OMORI has it's flaws when it comes to its gameplay and mechanics, but the story more than makes up for it. Stick with this game to the end, it will not disappoint you.
Pain.
warning: i'm going to be talking about pedophilia
this game was developed by a pedophile. the creator, omocat, has an online shop where they released merchandise with "shota" on it. for those unfamiliar, this is a japanese term meaning attraction to little boys. they've also discussed the main character in depth on their tumblr blog as "a boy who likes to jack off" and he's TWELVE...
they have apparently apologized for this, however, apologies only go so far. please don't support a developer like this.
for more in depth info you can google "omori pedophile"
this game was developed by a pedophile. the creator, omocat, has an online shop where they released merchandise with "shota" on it. for those unfamiliar, this is a japanese term meaning attraction to little boys. they've also discussed the main character in depth on their tumblr blog as "a boy who likes to jack off" and he's TWELVE...
they have apparently apologized for this, however, apologies only go so far. please don't support a developer like this.
for more in depth info you can google "omori pedophile"
That was such a traumatizing experience...
Never in my life have I so thoroughly and immediately fell in love with a game that made me feel so empty, cold and hollow. Omori is a triumph in storytelling and a masterclass in existential dread.
Amazing story, characters and overall presentation. The art is great especially the character designs, the music is pretty good and adds so much to the game and it's good that they nailed it, especially because of the narrative.
The characters are great and instantly likeable, they carry the whole game on their shoulders... the human characters do at least, didn't care much for the monsters in the dreams honestly.
All the horror sections were haunting, creepy, gave me lots of chills in general. Amazing atmosphere and sound effects. This is probably one of my favorite parts of the whole thing. And the way they're connected to the whole story and characters works really well.
The dream sections can really drag, I don't think they hold the charm to warrant so many hours and dungeons inside of them. The allure of more story is what got me through some of the slowest parts of the game.
The combat is just ok, feels pretty slow for the random battles. Boss fights are enjoyable, and the narrative sequences where the combat is in any way featured are great.
Sometimes there's the awkward moment where you're not sure what direction or interaction will move the story forward, precluding you from the rest of the content in an area. It can get really frustrating to have that feeling where you get through a point of no return and can't do anything but reload to make sure you didn't miss anything important.
Overall I'd say it's a great game dragged down by bloat, basically. However, if you really like the gameplay and the dream sections feel free to add another star to the score, this is just my personal impressions after all. The narrative and all the non-combat sections are more than worth powering through the parts that I felt weren't as good.
The characters are great and instantly likeable, they carry the whole game on their shoulders... the human characters do at least, didn't care much for the monsters in the dreams honestly.
All the horror sections were haunting, creepy, gave me lots of chills in general. Amazing atmosphere and sound effects. This is probably one of my favorite parts of the whole thing. And the way they're connected to the whole story and characters works really well.
The dream sections can really drag, I don't think they hold the charm to warrant so many hours and dungeons inside of them. The allure of more story is what got me through some of the slowest parts of the game.
The combat is just ok, feels pretty slow for the random battles. Boss fights are enjoyable, and the narrative sequences where the combat is in any way featured are great.
Sometimes there's the awkward moment where you're not sure what direction or interaction will move the story forward, precluding you from the rest of the content in an area. It can get really frustrating to have that feeling where you get through a point of no return and can't do anything but reload to make sure you didn't miss anything important.
Overall I'd say it's a great game dragged down by bloat, basically. However, if you really like the gameplay and the dream sections feel free to add another star to the score, this is just my personal impressions after all. The narrative and all the non-combat sections are more than worth powering through the parts that I felt weren't as good.
One way to understand OMORI's relation to Yume Nikki, a game from which it lifts a lot, is to imagine a remake of Inland Empire that spends hours of screentime explaining why Laura Dern is so scared.
OMORI exists in the quirky and surreal JRPG lineage of the MOTHER series, LISA, and Undertale (among others). As far as those series' influence goes it does fine: you go on a journey with a bunch of your close friends; the characters are believable and human; the music slaps ass. At the same time, the game is atrociously paced and never seems to fall into any sort of rhythm. It's difficult to get a sense of its scope while playing. But aside from a just ridiculous, immersion breaking, and as far as I can tell unnecessary twist towards the end, OMORI is effective. I certainly cared more for the characters in this game than anybody in Earthbound or Mother 3.
It does well compared to other MOTHERlikes, but how does it stack up to Yume Nikki? Yume Nikki has barely any text. To be frank, it barely has anything. You wander through surreal and sometimes terrifying dreamscapes; you occasionally interact with things that may or may not result in consequences. Still: by exploring the landscapes of her dreams, the player begins to feel a connection to their character (known as Madotskui). You get some vague idea of her fears, her traumas, her general brain state. This is all communicated to the player by, again, functionally being a walking simulator. OMORI seemingly attempts to accomplish a similar goal: putting the player into Sunny's dreamscapes. But it does so by completely eschewing the subtlety that really made Yume Nikki special.
In one of OMORI's final explorations of dream space, he is sent into a room filled with doors. As he enters these doors and explores the rooms contained within, he is given "keys" that he uses to progress. This segment of gameplay seems deliberately designed to echo Yume Nikki, even beyond just borrowing the aesthetics as the rest of the game does. Inside of one room, the player can interact with bells: some of the bells make noises, but the other prompts a textbox, "this bell makes no noise." Why? What is gained by telling the player that? In Yume Nikki, a player understands an object can't be interacted with because an attempt at interaction with it simply yields no result. It's this kind of redundancy that slows OMORI down, and really impacts its effect.
