I don't think I've ever seen a game completely damage its credibility as much as this one.
I played this game for 20 hours. I was convinced that Omori was a nuanced and grounded story about the horrors of teenage suicide and how it can affect people's lives. How seemingly happy and kind people with bright futures can be affected by the demon that is depression and mental illness. For 19 hours I played through an admittedly slog of a rpg because I was so invested in the cast and their development. For 19 hours I thought this was a good, boring but ultimately earnest game. Then the last hour happened. In that 20th hour, it threw out all notions of being a piece of work with anything meaningful to say. In the very end Omori shows its true face as nothing more than a grotesque, barbaric, atrocity. It reveals that it really does not care about the player or its story at all and is willing to toss everything for the sake of mere shock value.
For those who don't know, the player pieces together fairly quickly that the main character's sister, Mari, commits suicide. Mari, who is seen as this kind, compassionate, talented young girl with a bright ahead of her suddenly gone, leaving the main character and his friends shocked, confused, hurt and betrayed. You navigate the main character's dreams as a way of coping with everything that has been going on. You learn that the loss of Mari splits the friend group apart, and now you have three days to make amends before you move away from town. The game spends most of its time navigating that pain, exploring the conversations between the characters as they learn to move on. It earnestly tries to make an attempt at exploring what it means to have your best friend commit suicide and how to continue with life. And for the most part, it does a good job. The problem starts when you approach the end of the game. In the very last hour, you find out that Mari didn't actually commit suicide. But rather, that the main character actually killed her by accident. And in a state of panic, you hang her body from a tree to make it seem like she committed suicide. The game wasn't actually about exploring your grief, it was about coming to terms with your guilt.
I don't think it would take a genius to figure out why this last-minute twist is so mind-numbingly stupid, but the game's high regard online, I think it bares mention. It belittles and delegitimizes the horrific reality of teenage suicide. It's beyond insulting to use the tragedy of Mari's suicide for what is seemingly shock value. Especially in a world where teenage suicide is on the rise and more prevalent than ever. It ruins all form of seriousness that Omori was trying to accomplish just to shock the player at the very end. It's the basest form of emotional manipulation from the developer and Omocat should be ashamed. Mental illness, depression and suicide are serious they should be treated as such. Not to be used as tools for your horror circus show.
I played this game for 20 hours. I was convinced that Omori was a nuanced and grounded story about the horrors of teenage suicide and how it can affect people's lives. How seemingly happy and kind people with bright futures can be affected by the demon that is depression and mental illness. For 19 hours I played through an admittedly slog of a rpg because I was so invested in the cast and their development. For 19 hours I thought this was a good, boring but ultimately earnest game. Then the last hour happened. In that 20th hour, it threw out all notions of being a piece of work with anything meaningful to say. In the very end Omori shows its true face as nothing more than a grotesque, barbaric, atrocity. It reveals that it really does not care about the player or its story at all and is willing to toss everything for the sake of mere shock value.
For those who don't know, the player pieces together fairly quickly that the main character's sister, Mari, commits suicide. Mari, who is seen as this kind, compassionate, talented young girl with a bright ahead of her suddenly gone, leaving the main character and his friends shocked, confused, hurt and betrayed. You navigate the main character's dreams as a way of coping with everything that has been going on. You learn that the loss of Mari splits the friend group apart, and now you have three days to make amends before you move away from town. The game spends most of its time navigating that pain, exploring the conversations between the characters as they learn to move on. It earnestly tries to make an attempt at exploring what it means to have your best friend commit suicide and how to continue with life. And for the most part, it does a good job. The problem starts when you approach the end of the game. In the very last hour, you find out that Mari didn't actually commit suicide. But rather, that the main character actually killed her by accident. And in a state of panic, you hang her body from a tree to make it seem like she committed suicide. The game wasn't actually about exploring your grief, it was about coming to terms with your guilt.
I don't think it would take a genius to figure out why this last-minute twist is so mind-numbingly stupid, but the game's high regard online, I think it bares mention. It belittles and delegitimizes the horrific reality of teenage suicide. It's beyond insulting to use the tragedy of Mari's suicide for what is seemingly shock value. Especially in a world where teenage suicide is on the rise and more prevalent than ever. It ruins all form of seriousness that Omori was trying to accomplish just to shock the player at the very end. It's the basest form of emotional manipulation from the developer and Omocat should be ashamed. Mental illness, depression and suicide are serious they should be treated as such. Not to be used as tools for your horror circus show.
3 Comments
"The game wasn't actually about exploring your grief, it was about coming to terms with your guilt."
Except it's both, all the other characters as well as Sunny himself we're hurt by Mari's death, especially around the lack of reason for it which Sunny himself has to come to terms with. He was in a fit of rage and didn't know he would murder Mari after lashing out at her before the recital. It's not just for shock value, it's during the most pivotal part of the game for Sunny as a character and Omori wouldn't be the same without it. Also saying this twist "belittles and delegitimizes the horrific reality of teenage suicide" is extremely bad faith, just because Mari didn't commit suicide doesn't mean Omocat is delegitimizing it.
Except it's both, all the other characters as well as Sunny himself we're hurt by Mari's death, especially around the lack of reason for it which Sunny himself has to come to terms with. He was in a fit of rage and didn't know he would murder Mari after lashing out at her before the recital. It's not just for shock value, it's during the most pivotal part of the game for Sunny as a character and Omori wouldn't be the same without it. Also saying this twist "belittles and delegitimizes the horrific reality of teenage suicide" is extremely bad faith, just because Mari didn't commit suicide doesn't mean Omocat is delegitimizing it.
*were
Archagent
1 year ago