Omensight (2018)

I finished Omensight a few days after release, but I haven't posted anything here. The spiritual followup to Stories: The Path of Destinies, Omensight again plays with game temporality and narrative repetition that opens up new branches in the story. I enjoyed Omensight. There were aspects that I enjoyed more than Stories, and others that were not quite up to par. The story was more intriguing, with clever mystery built upon a very simple set of events that take place over three days. I found the characters more compelling, with interesting back stories accompanied by engaging revelations as the mystery unfolds. The combat is fun, but I think I enjoyed the combat in Stories a bit more. One of Omensight's issues is the camera. For most of the game it presents little problem, the semi-fixed nature doesn't hinder progression. But there is one area, in one stage where the camera is infuriating, and the fact that the camera pans away from the action even more so. The reason is that the moment the camera pans away, you can no longer see the action, but enemies can still hit you. It is brief, but it happens three times during this section of the level, and you repeat the level several times with the difficulty ramping up each time. Furthermore, the section of the game is particularly hectic, especially on the hardest setting. On several occasions I died while the camera had panned away from my character on cue, or I took enough hits (it doesn't take much on the hardest setting) that I could not make it through the multiple waves of enemies and the two subsequent cues during which the camera again pans away. I think it is a glitch in he game code, I don't imagine Spearhead intended this and hopefully it is patched. It was frustrating because I would transition from clearing whole stages in a single attempt (there is an XP bonus for this) to dying 5-10 times on this one level. It's an annoying little quirk in an otherwise thoroughly enjoyable game.

Omensight is also the second new indie game from 2018 that I have played recently that relies on repeating a single day (the other is The Swords of Ditto). I haven't played Minit, but that game also relies on repetition, however only one minute at a time. It is an interesting mechanic that seems to have made it's way into a small handful of indies this year, and I wonder if there will be more. Is this the beginning of a tend for 2018? (Probably not, but it's fun to wonder).