OMORI taken in its worst light seems to stand for the suggestion that Yume Nikki lacked some kind of backstory. We need to understand Sunny's interpersonal friendships and their history, his family life and his interests. More importantly we need to be told about these aspects, and beat over the head with them. I don't think that's true: I think this game could have done more if it had less stuff in it. That being said the game succeeds more than it fails, and its always cool to see surreal dreamlike influence from Yume Nikki leak into mainstream shit. In the end, the degree to which the game pays homage to Yume Nikki just kinda triggers the "never remind the player they could be playing a better game" rule. Which is a shame because again, all told this game ain't bad.
OMORI exists in the quirky and surreal JRPG lineage of the MOTHER series, LISA, and Undertale (among others). As far as those series' influence goes it does fine: you go on a journey with a bunch of your close friends; the characters are believable and human; the music slaps ass. At the same time, the game is atrociously paced and never seems to fall into any sort of rhythm. It's difficult to get a sense of its scope while playing. But aside from a just ridiculous, immersion breaking, and as far as I can tell unnecessary twist towards the end, OMORI is effective. I certainly cared more for the characters in this game than anybody in Earthbound or Mother 3.
It does well compared to other MOTHERlikes, but how does it stack up to Yume Nikki? Yume Nikki has barely any text. To be frank, it barely has anything. You wander through surreal and sometimes terrifying dreamscapes; you occasionally interact with things that may or may not result in consequences. Still: by exploring the landscapes of her dreams, the player begins to feel a connection to their character (known as Madotskui). You get some vague idea of her fears, her traumas, her general brain state. This is all communicated to the player by, again, functionally being a walking simulator. OMORI seemingly attempts to accomplish a similar goal: putting the player into Sunny's dreamscapes. But it does so by completely eschewing the subtlety that really made Yume Nikki special.
In one of OMORI's final explorations of dream space, he is sent into a room filled with doors. As he enters these doors and explores the rooms contained within, he is given "keys" that he uses to progress. This segment of gameplay seems deliberately designed to echo Yume Nikki, even beyond just borrowing the aesthetics as the rest of the game does. Inside of one room, the player can interact with bells: some of the bells make noises, but the other prompts a textbox, "this bell makes no noise." Why? What is gained by telling the player that? In Yume Nikki, a player understands an object can't be interacted with because an attempt at interaction with it simply yields no result. It's this kind of redundancy that slows OMORI down, and really impacts its effect.
OMORI taken in its worst light seems to stand for the suggestion that Yume Nikki lacked some kind of backstory. We need to understand Sunny's interpersonal friendships and their history, his family life and his interests. More importantly we need to be told about these aspects, and beat over the head with them. I don't think that's true: I think this game could have done more if it had less stuff in it. That being said the game succeeds more than it fails, and its always cool to see surreal dreamlike influence from Yume Nikki leak into mainstream shit. In the end, the degree to which the game pays homage to Yume Nikki just kinda triggers the "never remind the player they could be playing a better game" rule. Which is a shame because again, all told this game ain't bad.
This review contains spoilers
SPOILERS FOR OMORI SINCE THE SPOILER WARNING ISN'T SHOWING UP FOR ME
I feel it imperative to preface this review with the following statement: when I was done with Omori, I wholeheartedly loved it. This was, in no small part, product of the impact one of the game's closing scenes (which, even in retrospective, I consider a huge highlight).
However, the more I discussed this game with friends and started dissecting it, the more I disliked Omori. The game is by no means bad, nor do I hate it, but I also want to express all the things I dislike about it.
There are many things in this game that I started to despise when trying to replay it for the hikkikomori route. Wanting to experince said route was a wake-up call on how a lot of things in this game simply do not work or aren't important.
First, I'd like to talk about the keys from the hangman. There is absolutely no reason why the game doesn't properly communicate their importance (as they're obligatory for progression), and that you can't get all of them on the normal route (which is the route everyone gets first). I was lucky that I focused on gathering as many as I could, and pity those that missed a few and had to traverse Omori's uninspired, bland dreamworld on a treasure hunt that doesn't really justify its own existence.
And yet, in my struggle to gather all of them in my first run, I crashed into this unsurmountable fact that makes me heavily question Omori's design: you cannot gather all keys on a normal run. This is expressed nowhere as far as I can tell. I was getting so frustrated I had to google where I could find the only key I needed at the time, only to find out you can't get it on a normal run (the number of unobtainable keys being 2). While I do understand that both of those keys are not needed for the hangman's completion, I do not find a reason for the game not explaining that you can't possibly reach the key. This is early on in the game, mind you. You do NOT have a clue if this is a key you'll need later, or if the keys despawn. So if you can't get it, nor know if you'll need it, why not clearly state that it's unobtainable?
This might seem nitpicky, but it's a point I want to strongly emphasize since it's a recurring problem with Omori's design: Omori doesn't really care for your investment on it, or at least there's not much of a reward for the time and effort you exhert in order to enjoy all of its nooks and crannies.
