Omensight: Definitive Edition [Xbox One]
Spearhead Games' Omensight: Definitive Edition follows the story of the death of the Godless-Priestess, and the mysteries that need to be unfolded in order to discover what truly happened that fateful day. You play as the Harbinger, a powerful entity with the ability to see - and then show others - the terrible tragedies that have taken place.
The Priestess' murder has put into motion an event that will destroy all of Urralia - Voden, a giant mythical being is on the way to cause destruction and it's up to you to untangle the web of lies and mystery to figure out what has really been going on and stop Voden's attack.
The premise of Omensight, being similar to Groundhog Day in the sense of living the same day over and over, learning new things and carrying this information across the repeated days. As each day begins you choose a character to focus on in order to learn their side of things. As with Spearhead's previous title, Stories: The Path of Destinies, all of the characters are animals. Ratika, the leader of the Rodentian tribe and Draga, leader of the Pygarians are two of the characters you will follow on your quest for information.
Whilst the story started off fairly tame and not very gripping, as things progressed and conflicting information is discovered I found myself struggling to stay away from the game for too long as I wanted to know just what was going on in Urralia.
Combat becomes quite repetitive across the multiple runs through levels, and while choosing a different character to follow/focus on does change the enemies you will be fighting against, you'll find yourself becoming quickly bored of fighting the same few enemies in the same way. Whenever a large number of enemies spawn at once, things just become a bit of a panicked button-mashing nightmare. "Boss fights" can be a bit hit or miss also, with some hits getting you even if they were miles away which makes things feel a tad unfair at times.
The Harbinger's stats, such as damage and health, can be upgraded using Amber that is collected throughout the levels. Additional abilities can be purchased also, giving the Harbinger the ability to slow down time, grab enemies and dash right through them. Everything feels okay in terms of combat, but there just isn't enough variety in the combat as there probably should be.
Art style is definitely something that stands out with Omensight. I really love the bright colours used and the great detail that has gone into locations and enemies. Everything melds together well and looks very clean and well done. The use of lighting really adds a special touch to some of the locations, with the glowing torches in darkened hallways and light reflecting on water being particularly beautiful.
Sound-wise, voices are veeery cheesy. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. At first the cheesiness really grated on me (*groan*) but over time I grew to like it as it fits within this world. The music is enjoyable throughout and is well tailored to each area and fit with what is going on.
In the end, we decided to give Omensight: Definitive Edition the Collecting Asylum rating of 7/10. An enjoyable time, and one that took me by surprise after not feeling as interested near the beginning, but definitely has a few things missing.
Have you played Omensight? What did you think of it?
Let us know in the comments below!
- V x
Thank you to Digerati for the Omensight: Definitive Edition Xbox One review code!
