Man, where do I even start with Omori? Easily one of the biggest, most profilic, and most polarizing indie games in recent memory. Both an ultra ambitious passion project that managed to realize its ambitions and then some... and also a game that has embroiled itself into countless controversies spanning all the way back to its initial Kickstarter. Both a massive success that managed to steal away many people's GOTY a mere week before the year ended, and the game that coined the (frankly stupid) "Earthbound-inspired indie game about depression" stereotype. It's even a game I've talked about it on my blog before when I bought it during Steam's Lunar New Year sale knowing absolutely nothing about it, and it floored me.
As I said, I went into Omori pretty much completely blind? It only fell on my radar because I just started hearing people praise it, the fandom not even having been fully formed yet. I haven't played many RPG Maker games, and I wasn't following the Kickstarter either, it feels like Omori just dropped out of nowhere to sudden universal acclaim. Actually looking into the development of the game is still pretty fascinating, though. Omori was a passion project by an artist named OMOCAT who I hadn't heard of at the time. She never made a game before, but had enough of a following through her art and merch sales that she was able to crowdfund Omori. However, the game went through some pretty massive development hell, made worse by the fact that Omocat wasn't updating the backers on what was going on. From what I've heard, it seemed for a while that Omori would never be coming out and that the backers had just wasted their money. And if it did come out, who's to say it wouldn't be some massive let-down like Mighty No 9 or Yooka-Laylee?
But that's where the cool part comes in. Omori did come out, and it was every bit as good as people had hoped. While this doesn't erase the development mistakes that may have still rubbed some the wrong way, I always find it really inspiring and cool to see a game, or even a piece of media in general, suffer from development hell and still manage to come out the other side fully formed. This isn't even the only game on my list to have a story like that. Taking on a game as gargantuan in scale as Omori as your first video game is absolutely nuts, but damn it, Omocat pulled it off somehow?!
That's really what has always stuck with me about Omori, its scale. This is a massive, multi-hour RPG, with tons of detailed environments filled with stuff to do, an incredibly deep story, and so many unique sidequests. Omori is a game split into two halves, the dream world and the real world, and both halves are fun to explore in their own right. The overworld exploration in Omori is top-notch because of just how much there is to do, from the many NPCs you can interact with, to the surreal and varied dream world environments with just enough verticality and puzzle-solving to be engaging to traverse, to the sheer amount of side content, sidequests, and superbosses. Seriously, the sidequests in Omori are top-tier, every single one of them is unique and worth doing. The moment that really made me realize that Omori was something special was early on where you can talk to the Earth, enter a battle with it, and permanently destroy it. There is no explanation for why you can do this, you just can, and it's amazing.
Speaking of which, the battle system is nothing to scoff at either. Despite liking several games inspired by Earthbound, I always found Earthbound itself to be really boring and dull, and its static battle system is a big reason why. Omori goes for a similar style, but it adds a unique emotion mechanic that gives its fights far more mechanical complexity. The gist of it is that there are three emotions that form a rock-paper-scissors style triangle of weakness, where Anger is strong against Sadness which is strong against Happiness and vice versa. Each emotion also has its own unique perks and weaknesses, like how angry party members or enemies have heightened attack and lowered defense. Omori gets a lot of mileage out of this dynamic with enemies that encourage you to purposefully make your party members have certain enemies, as well as enemies that will force your party members into otherwise disadvantageous emotions instead. It's really cool stuff!
And then there's the story, oh boy. Omori's story is an absolute doozy of a narrative that may be quirky and about depression, but it does both of that stuff really well. No, seriously, Omori is both an incredibly funny game with its surreal dream world sequences and a crushingly well-executed take on mental illness from the perspective of a hikikomori. The characters are all instantly memorable and likable, as well also being incredibly complex and interesting, especially the titular Omori, Basil, and Ashley. Not to spoil too much for those who somehow haven't played this game yet, but some of the later plot twists permanently change your perception of not just some of the characters, but entire sequences of the game. Remember how I said that Omori was split up into a dream world and the real world? Well, early on, you might find yourself getting bored with the real world parts and wishing you could go back to the surreal fun of the dream world. But as the game goes on, you start to get more engrossed in what's going on in the real world while finding the dream world to feel increasingly hollow, echoing the main character's very own arc. It is a very big risk to purposefully make your player lose interest in a part of the game, but Omori pulls it off so freakishly well.
Presentation-wise, Omori is also incredibly polished and visually-pleasing. You can tell this game was made by an actual artist. From the pastel color palette of the dream world, to the sketchy character portraits, to the detailed spritework, this game simply looks immaculate. The occasional fully-drawn pictures that show up every once in a while look so good, and do such an amazing job at capturing the emotions each individual character is feeling. Omori also delves into horror at some points, and it even pulls that off incredibly well by shifting to a striking monochromatic look. It's especially impressive that Omori looks as good as it does because it's made with RPG Maker, an engine not exactly synonymous with quality. Omori really pushes RPG Maker and shows what it's truly capable of. And of course, as per the usual, the soundtrack is very good, even though one of the composers was kicked from the team for sexual abuse. The whole score does a great job of balancing catchy tunes for the overworlds, banging battle themes, and emotional tracks that punch you in the gut, with highlights being World's End Valentine, By Your Side, See In Your Fantasy, Stardust Diving, and You Were Wrong Go Back. But the real highlight of the soundtrack are the tracks by Bo En, one of my personal favorite video game composers. Known for his distinct quirky style and games like Snipperclips, Pikuniku, and Lonely Planet, every single one of the very few tracks he made for Omori is incredible and I honestly wish he made more for it. Tussle Among Trees, Splintered Sweets In The Castle, and of course, the iconic My Time being the biggest highlights out of his work.
There is a lot about Omori I haven't touched on, both regarding the game itself and the context around it, both positive and negative, but this is a good summation of the stuff I personally resonated with. The massive scale of its overworld and sidequests, the inventive battle system that expands on Earthbound's in some really interesting ways, the engaging story and its themes of mental health, the wonderful presentation, and the fact that it managed to survive years of development hell and still turned out as good as it did, all make Omori a game that I truly admire on so many levels. It's a true showcase of the heights the indie game scene can reach when the stars align.
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