Omori is filled to the brim with content that ultimately leads nowhere. Scattered throughout its colorful dreamworld are jokes to write down in order to appease a weeping ghost, and golden doors that ask of you to repeat a secret passcode. And what is your reward for having to slowly traverse multiple areas? ...a shitty sword and some more drab dialogue. While I understand that enjoying Omori's fluff of NPCs is subjective, I cannot remember a single one. Unlike Undertale, whose NPCs were talked about for years due to their uniqueness, Omori fills areas with NPCs whose charm is null.
The dreamworld, despite taking the game hostage for most of it's runtime, is mostly inconsequential. Most of the adventures you'll go through don't really have any weight attached to them, since they don't really have a real world counterpart. This wouldn't be a problem since they're midly entertaining (except for the whale, which sucked), but since it takes up a big portion of the game, it makes the pacing slow down to a crawl.
The many sidequests to be found are really, really bland. Some of them are a bitch to complete (ghost party, sprout moles), and pretty much all of them just kinda... end. The equipment rewards are useful, though, but I do find it really annoying that the game has a lack of a NG+, since the hikikkomori route is a lot more combat oriented, so you'll have to do the sidequests all over again (torture I decided do abstain from).
Remember that coral tree that only existed to explain things to the audience and hand out a completely meaningless decision? Yeah, that's the dreamworld for you.
And the optional area that just had a secret boss and a way to farm items? Like, that was really all it was. Just a secret boss and a mountain of healing items.
The final problem I'll talk about is related to the ending and twist, which is the reason why this review is flagged with a spoiler warning.
Despite my initial awe at the twist... I can't really say, in retrospective, that it works. Yes, it's shocking, but it's also kinda... forced?
This criticism is a little iffy, I know, but stick with me here. Is there really a reason why they would carry a dead body and fake a suicide? And I understand that it was shock that led them to make such a grave mistake, and they were not acting rationally. But it still tugs at my mind, how the whole hanging just kinda exists for the sake of a twist and, ultimately, feels like a cheap shot at shocking players. And yeah, I was shocked to find out the truth, but I also feel a little cheated over how completely out of left field it is.
Then comes another problem: Sunny's "redemption". This one might be a persona misunderstanding of the resolution, but I do think it's kinda stupid how Sunny comes to terms with his sins because he constantly thinks his friends are gonna be fine with it. And while I know that's not what his resolution is completely made out of, it still feels a little dishonest for him to imagine all the people he lied to and made suffer to accept him, and that fantasy being the thing that makes him step forward.
Overall, I think Omori's writing just cornered itself in order to be shocking, but it crumbles before the weight of the steps that its main character had to take in order for the twist to be realized.
Still, I do think Omori is fine. The Sunny sections I found to be really charming.
The sidequests were a lot more than the dreamworld ones, and the much more concise world made it a lot more bearable to walk from point A to point B.
Wanting to find out the truth behind Mari's death and trying to repair this friendship that was tragically broken felt gripping. I grew to really like Kel, Aubrey, and Hero. Even Mari, whos memory lived thanks to them.
The combat, even if it is just a rock-paper-scissors buff/debuff system, was really fun to play around with. You really can do a lot of different strategies and experiment with the different emotions. The UI looked great and brimmed with style. Animations looked good, and I loved the portraits.
And some moments, man... were really well done. The duet is, obviously, the biggest highlight of the game. But I also really liked the picnic at Mari's gravestone, and getting to hear different characters' way of dealing with her death was really, really nicely done. Don't even get me started on watching Hero cry at the piano...
And Omori doesn't just handle emotional moments right. All the horror parts were great. Every single mirror appearance was awesome, and really well done.
Omori is... bloated. It is filled to the brim with stuff that, ultimately, doesn't really contribute towards anything and spoils a lot of the experience for me. As a whole, it feels unfocused and, like its main character, is unable to maintain the juggling act between the two realities it presents to us. If a lot of the dreamworld was trimmed, and there had been a larger focus on strengthening its narrative, I think we would be discussing where it would sit alongside other RPGmaker games as a new classic. But alas, Lisa the Painful it is not.
I feel it imperative to preface this review with the following statement: when I was done with Omori, I wholeheartedly loved it. This was, in no small part, product of the impact one of the game's closing scenes (which, even in retrospective, I consider a huge highlight).
However, the more I discussed this game with friends and started dissecting it, the more I disliked Omori. The game is by no means bad, nor do I hate it, but I also want to express all the things I dislike about it.
There are many things in this game that I started to despise when trying to replay it for the hikkikomori route. Wanting to experince said route was a wake-up call on how a lot of things in this game simply do not work or aren't important.
First, I'd like to talk about the keys from the hangman. There is absolutely no reason why the game doesn't properly communicate their importance (as they're obligatory for progression), and that you can't get all of them on the normal route (which is the route everyone gets first). I was lucky that I focused on gathering as many as I could, and pity those that missed a few and had to traverse Omori's uninspired, bland dreamworld on a treasure hunt that doesn't really justify its own existence.
And yet, in my struggle to gather all of them in my first run, I crashed into this unsurmountable fact that makes me heavily question Omori's design: you cannot gather all keys on a normal run. This is expressed nowhere as far as I can tell. I was getting so frustrated I had to google where I could find the only key I needed at the time, only to find out you can't get it on a normal run (the number of unobtainable keys being 2). While I do understand that both of those keys are not needed for the hangman's completion, I do not find a reason for the game not explaining that you can't possibly reach the key. This is early on in the game, mind you. You do NOT have a clue if this is a key you'll need later, or if the keys despawn. So if you can't get it, nor know if you'll need it, why not clearly state that it's unobtainable?
