Omensight (PC) (2018)

Overview: There's been a murder. Repeat the same day through different points of views and uncover new paths in order to solve the mystery and save the world.

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20191228:
I continued looking for games to play from the Jingle Jam 2019 bundle. To help facilitate my choices, I sorted the list of games by retail value and picking from the higher retail values first. At $19.99, Omensight belongs in the top 10.

You are the Harbinger (center).

Setup: Controller. Balanced (Combat Difficulty, can be changed). True Detective (Narrative Difficulty, can be changed); eventually I changed it because I didn't think it was important.

Gameplay Log:
Act I - Culprit
Day1:Ludomir Day2:Draga [TookABreak] Day3:Ratika Day4:Ludomir(full*)
Act II - Cruelty
Day5:Draga(Omensight) Day6:Ratika(Omensight+OmensightIndrik) Day7:Ratika(skip2critical+DefeatIndrik) Day8:Draga(skip2critical)
Act III - Betrayal
Day9:Indrik

Steam Game Time: approximately 4.3 hours (total game time)

*I Was given the option to skip2critical, but decided to experience the full day.

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20191229 Part 1:

Ratika transforms into "Deathless."

Gameplay Log:
Act III- Betrayal (Continued...)
Day10:Ratika(Omensight;Ratika questions why Fyodir was looking at the clock) Day11:Ludomir(Omensight;OmensightRatika) Day12:Ludomir(skip2critical;DefeatRatika) Day13:Ratika(skip2critical)
Act IV - Transgression
Day14:Ludomir(Omensight) [TookABreak] Day15:Indrik(Omensight;OmensightRatika)

Steam Game Time: 7.2 hours (total game time) / approximately 2.9 hours (total game time)

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20191229 Part 2:

Gameplay Log:
Act IV - Transgression (Continued...)
Instead of playing Ludomir to (supposedly) end the game I play Ratika and Draga.
Day16:Draga(Omensight;OmensightIndrik) Day17:Draga(skip2critical;DefeatIndrik)
The fight against Draga was difficult. At first I was only using dodge+attack. Later I realized she still takes damage when blocking. So I would use three heavy attacks against her. Sometimes I would start the combo far away from her.

The Harbinger gets a vision. She is granted with "Omensight": she can show others the vision.

Day18:Ratika(Omensight) Day19:Ludomir(full*)
Defeated Voden.
(Untitled)
Day20:Act2Ludomir(Omensight;OmensightIndrik) Day21:Act2Ludomir(DefeatIndrik)
Day22:Act3Draga(Omensight)

*I was given the option to skip2critical, but decided to experience the full day. In hindsight, I should have just skipped to the critical moment.

Steam Game Time: 10.7 hours (total game time) /

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20200101:
Today I decided to finish the game: getting all the memories (even though there's no accomplishment for it) and defeating Voden. With the various upgrades, the fight was reasonably easy.

Gameplay Log:
Looking for memories.
Day23:Act1Ludomir

Watch as the different characters move about the map. These movements change depending on the story.

Day24:Act1Ludomir
: "Enter the door to the right of the giant statue with Indrik’s memory. There is a stone block in the right wall that you can push in to find a hidden room."
: Left Day24 after getting the memory.
Day24:Act3Ludomir
: I was watching the speedrun and wondered how the runner defeated Ratika so quickly whereas I died. Then I realized while fighting her a second time that the key is to repeatedly dodge ("!") and attack.
: I realized after the fact where I was supposed to use Ludomir: "Crimson forest (w/ Ludomir), knock down the pillar with your partner skill. Right before you get on the giant bridge with multiple barricades." So I had to go back and replay it.
:: Note that one should spam the companion ability upon jumping down next to the pillar.
Day24:Act3Ludomir
: Oh crap. I just realized that I could have finished the level and then maybe the game would let me go to the critical moment. [It seems not]
Day25:Act1Ludomir
: Apparently leaving the day doesn't save the unlocked memory and so I had to play this one again.

Day26:Act2Draga
: "Yarbog's temple, after memory 1 of Vera you will soon come upon a purple seal. Grab the explosive barrel near that seal and throw it at the cracked wall on the left."
: Was able to do double flurry in the room with the Shark and the a pit.
Day27:Act2Draga
: Double-check the route of not going down to help soldiers. Already got the memory this way. Left day.
Day27:Act1Draga
: Checked this one: "Imperial prison (suppression), inside the room before the elevator that leads to ratika."
:: Already got it.
: Apparently it's this one: "Crimson forest (siege), at the very beginning of the invasion go backwards."
:: Ugh. So many times I went backwards in these levels not to find anything. But the way in this one goes backwards is probably not one that I expected.
Having collected the last memory, I decided to go back in time and fight Voden for good ending.

Steam Game Time: 14.3 hours (total game time)

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20200102:
Today I try to collect the last few achievements.

