Backlog Art #22- OFF

[BE WARNED ABOUT SPOILERS FOR OFF; I MAY NOT BE ABLE TO FULLY TALK ABOUT STUFF WITHOUT SPOILING THE ENDGAME]

If you were to ask anyone what OFF did well, most of it will be about the atmosphere of the world, the worldbuilding itself, the story (however cryptic it may feel), and so on.

But I have seen some people explain that their favorite thing the game does is the ending, or at least the stuff connected to the endings. Most games that do multiple endings have cheap ways to get you to there, and even at its best you feel the disconnection between the story and the gameplay. Especially with morality. Some games with moral-based endings will at most have you choose separate choices that adjust your score, and said score is what causes the ending to be different. Some people think it's a cheap bandaid fix to a problem the game still has. This kind of thing can still work, but these are still understandable concerns.

Some games have actively tried to avert this. Silent Hill 2, for example, gives you points towards a certain ending by actually judging you on your gameplay. For one, it tracks how long it takes you to heal yourself (and how low you get before doing so). Another one is dependent on whether or not you care for anyone else you are with at certain points. While this has flaws of its own (like having to adjust your playstyle to see the different endings), it makes achieving those endings much more satisfying, since you actually feel like you worked your way there instead of making a choice to select an option and press a button.

OFF does things, as usual, in its own unique way. Instead of giving you the ending based off of how you play, it does provide a selection. However, unlike the previous ones where you don't feel it connects to the story, it manages to tie it all in. It's actually pulled you into the game the moment you named your file. You yourself are a character in the game, the one controlling the only thing you can control: the Batter. Throughout the game you can just play it like you usually do, but soon the game drops hints that what you're doing may not exactly be what the Batter said he needed your help for. This is proven much quicker if you decide to visit the previous zones you beat, if you decide to visit at all.

This comes down to the endings, the focal point of this Completion Art. The Judge (the cat, named Pablo) doesn't have anything to say to the Batter, who he sees as the monster (framed in the art I made by having the Batter's shadow look different to how he looks regularly). Instead, the Judge speaks to you, questions you as to why you would let this happen to the world.

The game provides you a choice: you can stick with the batter, either out of ignorance of what you're doing, or because you think this is the only way this world can be saved, OR you can side with the Judge, who knows it's pointless to fight for a world almost dead, yet would prefer it to the Batter's victory. Which ending you go for depends on what YOU feel is best: Do you think the Batter is in the right, or the Judge? That's what makes this scene work for some people. The scene's layout itself, it's about exactly as I'm showing it. It's a blank white room, devoid of life after defeating the guardian of The Room. There's a switch on a wall, but the Judge stands in between the Batter and the switch. That's it. That's all. But it's so effective, that simplicity. I only added the shadows to have a little bonus to people who've chosen the Judge, as they show what the Judge is viewing the Batter as.

Sorry if this is more about the ending than it is about the art, I am just a big fan of this scene.