This might seem nitpicky, but it's a point I want to strongly emphasize since it's a recurring problem with Omori's design: Omori doesn't really care for your investment on it, or at least there's not much of a reward for the time and effort you exhert in order to enjoy all of its nooks and crannies.
Omori is filled to the brim with content that ultimately leads nowhere. Scattered throughout its colorful dreamworld are jokes to write down in order to appease a weeping ghost, and golden doors that ask of you to repeat a secret passcode. And what is your reward for having to slowly traverse multiple areas? ...a shitty sword and some more drab dialogue. While I understand that enjoying Omori's fluff of NPCs is subjective, I cannot remember a single one. Unlike Undertale, whose NPCs were talked about for years due to their uniqueness, Omori fills areas with NPCs whose charm is null.
The dreamworld, despite taking the game hostage for most of it's runtime, is mostly inconsequential. Most of the adventures you'll go through don't really have any weight attached to them, since they don't really have a real world counterpart. This wouldn't be a problem since they're midly entertaining (except for the whale, which sucked), but since it takes up a big portion of the game, it makes the pacing slow down to a crawl.
The many sidequests to be found are really, really bland. Some of them are a bitch to complete (ghost party, sprout moles), and pretty much all of them just kinda... end. The equipment rewards are useful, though, but I do find it really annoying that the game has a lack of a NG+, since the hikikkomori route is a lot more combat oriented, so you'll have to do the sidequests all over again (torture I decided do abstain from).
Remember that coral tree that only existed to explain things to the audience and hand out a completely meaningless decision? Yeah, that's the dreamworld for you.
And the optional area that just had a secret boss and a way to farm items? Like, that was really all it was. Just a secret boss and a mountain of healing items.
The final problem I'll talk about is related to the ending and twist, which is the reason why this review is flagged with a spoiler warning.
Despite my initial awe at the twist... I can't really say, in retrospective, that it works. Yes, it's shocking, but it's also kinda... forced?
This criticism is a little iffy, I know, but stick with me here. Is there really a reason why they would carry a dead body and fake a suicide? And I understand that it was shock that led them to make such a grave mistake, and they were not acting rationally. But it still tugs at my mind, how the whole hanging just kinda exists for the sake of a twist and, ultimately, feels like a cheap shot at shocking players. And yeah, I was shocked to find out the truth, but I also feel a little cheated over how completely out of left field it is.
Then comes another problem: Sunny's "redemption". This one might be a persona misunderstanding of the resolution, but I do think it's kinda stupid how Sunny comes to terms with his sins because he constantly thinks his friends are gonna be fine with it. And while I know that's not what his resolution is completely made out of, it still feels a little dishonest for him to imagine all the people he lied to and made suffer to accept him, and that fantasy being the thing that makes him step forward.
Overall, I think Omori's writing just cornered itself in order to be shocking, but it crumbles before the weight of the steps that its main character had to take in order for the twist to be realized.
Still, I do think Omori is fine. The Sunny sections I found to be really charming.
The sidequests were a lot more than the dreamworld ones, and the much more concise world made it a lot more bearable to walk from point A to point B.
Wanting to find out the truth behind Mari's death and trying to repair this friendship that was tragically broken felt gripping. I grew to really like Kel, Aubrey, and Hero. Even Mari, whos memory lived thanks to them.
The combat, even if it is just a rock-paper-scissors buff/debuff system, was really fun to play around with. You really can do a lot of different strategies and experiment with the different emotions. The UI looked great and brimmed with style. Animations looked good, and I loved the portraits.
And some moments, man... were really well done. The duet is, obviously, the biggest highlight of the game. But I also really liked the picnic at Mari's gravestone, and getting to hear different characters' way of dealing with her death was really, really nicely done. Don't even get me started on watching Hero cry at the piano...
And Omori doesn't just handle emotional moments right. All the horror parts were great. Every single mirror appearance was awesome, and really well done.
Omori is... bloated. It is filled to the brim with stuff that, ultimately, doesn't really contribute towards anything and spoils a lot of the experience for me. As a whole, it feels unfocused and, like its main character, is unable to maintain the juggling act between the two realities it presents to us. If a lot of the dreamworld was trimmed, and there had been a larger focus on strengthening its narrative, I think we would be discussing where it would sit alongside other RPGmaker games as a new classic. But alas, Lisa the Painful it is not.
As much as I wanted to like it, it's really boring. I skipped an entire region of the game and still ended up abandoning it because it's so terribly paced. OMORI includes all of the elements that I love in a game yet it still just wasn't enough. I quit around 18(?) hours in and just watched/read about the rest online. I actually DO think it's worth seeing through to the ending, but I personally can't sit through 4 more hours of the torture that is the Dream World
OMORI is a game that completely took me by surprise. Every part of this game kept dragging me in deeper, and before I knew it, I had completely fallen in love. The heartbreaking story of trauma, grief, and escapism was so emotionally resonant in a way that is honestly difficult for me to fully articulate. But what makes the game work so well is its amazing main characters. Each one of them feels so real and human, and seeing their attempts to overcome grief and reconnect with one another is so incredibly effective. OMORI is beautiful, heartwarming, tragic, disturbing, and painful all at once, leading to a complete emotional roller-coaster of a game.
