it's funny bc a lot of this game doesn't hit where it wants to at all. specifically most of the major horror moments, even really the main twist. this is a favorite for a two reaasons despite this.

one is that i haven't played many rpgs (though i want to play more!) and therefore am mostly invulnerable to most of what this game does probably having better imitators

two is that despite the aforementioned, honestly pretty glaring flaws in its storytelling, there are a couple smaller moments in here that shine really bright to me. i did the hikikomori route first, and in there (spoilers? idk get out of the reviews for this game) there's a moment where it finally clicks that basil has been truly forgotten. there is no purpose to headspace anymore. you're not even really sure why you're there anymore, and realizing that made me cry. this moment is not subtle. nothing in this is this game is subtle. but it, and a few other things throughout, connected with me in ways not much media does. i consume a lot of media, a lot of it much more deftly constructed than the story of omori, and a lot of it covering similar territory. but something about this still sits with me and punches parts of my memory that have never been accessed by anyone else before