Gameplay Log:
Day28:Act1Draga
: Left after end of first part.
Day28:Act1Ludomir
: Got the "Tactician" achievement.
: Didn't get the Explorer bonus...
Day29:Act1Draga
: Didn't get the Stylish bonus.
Day30:Act1Draga
Part 1
: Died and so restarted.
Day30:Act1Draga
Part 1
: 1st fight: First bomb, phantom dash (4)
: 2nd fight: companion (1), delay of fate (1),
: 3rd fight: companion (2), delay of fate (2), area of carnage, lethal flurry (2)
: Secret area fight: companion (1), delay of fate (1), phantom blast (1), sharpshooter
: 4th fight: trap, lethal slash (2), companion (2), delay of fate (2), phantom blast (1), attack chain x 10
: 5th fight: sharpshooter, phantom blast (1), phantom grasp (1), lethal slash (2), attack chain x 10

Part 2
: 1st fight: lethal flurry (2)
: 2nd fight: lethal flurry (1), phantom grasp (1)
: Aboard: phantom blast (1)
: 3rd fight: phantom grasp (2), lethal flurry (1)
: 4th fight (before front gates): phantom grasp (2), phantom blast (2), sharpshooter, one of the combos
: 5th fight (after the gates; short): phantom blast (1), lethal slash (1)
: 6th fight: phantom blast (1), lethal flurry (1), phantom grasp (1)
: Deathless: lethal slash (1)
: Got the "Most Valuable Player" achievement. See https://youtu.be/jGjacg-mwUQ
Day31:Act1Ratika
: Lol. I was trying to do "Masterful Denial" at a part in the game. But I interpreted "barrels" as the explosive ones. Apparently it is just the barrels with items. See https://youtu.be/sSkHNGX5aVk
: Jumped on Ratika
Day32:Act3Indrik(skip2critical;DefeatRatika)
: Jumped on Indrik (got the "Mario wannabe" achievement).
: Fight against Ratika was difficult. Died multiple times before defeating her.

Day33:Act4Ludomir
: Got the "Masterful Denial" achievement.
Closed the game.
Open the game.
Got the "Completionist" achievement.

Steam Game Time: 18.0 hours (total game time)

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Game Mechanics:
Saving:
Supposedly each stage is composed of three phases and the game saves before each phase and after clearing a stage.

Basics:
Dodge: 'B'
Light Attack (L): 'X'
Heavy Attack (H): 'Y'

Purchase "Blessings" (i.e., upgrades).

Tips:
No need to walk up and collect the Amber (blue crystals); they will automatically come to the player character.
A jump attack (jump followed by attack) is powerful.
Ludomir can be used to break cracks in the wall. In some situations, Harbinger can also grab an explosive barrel and throw it at the wall.

Combos:
LLL: Light, Light, Stab (Knock enemy back)
LLH: Light, Light, Upkick
LHL: Light, Big Heavy, Downward strike.
LHH: Light, Big Heavy, Lift an enemy into the air.
HLL: Heavy, Light, Downward strike.
HLH: Heavy, Light, Lift an enemy into the air.
HHL: Heavy, Big Heavy, Upkick
HHH: Heavy, Big Heavy, Big downward strike (Knock enemy down and damage in cone)

Unlocked Abilities:
Phantom Blast (1): Hold 'X' (Later does AOE damage)
Delay of Fate: RB
Phantom Grasp: LB (Later has lifesteal)
Lethal Slash (2): Hold 'Y'
Phantom Dash: LT (Later does damage)
Lethal Flurry (3): Hold 'Y'

The Harbinger (right) and Voden (left).

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Thoughts:
Pros:
+ Amazing artwork
+ Great story (uncover the mystery slowly and plenty of twists)
+ Great music (e.g., "The Cage (Ratika's Song)")

Neutral:
~ Reasonable fighting system; could have been better
~ Jumping after dashing or dashing after jumping might have felt good; I suppose however it'd be harder to design the level to avoid players from producing glitches.
~ Some of the repetition to get 100% memories was annoying.
~ I find it odd that collecting 100% memories isn't a Steam achievement.

Cons:
- Not clear why the game wouldn't allow for saving at any time.
- From what I can tell there's a lack of shield break; intuitively the heavy attack should break shields but I feel as if enemies are able to repel a heavy attack
- The boss fights don't feel enjoyable [20200101: I could be fighting wrong]

- Placing checkpoints before a bunch of dialogue is annoying
- Loading times are annoying.
- Can't do hard skip* on cutscenes, some cutscenes cannot be skipped at all

*In many cutscenes, the player can press a button to quickly pass the dialogue. I consider that a soft skip. A hard skip would allow the player to end the entire dialogue altogether.

[20191229][20200102]

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Summary:
At first I thought the premise of repeating the last day of the world would be too similar to The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask (N64) (2000). However, the game's story is unique and distinct from that of Majora's Mask. Furthermore, it's not as repetitive as one might initially think coming into the game. In fact, the developers were smart and made it so that players, whenever applicable, can skip to the critical part a level.

In any case, while the game's combat wasn't perfect, I would still recommend the game for it's story and artwork.

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Omensight (PC) (2018)

Relevant Links:
Omensight Website
Omensight (Wikipedia.org)
Omensight (PC) (MetaCritic.com)
Omensight (steamdb.info)
Omensight (Steam Store Page)