OMORI's combat is probably the worst part of the game, even if it is admittedly pretty fun. It's really simple, and the game is easy. It has some unique features that make its combat stand out, but even then, it's not utilized properly and you won't find yourself using these features to their full extent.
I think this game's story is great, even if it is slow at times. My only problem with this game's story is how there are needless exposition dumps where the game may come off as pretentious towards the player. That really is my only complaint, though, as I believe every character is properly fleshed out and the story is revealed in a satisfying manner so that it doesn't feel half-complete when you're done. There's a ton of stuff in this game that you won't notice during your first playthrough, and even when you complete the game, the story goes deeper than you think.
The art and music in this game are amazing. There are so many good tracks in this game as well, the battle themes are phenomenal and some of the ones used in the cutscenes are amazing as well. The art is spectacular, in the overworld it's pixelated, but in the battles and cutscenes it's hand-drawn and it looks beautiful, the enemies look expressive and the art style they use in the cutscenes work great to enhance the experience.
Overall, this game would be perfect if they fleshed out the combat a little bit more and didn't make the game super easy. I think it's worth playing for the story alone as it is the best I've ever experienced in a video game.
This game might not be perfect, but from the beginning to the end, it really feels like the person who made this game really loved it. There are so many things to explore, people to talk to, and places to see that really make this game have a charm of its own.
Quick addendum (12/03)
If you're checking this game out despite not liking horror games because of all the hype surrounding it, great! (I was like that too :P) I just want to mention that this game definitely contains horror elements, but they usually come in the form of quick jumpscares. There are loud noises as well. These are not scattered all throughout the game, though, you see a bunch of these in some of the early game segments, but they die down later in the game. ^-^
I think this game's story is great, even if it is slow at times. My only problem with this game's story is how there are needless exposition dumps where the game may come off as pretentious towards the player. That really is my only complaint, though, as I believe every character is properly fleshed out and the story is revealed in a satisfying manner so that it doesn't feel half-complete when you're done. There's a ton of stuff in this game that you won't notice during your first playthrough, and even when you complete the game, the story goes deeper than you think.
The art and music in this game are amazing. There are so many good tracks in this game as well, the battle themes are phenomenal and some of the ones used in the cutscenes are amazing as well. The art is spectacular, in the overworld it's pixelated, but in the battles and cutscenes it's hand-drawn and it looks beautiful, the enemies look expressive and the art style they use in the cutscenes work great to enhance the experience.
Overall, this game would be perfect if they fleshed out the combat a little bit more and didn't make the game super easy. I think it's worth playing for the story alone as it is the best I've ever experienced in a video game.
This game might not be perfect, but from the beginning to the end, it really feels like the person who made this game really loved it. There are so many things to explore, people to talk to, and places to see that really make this game have a charm of its own.
Quick addendum (12/03)
If you're checking this game out despite not liking horror games because of all the hype surrounding it, great! (I was like that too :P) I just want to mention that this game definitely contains horror elements, but they usually come in the form of quick jumpscares. There are loud noises as well. These are not scattered all throughout the game, though, you see a bunch of these in some of the early game segments, but they die down later in the game. ^-^
everything was not ok
i think i like this video g ame
An outstanding and truly unique game. Everything from its art style to its characters are amazing practically everything is pulled off really really well
Waiting for something to happen?
i'm amazed this actually came out at all, i remember when it was announced and i am bewildered that it wasn't actually a scam. surprised how good the writing and art in this are, this tackles some heavy shit but usually backs it up in terms of quality, it felt rawer in a way other games would sensationalize and dramatize to an uglier extreme. somehow it really captures the feeling of a tight group of friends having to go through something tragic and the ways each of them cope, how it changes their world. i say somehow cuz i dont fuckin know how accurate it is i lived on a farm far out of town and had no friends when i was their age i ain't got shit in terms of experience but it sure does feel like someone thought hard about it while making it.
but every time Sweetheart shows up i want to turn the game off. she's so lame! why the hell does she have TWO parts in the game that go on for way too long. why was that needed. the pacing in this game is REALLY. its best quality is its story, but the only juicy bits happen in the real world. most of the game is spent in headspace and most of that time is very, very boring.
but every time Sweetheart shows up i want to turn the game off. she's so lame! why the hell does she have TWO parts in the game that go on for way too long. why was that needed. the pacing in this game is REALLY. its best quality is its story, but the only juicy bits happen in the real world. most of the game is spent in headspace and most of that time is very, very boring.
I usually don't play games like this, but I enjoyed OMORI. I feel as though the emotion portrayed in the game isn't as strong as I have read, but it is still emotional. Also has pretty decent music and a really good art style.
I wish the combat segments were longer
pain, suffering even
chorei
felt like the game did not respect my time if that makes any sense. menuing takes forever, traversing the world takes forever, battles take forever, etc. A lot of just...filler in terms of the story. There's no reason for this game to be 20 hours long. I feel like the story would've had a much bigger impact on me if I wasn't just so tired of playing this game.
Combat in this game was surprisingly very interesting for me, something I was not expecting. I wish there was more reasons though for me to experiment with other strategies besides the one I felt was strongest.
