If you don't want to read all this boring stuff because you want to get straight to the point, scroll down to the first sign of bolded text. If you like reading and don't find it necessary to IMMEDIATELY GET A SCORE, however, read on.

Also note that when I said no spoilers, I only posted what I considered to not be spoilers. So yeah.

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I told Felix TheJudge I would write a review for this game, and I intend to fulfill that promise. Not just because I feel obligated to, but because I feel the need to convince others to play this game. I mean, odds are, by the time you read these words, you'll have either already downloaded, or beaten* the game (*completed what's been finished so far), or you're actually just TheJudge reading this.

But on the off (heh) chance that you haven't downloaded the game, and you want to know what all the fuss is about. Well, then I guess I'm about to tell you what the fuss is about, and why you really REALLY should play Home. REALLY AND TRULY. YOU SHOULD PLAY IT. But don't take my word for it...actually, do take my word for it, but what I'm getting at is that you should hear a few more words from me before you dive in. Okay? Okay. So here we go.

FIRST, However... have you played the game this game is derived from?
If the description of the game itself didn't already explain enough, this is a fan-game. The game this is based off of is called "Off", by Mortis Ghost, and you can download and play it here. If you haven't played it, the experience will be severely diminished. Play it! Play it now!

...though, most of you have probably played it already. I mean, you are on the page of an Off fan-game. Figured I'd cover the based. "But wait!" You might interject, or you might not, depending on how polite you are. "Why would I want to play a crummy fan-game after I've played the real thing? I mean, it can't possibly compare to the original, can it?"

Yes. Yes it can. Although it won't spark the exact same interest the original did, there are enough original elements, improvements, and just general additions that will absolutely draw you in in a way similar to the original game. And if you loved the original games universe, then you'll probably love the game anyway for giving you an excuse to see more of the universe, from the mind of a fan! But even still, I haven't told you why it's good yet. I promised I would, like, a few paragraphs ago. So without further adieu, here is the ACTUAL REVIEW OF THE GAME. IT'S HAPPENING NOW. BUCKLE YOUR PANTS AND PEPPER YOUR STEAK.

#1: ORIGINAL MUSIC HOLY SHIT

One problem I find most glaring for any derivative work is the re-use of original assets. While most of it is excusable (if you changed all the tiles, for example, it would be hard to make it even resemble a fan-game), having to listen to the same music really drive you crazy after awhile. And most fan-games end up doing it, so for any game that spawns a plethora of fan-works, you might start to hate those wonderful songs just because of the repetition, if nothing else.

Luckily for us, Home COMPLETELY subverts that shit with the amazing works of the super ultra talented team Felix recruited. I mean, wow. Off the top of my head, I can name xLightningWolfx, Tiger, Technijui, Von Kacie, Jazz Jackalope, and Ezekial Rage, along with Felix/TheJudge himself. (He also uses some unused tracks from Alias Conrad Coldwood, too.)

...okay, that wasn't off the top of my head, and I may have checked to see the list of contributing artistsBUT THAT'S NOT THE POINT. It uses NONE of the games original music (save for the normal fighting theme, but ONLY when the Batter is involved. The fighting music is unique otherwise.) I don't want to spoil it too much, but if you don't believe me, see for yourself!

I only linked the music that I felt wouldn't entirely spoil the experience to hear. Part of experiencing Home is through your ears. If I posted, say, one of the many badass boss themes (OF WHICH THEY ARE PLENTIFUL) for you to listen to, it would soil the experience somewhat. So I implore you to fight the urge to listen to them now. Please play the game first. It will be worth it. They're really good, and really do the original Off Soundtrack justice as replacements.

#2: THE ART HOLY SHIT

The art



is really



frickin



good.



(Notice anything different about the judge's battle sprite? No? Well, he looked like THIS in the original game:)



Jeez Judge you look a little sick there.

Again, I'm cherrypicking pictures again to not ruin the experience for you. But just take my word for it. It's all good. It's all worth playing. It's all worth seeing. It's like a nice massage. But it's a massage for your eyes. Actually wait that'd be painful nevermind that-

#3: THE GAME. OH MY GOD THE GAME.

I just...wow. Play Off and Home back to back. You will be FLOORED by the difference between them. It's THAT serious. And I mean that in a really good way. A really REALLY good way. Whereas Off focused more on just pumelling the opponent to death, in Home that doesn't apply. I mean yeah you're doing the same thing but this time...you can actually get status conditions that ACTUALLY effect you. Not just the occasional annoying effect. Nope. Status conditions will royally fuck you up (in a good way), and you'll actually have to think strategically for once, planning ahead (stocking up) and saving CP for healing moves, that kind-of thing.

Many of my fights in Home came down to the wire. I mean, not to spoil the fights, either, but the boss battles...coupled with the (AMAZING SUPER AWESOME BADASS) new soundtrack, the fights THEMSELVES were completely different. It felt different. It felt new. It felt hard. And it felt GOOD. It felt like a boss that you would actually beat and be super satisfied in beating just because of how close it came down to. Really gets the blood pumping, that it does. Again, I'm honestly afraid to spoil the experience for you too much. But it's super good. The fighting system feels FRESH and NEW despite being much like the old system...only BETTER. IT'S GOOD. IT'S GOOD JUST PLEASE PLAY THE GAME.

