Looking back, while I don't agree fully with everything I said in this review anymore, my overall thoughts and feelings presented in this text towards the game remain unchanged. I’ll rewrite it at some point.

~~~

I once heard someone say that the only thing keeping video games from being considered art, are the people who play them, and I cannot imagine a better example of this than what the overall perception of OMORI seems to be.

Something I feel has become a bit of a problem in video game culture, especially in the last couple of years with the rising popularity of indie games, is people buying, and then playing games they do not think they're going to like.

Video games are unique, in that every aspect of every game usually differs from others.
One game could be 2 hours long, while another is 500.
One game could look incredibly realistic, while another uses 8-bit sprites for everything.

One game could be very plot-heavy and character driven, while another mostly focuses on gameplay and/or just making the player have fun. That one is pretty important when talking about games like OMORI.

First and foremost, I want to clarify that yes, it is essential to try out new games, new genres, etc if you want to develop a good sense of quality and/or taste, however, some people seem to have this mindset that every game they buy is, and should be, made for everyone to enjoy, and if that individual does not enjoy the game, that must mean it is an objectively bad video game.

I'm not exaggerating, I have genuinely seen people online give OMORI 1/10, while giving a game like Bioshock Infinite a pure and perfect 10.
Am I saying Bioshock Infinite is objectively a worse video game than OMORI? No, of course not. They're two wildly different experiences that have absolutely no business being put up against each other.
However, if you enjoyed a game like Bioshock Infinite to the point of it being a 10/10 in your eyes, you are probably going to have a bad time with these types of games, and despite what some people might have you believe, that is perfectly fine.
It is fine to just enjoy video games that are fun. It is fine to mindlessly shoot NPCs, and it is fine to exclusively play games for fun. OMORI just isn't the type of video game you find interesting, and that's fine.

OMORI is a game that at times is tedious, time consuming and bland. It is fine to dislike OMORI, despite being a fan of games that closely resemble it, because at times, it is a bad video game. It is a game that does have some fun gameplay, and a really good OST, however unless you are interested in the central plot, it probably won't keep you playing. This is is a plot-heavy game, it relies on your interest in it's story, and it's easy to dislike the way it's presented. It can take you up to 25 hours to get through it if you take your time, and that's a big ask for a game like this.


At the end of the day, however, these are, in relation to everything else, minor things. At least to me. When looked at as a whole, OMORI is truly, truly something special.

It is a video game that wholly understands the medium of video games, making use of it to its absolute fullest, with gameplay segments, story beats and music tracks that seem so magically woven together, you'd think magic was literally involved in the creation of it.

It is a game that, more-so than any other I've ever been in contact with, knows how video games differ from movies or books, and how you can use that difference to create truly incredible experiences.

OMORI is truly great. Not every part of it, of course, but it is truly, truly, great.

A hotdog grabbed me, losing me my winstreak of 4 and thereby my chances at getting the final achievement



fuck you I'm counting this as a 100%

I began my playthrough of Final Fantasy VII a while ago. For the longest time, I just could not get into the gameplay loop. The random encounters frustrated me to no end, there were many moments in which I very nearly dropped the entire playthrough.

Mind you, I really wanted to get through the game. Having played the remake beforehand, (which turned out to become one of my genuine favorite games of all time) I already had a ton of investment in the original.

Weeks became months, months became years, struggling to get myself to even attempt to boot the game up, I gave myself one last shot.

And lo and behold, for whatever reason, it just… clicked. Somehow, out of goddamn nowhere, I got the appeal of this gameplay loop. Somehow, I was… genuinely, for the first time, having fun playing.

And so, I started my actual playthrough.

…Contrary to what my log says, I did not actually complete Final Fantasy VII.

Don’t get me wrong, I got through basically the entire game. All 3 discs (physical, yea I played this on an actual ps1 (don’t know if I would personally recommend it, but I had a good time regardless)) had been used.

I got to THE battle, and it’s just… un-fucking-believable. Genuinely, the final boss of Final Fantasy VII is, to this day, UNDOUBTEDLY one of, if not the single greatest of all time, for countless reasons.

And then I lost.

I so, so, SO badly want to truly finish this game, but the fact that you basically only have one chance to save in the entire last part of the game is just fucking ridiculous. I understand this is an old game with old ways of saving, but for heaven's sake, what the actual FUCK were they thinking. Pardon my language, but understand it comes from a place of love. I want to go back and finish the game, however, I REALLY want to avoid redoing the entire last half of disc 3.

I write all this, mostly to simply vent my frustrations with this absolute treasure of a work of art. My save file will most likely remain unfinished, and if I’m gonna be honest, I’m probably fine with that. In the moment, however, I am quite sad at the prospect of never having truly completed it. I hope that feeling will fade with time.