Combat in this game was surprisingly very interesting for me, something I was not expecting. I wish there was more reasons though for me to experiment with other strategies besides the one I felt was strongest.
If Kikiyama, Itoi, Chilledcow, and XXXbloodyrists666XXX got together to develop this game instead of OMO-CAT, they'd at least have had the chance to further their own artistic projects, and by their collaboration would have produced a network in miniature which more genuinely reflected the aesthetic fascination and world which they each independently helped create, synthesizing not in mimicry but in earnestness their disparate but hauntologically focused works which, instead, now inform this mess.
The idea that these four would successfully push anything out in under five years is ridiculous, and in genuine parity with that perceived fact, the game is at least honest in its disregard for its own fans' time and attention, for if there's anything to be said about these five creators, it's that they created works which are timeless, insofar as they have little regard for time generally.
Verbose, derivative, silly, and essentially too late to the party. Cool soundtrack though. And oh, what potential - feels like a haunting.
The idea that these four would successfully push anything out in under five years is ridiculous, and in genuine parity with that perceived fact, the game is at least honest in its disregard for its own fans' time and attention, for if there's anything to be said about these five creators, it's that they created works which are timeless, insofar as they have little regard for time generally.
Verbose, derivative, silly, and essentially too late to the party. Cool soundtrack though. And oh, what potential - feels like a haunting.
This is a 6/10 and a 10/10 rolled into one game.
Nigga I am going to kill myself
i named him GUNNA without realizing what i was naming and played the rest of the game that way while showing it all to friends
amazing
amazing
Carried predominantly by a captivating story and an interesting cast, OMORI possesses high highs and mediocre lows overall.
I felt engrossed in the plot, and the level of psychological horror struck just the right chord for me. The music did a good job of elevating each moment of the game, knowing when to feel more whimsical as opposed to unsettling, while having a lot of variety.
Other components had me feeling a bit soured. On paper, the emotions battle system seemed like a great idea, but I easily managed while ignoring it a large majority of the time, with it only being useful for some boss battles.
The locales were interesting but could have been polished to enhance them from good to great; adding another unique area would have been welcome at the expense of streamlining others a tad. The quality consistency of the pixel art felt varied to me as well, though I loved the aesthetic of the hand-drawn portions.
Overall a fun playthrough, though it came with its flaws that even its great story couldn't hide.
I felt engrossed in the plot, and the level of psychological horror struck just the right chord for me. The music did a good job of elevating each moment of the game, knowing when to feel more whimsical as opposed to unsettling, while having a lot of variety.
Other components had me feeling a bit soured. On paper, the emotions battle system seemed like a great idea, but I easily managed while ignoring it a large majority of the time, with it only being useful for some boss battles.
The locales were interesting but could have been polished to enhance them from good to great; adding another unique area would have been welcome at the expense of streamlining others a tad. The quality consistency of the pixel art felt varied to me as well, though I loved the aesthetic of the hand-drawn portions.
Overall a fun playthrough, though it came with its flaws that even its great story couldn't hide.
I can't listen to a piano without crying thanks to this game
This review contains spoilers
alright so this is going to be my review of omori. there are going to be spoilers, which is why I marked it with a spoiler warning. this is also going to be a stream of consciousness thing. I’m not going to edit this is reread it when I’m done. maybe I’ll clean up the formatting and fix spelling mistakes. maybe.
anyway, there's a lot going on in omori. I guess I’ll start with the most important thing, and that's how it all ends, and what that meant to me, because this is my review. your experiences and interpretations are going to be different, probably. I’m not here to convince you I’m right. this is just what I felt playing through omori, or I guess this is the end bit.
the ending got me, big time. I think I had stopped totally emphasizing with omori at that point though, and viewed him more as a character, which is fine, it worked. I mean I’ve never accidentally killed my sister then covered it up by making it look like a suicide. but I think we've all experienced the guilt that come with lying, and lying about something you're ashamed of. the inability to forgive yourself, to accept that you did something shitty, and to present the shitty thing you've done to people you care about. that's a universal experience. but rather that suppress the shame, the fear, the guilt, sunny embraces it. it's a part of him, and it always will be, and that's ok. you can do shitty things and still deserve to live. you deserve a chance at something better.
the actual through line of the story, I mean it worked. it got the job done. I think there was some sad baiting going on with the suicide fake out thing. I was thinking about how much it would suck if my sister committed suicide, about how hard it was on my friends with they lost siblings to mental illness. and then the story wasn't about that, which is like, ok. I was sort of on that roller coaster, but now it's a mystery thing going on, and now it's a personal story about sunny. which is fine, it worked, but it took me out at the end for a few moments. it made me realize there was a story going on. there wasn't going to be anything here for me personally, but I was on board to go with sunny on his journey.
