To achieve horror, drama or sadness, you must first show how good it can be. You can’t relate to someone in a horrible world that makes it harder. The viewer needs to know how well the character is doing, how well it will be if it continues like this. Then you pull the rug out and say that the wonderful future will never happen and everything they have today will be gone forever. Then the audience will mourn with the character and wish back to the good old days and what their lives could be.
I heard that from an acquaintance who worked with film. Apparently the creators of Omori seem to have been in contact with the same acquaintance because they did a good job on that point. One of the strongest points of Omori is the story. Unfortunately, it’s hard to go into it without starting to talk about spoilers. But what kind of game is Omori? Omori can be compared to games such as Earthbound and Undertale. Basically it’s like a Japanese turn-based RPG but it’s so many other things at the same time and jumps between being one and the other. You can tell that there is a lot of thought and love in almost everything you come across and the players who take the time to step aside to smell the flowers will be rewarded.
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The combat system has its depth. We have our four heroes. The healer Hero who keeps everyone alive, the speedy Kel who looks to prepare the plan for everyone else, hard-hitting Aubrey who can take a beating and do a lot of damage and finally Omori as a joker who can use status effects, or rather emotions, for maximum effect . The game uses a rock, scissors, bag system with being angry, sad and happy which all give pros and cons. There are also various weapons and accessories that give extra stats and characteristics, and when you level up and do side-quests, you unlock new skills that can change your play style.
Unfortunately, this is where I think the game misses the most. The battle system has a lot of potential but the game is way too easy. You hardly need to bother with optimizing anything and can just go with the attacks that do a lot of damage. Even the bosses are easily defeated if you have some control over the emotional system and dare to use items. Besides this, it is also possible to grind together extra levels easily, which I avoided so as not to remove all the challenge. There are some extra bosses that are more challenging but unfortunately they are locked depending on the decisions you make in the game. A good comparison would be with Pokemon, where most of the games can be easily run through without any deeper brain activity even though there is a lot of room for strategic planning.
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Another part of the game that could probably be more talked about is what I would call the unfunny parts. From time to time you come into contact with sequences that have a horror theme. I liked these as they were tastefully done. Instead of having jumpscares that blow up the headphones behind every corner, they work to create an effective atmosphere and use scarier moments sparingly to ensure that you stay on your toes. However, from a meta perspective, you quickly realize that you are never facing any danger (except when you poke the glass you shouldn’t poke!). This means that potential fear is not as effective as if something were at stake.
But aside from JRPGs and horror, you also spend time in Faraway. Here you are not met by monsters you can gate or ghosts sneaking up behind you. Here you run around doing what kids used to do back in the day. Knocking on doors to see if anyone is home, playing in the park and arguing with the other kids. These parties are incredibly cozy and parallel to the story of Omori and his companions, you play as Sunny as he heads out to say goodbye to his friends before he moves away, or if you feel like it, just stays at home until the floats arrive .
Since the game isn’t unfunny in itself, that’s what I’d call it feel good. Both Omori and Sunny’s story is full of charm and humor that hits home. In Sunny’s case, it’s grounded humor about how kids are kids and some adults aren’t much better. Whereas Omori’s has a more exaggerated and often quite crude sense of humor that made me giggle at the absurd situations you find yourself in. All the companions you spend time with have their own personalities and you want to know more about them as they manage to make them feel like your own own people instead of just clichés. The game does a great job of putting you in a good mood. However, the game takes up heavy themes as a contrast to this, which means that the serious situations hit the emotions harder.
The game asks questions that are difficult to answer. How do you deal with the death of a loved one? What responsibility can you place on a twelve-year-old? Can you be forgiven for everything? Should you bring up troublesome things that have happened or let it be if everyone is happy with how it is? The game does not answer its own questions but allows the player to think for himself and come to his own conclusion, which is great if you often feel beaten by the moral stick that tells you what is right and wrong.
However, I think Omori will be a watershed. As much as some love or hate racing simulators, this doesn’t feel like a game for everyone. What some see as emotional, others will see as silly, and what is cozy may be perceived as boring. But it wouldn’t be fair to give a racing game a bad rating because you don’t like the genre, so I’m not going to keep in mind those who don’t like this kind of thing. I liked the game a lot and Omori balances between a seven and an eight for me. However, I’m in a good mood and am eager to play it again to see everything I missed, so it has to land on an eight.
So if you like games that dare to be their own thing and are filled with love at the expense of spending less time on balance and game mechanics then I recommend this game.
And if you are one of those who had the game’s many plot twists spoiled for you, play the game anyway, the path to the goal is far more memorable than the destination.
