When people talk about OMORI, the gameplay experience is rarely a topic that is ever discussed. There is a good reason for that. Namely, the game's battle system is lacking in substance. This was something that didn't hit me until a few weeks after I finished the game.
In short, the battle system is simply not very fun. The enemies you fight are really only distinguished by their appearance and stats. There are no gimmicks, no extra mechanics, and no twists or surprises past the first fight of the game. As you progress, enemies simply deal more damage and have more HP. When your party learns new special attacks, they are special attacks that more or less do more damage and cost more to use than your old ones. Minus Hero, the healer, none of the party members really feel like they cater to a specific style of play, other than to just do as much damage as possible. As such, there is never a strategy to battling, and it gets quickly bland and repetitive.
However, it's very clear that the story of the game was much more important to OMOCAT and her team than the gameplay was. Fortunately, that's where the game shines. The characters are very likable. The end of the game made me cry. The story is the experience of OMORI, and all in all, it's a good one.
For me, the gameplay issues spoil my opinion about the bulk of this game. But its good parts are great. If you find the style of this game appealing, you'll probably at least enjoy it, as did I.
In short, the battle system is simply not very fun. The enemies you fight are really only distinguished by their appearance and stats. There are no gimmicks, no extra mechanics, and no twists or surprises past the first fight of the game. As you progress, enemies simply deal more damage and have more HP. When your party learns new special attacks, they are special attacks that more or less do more damage and cost more to use than your old ones. Minus Hero, the healer, none of the party members really feel like they cater to a specific style of play, other than to just do as much damage as possible. As such, there is never a strategy to battling, and it gets quickly bland and repetitive.
However, it's very clear that the story of the game was much more important to OMOCAT and her team than the gameplay was. Fortunately, that's where the game shines. The characters are very likable. The end of the game made me cry. The story is the experience of OMORI, and all in all, it's a good one.
For me, the gameplay issues spoil my opinion about the bulk of this game. But its good parts are great. If you find the style of this game appealing, you'll probably at least enjoy it, as did I.
8 Comments
@RedBackLoggd there's no such thing as objectivity
@Seth wasn't talking to you
@RedBackloggd - @Seth is right tho lol, there is nothing objective about this review. The only objective game review you could give would be something along the lines of "this is a videogame that exists. it has mechanics and sound and visuals."
@pixelsaturn - colloquially, saying someone is trying to be objective within criticism is shorthanded as objective.
@ItsSunsett - Cool review, keep it up. B)
@hotpoppah - Thanks! I try.
@RedBackLoggd - Semantics aside, I would agree and say yes, when games (and for that matter other media) like this are very emotionally impactful, it can kind of muddy the waters on what people remember about them as a whole (that's called salience bias for the psych majors reading this).
Whatever the case, this is just what I thought of the game. I try to be as complete and unbiased as possible when I want to share my serious thoughts on something, but that never makes me right, of course. You can never really know what to think of a game until you play it for yourself.
@RedBackLoggd - Semantics aside, I would agree and say yes, when games (and for that matter other media) like this are very emotionally impactful, it can kind of muddy the waters on what people remember about them as a whole (that's called salience bias for the psych majors reading this).
Whatever the case, this is just what I thought of the game. I try to be as complete and unbiased as possible when I want to share my serious thoughts on something, but that never makes me right, of course. You can never really know what to think of a game until you play it for yourself.
TIL a knew word, thank you so much. And yeah, that definitely accurately describes so many positive and negative reviews out there, where people get caught up on one thing and expostulate their thoughts from.
You've definitely earned a follower. Hopefully you return the favor as I try to do the same in my reviews.
You've definitely earned a follower. Hopefully you return the favor as I try to do the same in my reviews.
RedBackLoggd
4 months ago