Much of the mystery is centered on a photo album that crops up throughout the story. The mystery hovers around the edges for much of the story, usually in the shape of a shifting black monster that will vanish on approach, abruptly taking center stage right when you least expect it. The same could be said for the mystery of what exactly happened to Sunny, Basil, Hero, Aubrey, and Kel - a formerly tight-knit group of friends undone by tragedy. I found that whenever my attention began to flag during the (mercifully short) dungeons, these fights against space pirates and giant worms were usually enough to regain my interest. It picks up during the often difficult boss battles, which challenge you to properly lean on the strengths and weaknesses of the various emotions, and to properly use party assists for immediate heals and group attacks. Omori / Sunny can slash obstacles using his knife, his friend Aubrey - a tough girl wielding a baseball - can slice them, and so forth. Omori is admittedly at its most conventional in these fantasy worlds, its flow a familiar mix of combat, puzzle-solving, and exploration in the mold of retro Japanese RPGs. Omori has a way of taking what should be a positive or sweet moment and making it seem vaguely horrifying, which fits in well with its idea of a bright fantasy world masking a terrible reality beneath.

Omori / Sunny is particularly disturbing in such moments, his eyes becoming empty white orbs as he grins maliciously at the camera. Each emotional state brings with it particular stat boosts, and itвЂ™s possible to escalate from being simply happy to a state of manic excitement. Its rock-paper-scissors strategy revolves around emotions, with sadness beating happiness, happiness beating anger, and anger beating sadness. 'Omori takes a story that might have come off as trite or even insensitive in the wrong hands and imbues it with a memorable darkness.' The attacks are generally pretty simple, but it can occasionally be surprisingly well-animated for a game of this type, featuring anime-style cut-ins that help to punctuate its strongest moments. Set in a first-person perspective, it finds Omori (or Sunny) battling a mix of punny monsters, school bullies, and random office equipment. This art finds its fullest expression in its battle system, which superficially resembles the turn-based combat found in the 16-bit RPGs of yesteryear, but differentiates itself by weaving in extra elements that tie in neatly with the story. It helps that it attacks its subject matter with a verve that goes above and beyond games of this type, with standout art resembling that of a sketchbook come to life. So while SunnyвЂ™s journey doesnвЂ™t read as especially new - how many indie games are about unpacking trauma? - it does resonate with me. Nearly eleven months of lockdown will do that. IвЂ™ve spent much of the pandemic unpacking long-standing grief, reexamining old feelings, and processing my emotions with those closest to me. Omori hits at a very particular time for me. How the eponymous protagonist, also named Sunny, chooses to deal with this trauma sits at the crux of its story. It spends the duration of its roughly 20 hours slowly unwinding a shocking event that leaves a trail of grief, repression, and broken friendships in its wake. When heвЂ™s not battling household objects or gators wearing sunglasses, he inhabits a blank room known only as вЂњWhite SpaceвЂќ that contains his laptop, a black lightbulb, a box of tissues, and an extremely disturbing sketchbook.Д¬rafted in the style of gonzo RPGs like Earthbound, Omori vacillates wildly between a kind of wholesome strangeness and grim psychological horror. Based on an independent manga of the same name, Omori is the story of a silent teenager who spends most of his time exploring elaborate retrowave fantasy worlds. The story of Omori, a small RPG with a fervent fanbase released in the last few days of 2020, is built on such moments.

I saw myself holding my cat tight, and I cried.

Humans can be very good at repressing the grief that arises from traumatic memories, but photos have a powerful way of taking one back to a particular time and place. It was only a few months later, when one of the hundreds of photos that I had taken of my cat popped on my phone, that I genuinely broke down. The next thing I knew I was at the vet, saying goodbye to my sweet boy as I held him for the last time. I got the call on the way home from a rare visit with a friend, where we had sat six feet apart with masks on as we watched Hamilton. Last year, as the pandemic dragged on through the sweltering summer months, my cat unexpectedly died. It doesnвЂ™t have the most original story, but its execution makes it one of the yearвЂ™s most memorable RPGs. An RPG thatвЂ™s quirky as it is dark, Omori is carried by its standout art, which resembles a sketchbook come to life.

Omori review