (Teddy Dief), audiovisual artist Carter Flores (Syhaya Aviel), and producer Jey Zhang (Fiona Rene)--became a group in the first place.
"[We Are OFK] started as a game project that was meant to be about what we know--a story about people making things and trying to just get shit done in Los Angeles, with focuses on friendships and relationships," creative director Teddy Dief told me. Alongside being the voice for OFK's lead singer, Dief also helms the creative direction of the studio behind the band's biopic.
"But we didn't want to make a game about people making games," they continued. "It made a lot of sense to do music because our producer at the time had a background in music business and she knows her way around the industry. And I have a vocal background. So we were like, 'Oh, we can put something together where we could actually, from the beginning, make a professional music project that isn't just a traditional video game soundtrack.' Like we could actually do a proper band and then tell their story."
Though We Are OFK started as a game, Dief hopes that that isn't how most people first experience the project. "In terms of how we talk about the project and want people to experience it, the coolest scenario is people hearing the first single on the Spotify app, and then they go, 'Oh, shit. There's also a biopic about this band.' That's way more interesting to us, and how we want to relate to people--the band first and the stories second."
This scenario isn't a novel concept--there have been fictional biopics for plenty of real musical artists and bands, such as The Monkees and Big Time Rush. As far as I can tell though, this is the first time such a story is being told for a band composed of virtual people as well as the first time such a story has been told through the lens of an episodic video game as opposed to a television series, thus inviting the viewer to participate in the narrative.
I got a chance to play the first episode of We Are OFK, which introduces all four members of the group but primarily focuses on the perspective of Itsumi. It's a very dialogue-driven opening, forgoing stilted exposition in order to move the action along at a compelling pace. I managed to catch snippets of characterization that briefly appeared at the bottom of old cell phone text chains before new messages pushed them out of frame, and dialogue options provided insight into how a character was feeling, regardless of which choice I picked--all of which felt like a more natural way of introducing me to these characters than a detailed account of their backstory. I was rewarded for paying attention instead of having details just being spoon-fed to me.
By the end of the episode's 50ish minute runtime, I was hooked and eager for more. Episode 1 feels like an excellent TV show pilot, which makes sense given We Are OFK writer Claire Jia's history penning for television--previously, she's written for TV series Awkwafina Is Nora from Queens and Fresh Off the Boat.
In continuing that TV connection, We Are OFK is being released like a televised series. When the game launches, players will only be able to access Episode 1, with each subsequent episode releasing on a weekly schedule. Each of the five episodes will also mark the release of a new single from OFK, all of which will debut on digital music storefronts.
"And weekly releases are a thing in music as well," Dief added. "Our record label person and our manager both said, 'You should give them weekly releases--that's what works best on music platforms.' So it all can be congealed together--weekly releases make sense for TV, and it makes sense for the songs too."
But what about the game itself? Team OFK describes We Are OFK less as a game and more as an "interactive experience," which seems apt based on what I played--it features moments of gameplay, but it plays out a lot more like a television show with interactive elements. It's very Kentucky Route Zero in how everything plays out, though with a far brighter color palette and characters who'd fit more at home in something like Life is Strange or Persona.
The story begins with Itsumi in the midst of an emotional and mental downward spiral. With over a decade of experience playing the piano, Itsumi is trying to make it in Los Angeles, but she's barely scraping by on her meager salary working for a game developer, and folks aren't lining up to secure her for paying gigs--she's only had a few offers, none of which have led to a big break. She's burnt out, struggling to find the joy in practicing music while her ex is badgering her with unsolicited text messages.
Itsumi's struggle is a relatable one--it's here that We Are OFK's first episode finds its greatest strength, and I hope it's one that continues throughout the game's other four. Even if you have no connection to the music industry or knowledge of how it works--like me--We Are OFK's story is still approachable. Its plot is built around themes that are easy to understand regardless of your passions. These aren't folks struggling with celebrity stardom or stressing about hundreds of pages of contracts--in We Are OFK, Itsumi, Luca, Carter, and Jey grapple with imposter syndrome, heartbreak, the unwanted thoughts that you should fill free time with practical activities that are productive, and what it's like to transform what you love into the career you need to do in order to make enough money to live comfortably.
"I think that those experiences transcend the medium," said Dief. "My background in music is one of the reasons why we did it the way we did it. Like I sing the songs. And in terms of the writing process, we definitely did have a lot of conversations with our producer Mikayla Foote--who comes from music and artist management--and then set up a lot of phone calls with both people we were working with on the music side, like our songwriter.
"But as much as we could, we went, 'Hey, what is it like to do your job and what sucks and who makes your job hard?' It's not like in Episode 2, [the characters] are going to spend the whole episode in the studio. That's not actually interesting to watch. Most of the time you're just sitting there. It's more interesting to follow what's happening right before and right after [those moments in the studio]." According to Dief, those are the moments that people will more easily relate to.