I guess I should talk about basil. the game does a good job of making you care about him. all of sunny's friends, really, are well written. it speaks well to the games writing that I wanted sunny to live for them, because I didn't want them to suffer another loss.
which sort of leads me to the next thing, and it's hard for me to come to grips with this part. the real life stuff was stellar, really great, loved it, you know. but the dreamworld was rough. really rough. and I don't know if omori is the same game without it. it reminds me of the "filler" episodes of avatar the last airbender. they're not really filler, because you grow closer to the characters during those episodes, even if the "Main Story" doesn't go forward during those episodes.
oh also I just remembered I forgot to say, I’m probably going to contradict myself a lot during this, so like, get over it I guess. don't read this if that'll bother you.
anyway, nothing really happens in the dreamworld. or at least, that was my experience. I’ve heard that things may happen in the dreamworld if you do other things, but I didn't do that. but what did happen, was I started to care more about my companions, and that's super valuable for setting up the end of the game. and that's what's so hard for me. I want to say, "the dreamworld could've been cut down by 70% and the game would've been better for it". I really do want to say that, BUT.
and this but is huge, it's really big. I don't think the ending works as well if you don't spend all that time with your buddies in the dreamworld, and the narrative going on in the real world isn't as interesting on its own without having the dreamworld characters to compare the real ones too. like, yeah, of course dream aubrey wants to fuck omori, because sunny totally has the hots for aubrey.
sort of lost my train of thought there. I remember now. so the point I was coming to, is that doesn't necessarily mean that the dreamworld sections were the best way to get the character stuff across. I want to just say, "make the dreamworld stuff better", but that doesn't seem fair, so I guess I’ll have to break down my problems with the dreamworld. I don't know if I said this above or not, but like, the dreamworld is bad, ok? and I’m not saying I know how to fix it, but here are my issues. I had a better conclusion to this but I forgot it. maybe I’ll remember, I know it was something about how dreamworld bad and I’m not going to compare this game to undertale. it was really funny in my head.
so the first thing, right, it's gotta be the combat. hollly shit, it was so boring. I pressed a and waited for things to happen, most of the time. the boss fights were ok, but it felt like a pokemon game, where you're just trying to get the type advantage. it wasn't super deep, and mechanically there was nothing. what if there were like warioware mini games instead of turn based combat? someone should make a game like this with that instead. it'll sell a billion copies, like undertale did. like, the thing about undertale, and this might be controversial, is that it's fun to play. omori isn't.
the 2nd part, and this is totally subjective and not really worth discussing past just getting it out there, was I didn't think it was all that funny. omori's quirky, campy humor just doesn't do it for me. I think it got 2 or 3 laughs out of me the whole time. that's whatever, I don't really blame the game for that. I sort of knew what to expect coming in.
I guess I should've saved that ^ bit for last since it's not that important. the bigger issue is that nothing in the dreamworld really matters that much. on a meta level, it makes sense. the dreamworld literally does not matter, it's made up in sunny's head, and thematically it's better if the story there goes nowhere and doesn't really matter. because the dreamworld is fake, and sunny needs to wake the fuck up and smell the roses, sweaty. the dreamworld isn't as good as the real world, and that's a good message. BUT. man there were so many times I was bored out of my god damn mind in the dreamworld. I realized pretty early on that the quest for basil was going nowhere, and that nothing in the dreamworld really mattered. the side quests at the start are essentially fetch quests that just give you shit you don't really need, and they didn't have interesting stories of their own, so I started to just not do them. the overarching stories of the dreamworld doesn't matter. I don't care about space ex boyfriend, or sweetheart. I really don't, and I’m given no reason to care about them. I want to find basil, because I know that'll tie into what's happening in the real world, and it'll be interesting. instead, I sat through lines and lines of dialogue that I just could not give a shit about. and I think the game really suffers for that, like it teaches you early on that like, none of this matters. the lesson from the first area is "mash a to get through the dialogue, don't think too hard about things". that's fucking rough, and the ending of the game deserves to be set up with something better than that.
what else do I have to say? I guess just some random thoughts. the hand drawn art was great, really unique style, nice to look at. I actually liked the enemies too. wormhole was great, fucking loved that dude. the overworld though? eeeehhhh. I also wasn't super huge on the music for most of the game. I liked the overworld song in sweetheart's castle, but that's the only one that really stands out to me. the battle music was good too. and of course, the music at the ending was great.
so yeah, I guess that's it. I probably have more to say about this game. like if someone prompted me, I could say more things I bet, but that's not what this post is.
do I think you should play omori? yeah, totally. the story gets there. it really does, and I think it earns it to, for the most part. but even outside of that, the game is fascinating. it's super flawed, and that makes it fun to think about and talk about - but that's ok, right? no one's perfect, after all.
anyway, there's a lot going on in omori. I guess I’ll start with the most important thing, and that's how it all ends, and what that meant to me, because this is my review. your experiences and interpretations are going to be different, probably. I’m not here to convince you I’m right. this is just what I felt playing through omori, or I guess this is the end bit.
the ending got me, big time. I think I had stopped totally emphasizing with omori at that point though, and viewed him more as a character, which is fine, it worked. I mean I’ve never accidentally killed my sister then covered it up by making it look like a suicide. but I think we've all experienced the guilt that come with lying, and lying about something you're ashamed of. the inability to forgive yourself, to accept that you did something shitty, and to present the shitty thing you've done to people you care about. that's a universal experience. but rather that suppress the shame, the fear, the guilt, sunny embraces it. it's a part of him, and it always will be, and that's ok. you can do shitty things and still deserve to live. you deserve a chance at something better.
the actual through line of the story, I mean it worked. it got the job done. I think there was some sad baiting going on with the suicide fake out thing. I was thinking about how much it would suck if my sister committed suicide, about how hard it was on my friends with they lost siblings to mental illness. and then the story wasn't about that, which is like, ok. I was sort of on that roller coaster, but now it's a mystery thing going on, and now it's a personal story about sunny. which is fine, it worked, but it took me out at the end for a few moments. it made me realize there was a story going on. there wasn't going to be anything here for me personally, but I was on board to go with sunny on his journey.
