When I discovered Youtube as a child I began to traverse the site during the renowned "Countdown" era, where anyone and everyone tried as desperately as they could to tell whatever "Top 10" their brain could muster. It was through these videos that my pure Nintendo heart would discover not only the games of old but also the games out of my reach, like Shadow of the Colossus, Final Fantasy, Devil May Cry, Metal Gear, and most relevantly God of War. The greatest irony I find in playing God of War (2018) now is that a series that I used to find to be nothing but senseless and brash violence, is now something I respect for not only it’s restraint, but also for its subtelty.

The juxtaposition between the epic battles/turbulent lore, and the serenity of the now decrepit Midgard speaks volumes towards the main theme of control. A concept which is not only felt through the dynamics and tones of the narrative but also in the combat, which heavily punishes the player for attempting to act without any sense of thought or strategy. When compounded by the deceptively sizable amount of side content, it all makes for an extremely satisfying and rewarding gameplay experience. Though it isn’t without its flaws, as the game almost feels baked in a lowkey sense of tedium derived from the consistently shallow puzzle mechanics and constantly expanding world which baits my sense of exploration to a fault.

It’s only natural that a game called “God of War” has effective and meaningful gameplay, but what equally impresses me is just how equally natural the narrative flows...most of it at least. The story starts off powerfully and really ignites your journey in so much purpose and intrigue, each event, each storybeat that follows perfectly illustrates and develops the deafening silence of grief and poor communication that Kratos and Atreus share. It is not only a coming of age story for Atreus, but equally one for Kratos (of a different kind of course), and the way the two interact on their own interconnected emotional journeys is graceful and subtle. Yet as the game goes on, the different detours that block your path begin to stop feeling organic and slowly begin to feel more and more artificial, even to the point of ridicule. By the end, the game does grant the player an awesome battle and appropriate conclusion, but they lack the feeling of being truly climactic.

Luckily for me God of War (2018) was written with a sequel in mind, and I’m excited to finally be able to experience this series as it releases unlike when I was a kid. And with how well 2018 setup Ragnarok both lore-wise and thematically, I seriously doubt it won’t be incredible.

I found out about this game around 2018 where i was searching on YouTube for music and found a video called “Omori – Imagination” and didn’t know that it was a game until late 2019. I thought to myself that this is going to be another Yandere Simulator and I’m very surprised that this game actually got released last December. Omori is a game that made me feel a lot of emotions. It made me laugh, it made me happy yet it also made me sad. The nuances and the creativity of this game is amazing, i found myself immersed on every idea this game provides from the concept of the dream world, the themes, and its flawed characters.

Omori was an amazing experience i had with a video game in a while, It reminded me of the days where i was at 4th grade playing around with my friends until i moved to another house and its through Sunny and Omori’s character that its able to made me feel that way. Omori/Sunny is the perfect silent protagonist that gets characterized early on in this game, a shy boy that carries a lot of guilt and burden but tends to bottle them up or run away from the horrors of reality thus creating the dream world. The dream world itself is very realistic and very charming, most of the time it doesn’t make sense because we have the ability to manipulate it and like dream itself, it can also seep the fears of reality within it. Also within the dream world, there’s a lot of creativity and wonders that i found myself spent a lot of time just staring at the screen, looking around and doing side quests that just elevates my experience with it. The use of the horror genre to tell its story and to associate with Sunny’s fear is a brilliant method that utilizes its genre as a whole.

There’s a lot of themes they tackled within this game such as escapism, the dichotomy of dreams and reality, nostalgia, friendship, and many more. But to put it into a single idea, it would be facing your fears. The fear of burdening one another, the fear of the truth, and the fear of facing yourself. It teaches me that it’s not good to carry your burden alone, that it’s okay to cry, and it’s okay to reminisce and feel nostalgia every now and then.

As i mentioned before, the casts of Omori is flawed yet also ties with its themes. Each one of them has their own unique personality and their own way of copping the event that happened making them truly likeable and alive.

The Gameplay aspect is also very fun and enjoyable. Each character have their own role in battle and the emotion system make battles very intense and satisfying. Although the game leans more to the easy side since it gives you a lot of items to help you throughout the gameplay but overall it was super fun and i really don’t mind that at all.

The final moments of the game is one of my favorite moments in all works of fiction, i can’t describe in details but it was a beautifully executed that it pays off the mystery and left an impression on me

Overall Omori is a genius craft that's filled with subtlety and nuances that utilizes its medium and genre to tell a story that made me feel a rollercoaster of emotions. It’s a game that I’ll hold dear and i think everyone should play it once in their life