But wait. There is an elephant standing in the room. It's a big, smelly, elephant, and its name is...PUZZLES. PUZZLES. OFF HAD PUZZLES. REMEMBER PUZZLES? REMEMBER HOW FRUSTRATING THEY WERE? REMEMBER HOW YOU WISH YOU HAD A PEN AND PAPER TO MEMORIZE ALL THOSE GOD FUCKING SHITTY NUMBERS JUST TO GO TO THE NEXT ROOM TO BE FLOORED BY A BOSS FIGHT THAT'S COMPLETELY UNFAIR AND oh wait Home actually has none of that. How about that.

I mean, Home has puzzles. Don't get me wrong. It'd be really silly for Home to be a linear RPG fighting game, I mean, c'mon. But the Puzzles in Home are more creative, and require less writing down random, innocuous information. Certain puzzles require literal thinking, while others require lateral thinking. You may get stumped a few times, but they always make sense in hindsight, and that counts for something, doesn't it? ...not really.

But really though, the Puzzles in Home are new and fun and really good and I don't want to spoil too much but you know those puzzles where there's like a 3 by 3 grid and if you hit a button, that button and all adjacent buttons toggle accordingly and you have to try to light them all up? Yeah that's in it too. I forget the name of it but it's cool beans. ALSO THERE ARE NO RANDOM ENCOUNTERS IN PUZZLE ROOMS THANK GOD THAT WAS SO ANNOYING HOLY SHIT.

#4: ACTUAL ORIGINALITY

OKAY SO we're already covered the fact that this game is a derivative work. It's a fan-game. It takes place in the universe of another game and therefor uses many of the games original assets. "So what?" you might ask, if you haven't caught on by now. "It's just Off with some new shit? Why even bother?"

That's where you're wrong, my friend. Oh, so wrong. So wrong that you'll probably be arrested for the amount of wrongness going on right now.

Remember the part where I said that this game is great if you want to see more of the Off universe from the eyes of a fan? I wasn't fucking with you. That's exactly what this is. It's Off, but through the eyes of a cat, and it's ACTUALLY DIFFERENT IT'S NOT JUST OFF. From a few new characters (more cats MORE CATS WHO DOESN'T LOVE CATS?!) to new areas to a goddamn new ZONE. SERIOUSLY. A NEW ZONE. THAT'S GOOD. AND ISN'T TACKED ON. All these things culminate to create a great big ball of uniqueness that is WORTH PLAYING.

I'm rambling but remember the nothingness? Remember how any Off Fangame ever just re-uses that shit? You probably don't because nobody plays those other fan games but you understand my point.

WELL LOOKATIT



OH MAH GOD LOOK IT'S SOMETHING NEW AND PRETTY. It's the little things like that that make me love Home alot. Felix and his team don't resort to the same shitty tricks that everybody else does. They go out of their way to make things NEW and REFRESHING without being BAD or UNORIGINAL. YA' DIG? IT'S REAL GOOD STUFF. VERY PLEASING ON THE EYE. ALMOST LIKE IF YOU GOT SOME EYE DROPS BUT YOU JUST OPENED UP THE WHOLE THING AND DUMPED IT ON YOUR EYE. Actually in hindsight that might hurt but you know what I mean c'mon.

#5: Final verdict?

Final verdict? You expect me to just definitely be able to tell you whether or not this game is good on a scale of 0/5? A game that is a culmination of so many different elements that it's impossible to even quantify? A game that has the heart and soul of many different fans of Mortis Ghost's Off, all striving to create what they consider a fair successor that can compare with the original game itself?

You expect me to put a number on that?

Because I will, if you want.

5/5.

I love this game so much.

And I can't wait to see it be finished.

"THAT'S RIDICULOUS." you might yell, now suddenly enraged because I am rating this game a GOOD score on the INTERNET. "A 5/5???? NOT EVEN THE TEENAGE NINJA MUTANT TURTLES MOVIE GOT THAT SCORE YOU'RE FUCKIN BULLSHITTING."

Do you think I'm kidding? I respect that. Although I don't respect your opinion on a terrible movie. So to that, I offer you the download link. The game is free. You have no excuse. If you don't like it, feel free to write up a review of your own. But this game gets a 5 from me. And I HIGHLY SUGGEST that ANY fan of Mortis Ghost's works give this game a look. Tell me I'm wrong. Because from where I'm standing, this game absolutely stacks up, and it's not even finished! Who knows what it'll be like when it's finished! I'm struggling to imagine it, just because of how insane the thought is!

But it'll definitely be worth the wait.

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So this review is done? Alright. Now I guess I'll just...drop links to the team? Seems like a good idea. Copy and pasting these from a blog post by Felix himself, sorry if I miss anybody!

THE +HOME+ TEAM:

The Official Home blog: thejudge: Lead Programmer, Lead Map Design, Secondary Music Composer, Monster Concept Design, Battle Sprite Concept, Voice actor.

technijui: Secondary Programmer, Voice Actor, Sprite Design.
xlightningwolfx: Lead Composer
winsdayink: Lead Artist
chimakiisane: Monster Sprite Design/Plague Doctors
sesakamonster: Lead Monster Design
nuclear-menace (Can't find a link): Monster Concept Design
possessedbunnyplush: Overworld Sprite Design.
panda-and-kumajiro: Overworld Sprite Concept.
askaussiefalconscout: Battle/Batter Sprite design.
tigerman9001: Music Composer.
druggymcweed: Monster Concept Design
telefang: Music Composer
schizophobic: Music Composer. (Sadly they deleted :’c)
p4zam: Monster Concept Design

Give them lots of love. Every one of them.

(I really hope I didn't miss anything when I post the review because I dunno if you can edit a review on here or not I dunno)