I guess I should talk about basil. the game does a good job of making you care about him. all of sunny's friends, really, are well written. it speaks well to the games writing that I wanted sunny to live for them, because I didn't want them to suffer another loss.
which sort of leads me to the next thing, and it's hard for me to come to grips with this part. the real life stuff was stellar, really great, loved it, you know. but the dreamworld was rough. really rough. and I don't know if omori is the same game without it. it reminds me of the "filler" episodes of avatar the last airbender. they're not really filler, because you grow closer to the characters during those episodes, even if the "Main Story" doesn't go forward during those episodes.
oh also I just remembered I forgot to say, I’m probably going to contradict myself a lot during this, so like, get over it I guess. don't read this if that'll bother you.
anyway, nothing really happens in the dreamworld. or at least, that was my experience. I’ve heard that things may happen in the dreamworld if you do other things, but I didn't do that. but what did happen, was I started to care more about my companions, and that's super valuable for setting up the end of the game. and that's what's so hard for me. I want to say, "the dreamworld could've been cut down by 70% and the game would've been better for it". I really do want to say that, BUT.
and this but is huge, it's really big. I don't think the ending works as well if you don't spend all that time with your buddies in the dreamworld, and the narrative going on in the real world isn't as interesting on its own without having the dreamworld characters to compare the real ones too. like, yeah, of course dream aubrey wants to fuck omori, because sunny totally has the hots for aubrey.
sort of lost my train of thought there. I remember now. so the point I was coming to, is that doesn't necessarily mean that the dreamworld sections were the best way to get the character stuff across. I want to just say, "make the dreamworld stuff better", but that doesn't seem fair, so I guess I’ll have to break down my problems with the dreamworld. I don't know if I said this above or not, but like, the dreamworld is bad, ok? and I’m not saying I know how to fix it, but here are my issues. I had a better conclusion to this but I forgot it. maybe I’ll remember, I know it was something about how dreamworld bad and I’m not going to compare this game to undertale. it was really funny in my head.
so the first thing, right, it's gotta be the combat. hollly shit, it was so boring. I pressed a and waited for things to happen, most of the time. the boss fights were ok, but it felt like a pokemon game, where you're just trying to get the type advantage. it wasn't super deep, and mechanically there was nothing. what if there were like warioware mini games instead of turn based combat? someone should make a game like this with that instead. it'll sell a billion copies, like undertale did. like, the thing about undertale, and this might be controversial, is that it's fun to play. omori isn't.
the 2nd part, and this is totally subjective and not really worth discussing past just getting it out there, was I didn't think it was all that funny. omori's quirky, campy humor just doesn't do it for me. I think it got 2 or 3 laughs out of me the whole time. that's whatever, I don't really blame the game for that. I sort of knew what to expect coming in.
I guess I should've saved that ^ bit for last since it's not that important. the bigger issue is that nothing in the dreamworld really matters that much. on a meta level, it makes sense. the dreamworld literally does not matter, it's made up in sunny's head, and thematically it's better if the story there goes nowhere and doesn't really matter. because the dreamworld is fake, and sunny needs to wake the fuck up and smell the roses, sweaty. the dreamworld isn't as good as the real world, and that's a good message. BUT. man there were so many times I was bored out of my god damn mind in the dreamworld. I realized pretty early on that the quest for basil was going nowhere, and that nothing in the dreamworld really mattered. the side quests at the start are essentially fetch quests that just give you shit you don't really need, and they didn't have interesting stories of their own, so I started to just not do them. the overarching stories of the dreamworld doesn't matter. I don't care about space ex boyfriend, or sweetheart. I really don't, and I’m given no reason to care about them. I want to find basil, because I know that'll tie into what's happening in the real world, and it'll be interesting. instead, I sat through lines and lines of dialogue that I just could not give a shit about. and I think the game really suffers for that, like it teaches you early on that like, none of this matters. the lesson from the first area is "mash a to get through the dialogue, don't think too hard about things". that's fucking rough, and the ending of the game deserves to be set up with something better than that.
what else do I have to say? I guess just some random thoughts. the hand drawn art was great, really unique style, nice to look at. I actually liked the enemies too. wormhole was great, fucking loved that dude. the overworld though? eeeehhhh. I also wasn't super huge on the music for most of the game. I liked the overworld song in sweetheart's castle, but that's the only one that really stands out to me. the battle music was good too. and of course, the music at the ending was great.
so yeah, I guess that's it. I probably have more to say about this game. like if someone prompted me, I could say more things I bet, but that's not what this post is.
do I think you should play omori? yeah, totally. the story gets there. it really does, and I think it earns it to, for the most part. but even outside of that, the game is fascinating. it's super flawed, and that makes it fun to think about and talk about - but that's ok, right? no one's perfect, after all.
Omori Shota shirt
A cute turn-based RPG that masterfully unfolds one of the most traumatizing admissions of grievous events ever put into personal fiction. It’s crucial to stress that OMORI is also genuinely heartfelt. It wants you to find love after your long journey of fear, guilt, worry, and repression.