Omensight PC Review

At the beginning of Omensight, the world of Urralia is witness to a war between two factions of anthropomorphic animals: Pygaria, led by bird emperor Indrik and Rodentia, having Ratika the mouse at the helm. Although the conflict is in full swing it’s about to be complicated even more by the very literal coming of the end times. Vera, the Godless-Priestess is dead and it’s there where the Harbinger steps in, as was foretold, to thwart the apocalypse.

In order to solve the mystery and save the world, you must relive the world’s final day alongside four different characters from both sides of the conflict. As the Harbinger, you’ll spend time with the stern emperor Indrik, dutiful feline commander Draga, mischievous Ratika and Ludomir, the action-minded bear. Earned knowledge can be re-used in subsequent reversals of the time flow, prompting characters to take actions or reveal information they wouldn’t otherwise have. Branching choices pop up on occasion, and Omensight offers the option of fast-forwarding to the crucial moment, so that you don’t have to replay the entire level in order to see the alternative choice and learn more. The story itself has its twists and turns that do push one forward to dispel false leads and discover the truth, but there’s little to throw you off the right path.

Omensight’s linear levels are made up of combat arenas separated by areas that grant respite or involve portions of basic platforming that consist of straightforward jumping sequences. They also house the occasional alternate path or side rooms which can hide Amber – used for upgrades – or Memories. The latter are narrative unlocks which expand upon characters and events, aiding character building much more than the chatter that happens in between fights.

If platforming is present in a limited amount, Omensight puts a good number of foes, belonging to all factions, in your way. Its Arkham-style combat system favors speed over weight. At its core, it mainly relies on light and heavy attacks alongside dodges, but does spice things up with a couple of other elements. The linear leveling system unlocks different powers, like ranged projectiles, the ability to grab enemies or even instantly kill one or more in your vicinity, while Amber is a collectible resource which grants passive improvements like more health, stronger attacks or the ability to slow time upon a perfect dodge.  There’s not that much enemy variety to speak of, but the enemy types present do keep you on your toes, at least for the initial portion of the game and especially if you crank the difficulty up.

While Omensight’s bosses go through a couple of attack patterns in their attempt to thwart the Harbinger, dying to them forces you to watch the cutscenes prefacing the fights each time, which even with the possibility of skipping through individual scenes, is less than ideal. There seems to be an automatic lock-on system of sorts that makes the Harbinger beeline towards an opponent when attacking. While it definitely helps, as precision aiming with the mouse isn’t doable every time, there were cases where I was attempting to aim for one particular foe, only for the Harbinger to dart around hitting anything but my intended target, while in other cases, she would just show the air who’s boss.

Omensight doesn’t lack eye-catching vistas, and uses light-dark contrasts to great effect in its environments. It does, however, fall short when it comes to character models. Although the key players are fairly detailed, stringent color work makes them look a bit out of place. This is more prevalent with enemies, given their higher numbers, with Rodentian gas throwers and their ugly green clothes taking the cake.

Another issue that’s hard to pass by lies with how the Harbinger controls. Instead of fully controlling directional movement with the keyboard, W prompts the Harbinger to move in whichever direction the mouse points at. Add fixed camera angles to the mix and you’ve an odd, unwieldy choice of control scheme that makes precise jumping hard to do and combat fiddly, especially when enemies move around, as there is no way of quickly snapping the camera behind you. Aiming with the mouse is also far from easy, given how Omensight’s battles have the tendency to devolve into messes of colorful models you frantically slash at in between frequent dodges. Even when I got somewhat used to it, I never felt fully in control of the Harbinger.

Going through the same levels over and over isn’t handled in the best manner either, involving fights that pop up at the same exact spots and which feel identical, sequences you go through repeatedly and paths that you take over and over again. The first time the camera slowly pans to offer a wide view of an imposing citadel, it does impress. When it does so for the fourth time, I wished I could just skip to the relevant, story-focused bits and forego all the walking, jumping and fighting that did little to keep me engaged by that point. The approach is maybe justifiable, in the context of repeating the same day, but the only thing reusing the same paths manages to do is highlight the basic nature of Omensight’s gameplay components and how they’re not able to keep things interesting in the latter portion of the adventure.

Omensight tells a story that’s worth discovering, and digging for the truth is ultimately rewarding, if a bit easy. The standard gameplay linking these bits together, however, fails to hold up until the end. It undoubtedly does the job for the first part of the game, but gradually dries out afterwards. When the platforming isn’t just there, it’s frustrating due to the camera angles and unwieldy keyboard controls. The combat has a steady flow of unlocks going into it, but fights begin to feel identical once you’ve encountered all three factions once or twice. I wish Omensight re-used levels and paths in a more imaginative way or at the very least allowed for quicker, alternate routes to its story reveals, as that’s the aspect it gets right all through to the end. But it doesn’t, and thus, uncovering the truth behind the murder mystery runs the risk of feeling like a chore.

Bogdan Robert, NoobFeed
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