Firstly, the exploration may be connected to the story. The player has to find all the Keys to complete the Hangman which will progress through the story. Regarding the Hangman itself, it will be explained in the Story section. The feelings when exploring the world were very similar to old-school RPG games like Mother Series on Gameboy which was clearly one of the main references that were used in this game. One thing that made this game different for me was the Tagging mechanic. It added decent depth to the puzzles in the exploration so it didn’t feel too boring, but at the same time, it’s not ‘phenomenal’ either. The Tagging mechanic felt more like a story thing rather than a fleshed-out mechanic to be experimented with by the players. Another thing that’s worthy to be mentioned is the real world and headspace switching mechanic. If Omori stabs himself in the Headspace, he will return to the Real World. On the other hand, if Sunny sleeps in the Real World, he will return to the Headspace. The Real World works quite similarly to the Headspace, except the players don’t have skills to learn or weapons to find, therefore fewer RPG mechanics. It also has a wholly different map to explore, also different NPCs to interact with to potentially get new side quests. However, the switching is scripted and is, again, more of a story thing rather than an actual mechanic.

The combat was really just like a classic old-school RPG. In the beginning, the emotions mechanic stood out and it felt fun for a little while. But then surely everyone will come to a realization that it’s merely just your typical elements mechanic. For the first 5-10 hours I was still engaged with the combat, but slowly it felt more and more repetitive to the point where fighting enemies wasn’t as fun as it used to be in the early game. I actually used to always fight every enemy that I see, but not until it felt too tedious. Boss fights were also relatively easy, there were some moments where I struggled, but in the end, it was by no means challenging for me.

If someone’s gonna say, “Well, it’s a story-driven game. Of course, the gameplay wouldn’t be too complex,” here’s the thing. There’s a blurry line that differs between an easy game and a boring game. Unfortunately, Omori, at times, felt too repetitive and tedious. There weren’t many things to experiment and the side quests were mostly if not all, just either a ‘fetch me x’ or ‘kill x’ or ‘talk to x’ type of quests. And this isn’t coming from a hardcore mechanic-driven lover. I love playing games with compelling stories, but if the gameplay is boring then I’m definitely going to notice.

There was a big contrast between the Real World’s and the Headspace’s characters. The Headspace is but merely a manifestation of Sunny’s, the real main character, imagination. Everything in the Headspace is the exaggerated version of everything in the Real World. This one specific detail pretty much changed my perspective about the Headspace. It started as this happy, cute, and blue-pilled experience, but once you realize that it’s pretty much just escapism for Sunny, it became a bit sad. It’s interesting how seemingly one-dimensional character in the Headspace perfectly portrayed how black and white children’s undeveloped mind is considering Sunny was also just a child who’s struggling with mental distress. In contrast, the Real World was more realistic and sad. Relationships were broken, and everything was messed up. This also gave a nice dynamic between dramatic and sad with fun and happy experiences to the players. The story was never boring because the author masterfully mixed positive and negative emotions so that it didn’t feel too one-dimensional and on-the-nose. Every character felt alive and definitely left their traces in my memory.

To add icing on the cake, the Yume Nikki-esque horror scenes are also worthy to be mentioned. This could be a turn-off to those that are weak to scary creatures and jumpscares. But despite that, it was surprisingly bearable and the horrors were more psychological and unsettling rather than scary. Sure, it could feel terrifying at times, especially near the end, but what made it interesting wasn’t because of the jumpscares, but how almost every horror scenes were meaningful to the story and everything was a manifestation of Sunny/Omori’s anxiety and fear. It was also smart with how most of the scariest jumpscares were usually just easter eggs, not necessary to progress through the story, therefore it wouldn’t turn off non-horror players. Speaking of easter eggs, usually, it could also be unlocked by switching to the Real World from the Headspace at the wrong time. This way, the switching mechanic felt more meaningful.

In summary, it was a long introspective journey of Sunny overcoming himself. Sunny/Omori is a self-insert character and every struggle that he had might be loosely connected to the author’s own mental condition. But not only that, it could also be applied to all of us players. Mental health is an important part of our daily lives that in some cases is underestimated. Playing Omori, especially for those who struggle with similar cases of anxiety, insecurity, guilt, depression, you name it, would feel relatable and it gave this sense of ‘being understood by the game. The author managed to express that idea quite masterfully. The game had a very childish and cute vibe, yet the story was very mature and gritty. It’s clear that the author is a highly self-conscious person to come up with a very introspective story writing like this.

The last thing that I really wanted to mention is how I really love Sunny as the main protagonist. I generally don’t like protagonists that are too ‘perfect’ and one-dimensional. Everyone loves a hero story in that the protagonist will save everyone by sacrificing himself. Or maybe a story about revenge from a victim of wrongdoings. Everyone wants to be either the hero or the victim. However, Omori is different. There is duality in Sunny’s personality. He was by no means a saint, he had done pretty messed up things, and the most important thing is that he was aware of it. So aware to the point that it broke him. He was both a perpetrator and a victim. He was filled with so much self-hatred and guilt. This duality is what makes him feel human. Nobody is free from sin, but some might just not be fully aware of it. However, overcoming sin and guilt while also taking responsibility is important for us to keep living. We all want to be free from sin despite the fact that we have committed so much. It’s hypocritical by nature, but its contradiction is what makes us human.

Presentation is always important and I have to say they did a great job at it. The hand-drawn art style stuck out the most to me. It perfectly delivered childish and cute vibes. What was also interesting is the art style also fits nicely with the horror scenes. The Headspace had pastel color palettes to emphasize the cuteness, while the Real World had more down-to-earth color choices. The White Room and the Black Room had a monochrome color palette mixed with a dash of red and it worked super well to add tension and the feeling of discomfort to the horror scenes.

The soundtrack was a mix of retro chiptune and electronic ambiance with a dash of psychedelia. It worked really well to make the game feel both nostalgic and modern at the same time. The symbolic instruments, like violins and piano, in some of the songs, added a nice depth to the narrative. The SFXs were more to the subdued and bassy style compared to high-pitched retro 8-bit which is good because human ears generally can handle lower frequencies more than higher.

Very introspective narrative like no others, but a bit flunked gameplay-wise. 9/10