Omori is, at its core, a RPG, but it is not your typical RPG. The game has some psychological horror in it, and combat system isn’t too complicated. The graphics are simple, being reminiscent of games from the NES and Game Boy Color era but it is surprisingly charming. Combined with the beautiful hand-drawn-like artwork of the character designs, monster designs, and certain cutscenes, along with the old school gameplay, and it can be enchanting (despite the dark themes).
The combat is a turn-based system but it plays around with its naming convention to fit its theme. Status effects are basically different emotions that the characters and enemies can feel, where Sad beats Happy, Happy beats Angry, and Angry beats Sad. Each emotion gives various stat boosts and decreases. The character skills play into this as well. In addition to the usual special effects of higher damage or healing, it can also change the emotions of the characters. While this is hard to keep track of at first, you’ll soon get into it and there are several battles where emotions can really help or hinder you.
It’s a simple battle system where during each turn, you pick the action for all four characters in your party at once. They will then execute them based on their speed and the enemy’s speed. As a result, you will need to time it well if you are about to die and require healing because the character might not get into it in time before the enemy attacks. This is particularly so given each character performs a certain role. After each battle you’ll gain experience which levels up the characters up, giving them higher stats and new skills as a result. A funny thing is when a character’s HP goes to do, they turn to toast (i.e. KO). All characters turning into toast results in a game over but you can retry from that battle.
The story follows a character known as both Omori and Sunny. This is because there are two worlds: the dream world where he is known as Omori; and the real world where he is Sunny. It’s a confusing premise at first if you hadn’t read about the game beforehand and it takes a bit to understand what is happening. Basically, the game takes place between the two worlds, where you control Sunny in the real world as he deals with what happened, and then when he goes to sleep, you’ll control Omori in the dream world.
The dream world is a lot more colorful and more in line with what you’d expect of a fantasy RPG. The monster designs poke fun of random funs and it doesn’t take itself too seriously at these points, which can get silly and funny. However, it is hiding a darker undertone, which it frequently hints, so you know that there is something simmering beneath the surface. The real world is more down to earth, with plenty of sidequests that may seem pointless.
There are two story threads that are connected with each other. In the dream world, the characters have to find Basil, their missing friend. While in the real world, it constantly hints at the tragedy that had happened in the past with the group of friends in reality drifting away as a result, and takes place over the last three days before Sunny has to move away from town. It slowly reveals the relationships between the characters and you can start to piece together what had happened and what is happening now. It’s intriguing and there are some creepier aspects due to how it portrays certain scenes. It also does the contrast between the colorful and cheerful dream world with the realistic real world quite well.
The game doesn’t hold your hand so it is easy to get lost and not know exactly where to go or what to do in order to progress the story. It can play like an old-school RPG in this way but it’s not as clunky and has the same feel and charm to it. Unfortunately, you can only save at save points in the game. This is fine for the most part given that they are plentiful, although can be easily overlooked at times. Unfortunately, this is not so for the real world where there is a section where you could not save for a long time. You are forced to progress, which can take hours, until you reached a point where you can save. This particular section is very play unfriendly and can be quite annoying.
As expected, the final part of the game reveals the truth and everything that had happened. It starts off with something heart-warming and leads you into a false sense of security as you’d think that everything will get along, earning a happy ending. The happy dreamlike world disappears abruptly with you back in the real world and the big revelation comes. You understand why the character is the way that they are and puts several things into context. It can be a confront scene as you realise the truth and its implications.
The game has several endings and most of them can be gotten right at the end, as it just depends on your actions at that time. Conveniently, there are save points right before the crucial decisions. It takes around 15 to 20 hours to reach the ending if you didn’t do the optional sidequests. All of the endings can stray towards being creepy or shocking, even the good ending.
Overall, Omori is an interesting game and one that tackles heavy themes. The mix of the cheerier dream world with the down to earth real world works well. Although you do keep waiting for the two worlds to have some sort of big connection but the dream world kind of abruptly ends. The RPG elements take a backseat for most of the game and becomes inconsequential by the end as it really focuses more on the story instead. It’s hard to describe the feeling you get once the big revelation was out but it was worth persisting all the way until the end.
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