Geek Review: Omensight

Spearhead Games, the studio behind 2016’s delightful Stories: Path of Destinies, and now Omensight, seems to have a profound love for time travelling and manipulation. While building a game on the foundation of time-travel can be a risky venture, Spearhead Games has once again hit the jackpot with Omensight’s intriguing story and daring visuals.

Legends foretold of the Harbinger, the bringer of end times, and that is the role players will assume. But rather than destruction, something has gone inexplicably wrong, and it is up to you to find out the who, what, when, where, and why, before the world’s final day.

This means reliving a singular day over and over again. Think Groundhog Day in your hands and while the very idea of repetition will put off most gamers, Omensight does it with such finesse and skilful storytelling that no two journeys are ever, truly the same. And with each sojourn through time, you will learn new information, gain more clues, master skills, and discover the world through a different set of eyes.

The various levels change as you make decisions on whose story you rather see first, and it opens up new avenues to unlock even more secrets, discover new paths, and engage in surprisingly satisfying and swift combat. It is this ever-changing nature of Omensight that makes it a constant and refreshing experience each time around.

Even revisiting the same character further down the line sees the story told in a different way. A crucial piece of information will change dialogue, and leads you down the rabbit hole as Omensight’s overarching story gets even more complex. The story and the world in which Omensight takes place is a definite highlight.

The striking visual style does not hurt either. The world comes alive with a bright palette, paired with characters’ whose visual designs truly speaks louder than words. From the Harbinger’s silent but deadly aura to other characters like Emperor Indrik or even the rebel Ratika, what comes to mind when you first lay eyes on them and the expectations of their character is fully explored and often made to surprise as their various tales get fleshed out.

 

Buttery smooth animations and a good challenge make combat in Omensight a welcome distraction to the many story beats. The movement of the Harbinger and the execution of attacks will make players feel like the world-beater they are, and a stylish one at that. Enemies are varied enough, offering different types of obstacles that will force you to change up your approach every once in a while.

Despite its more friendly visual style, Omensight manages to tell a complicated narrative full of revelations and secrets, that ties together in an oh-so-satisfying manner. Couple that with a solid combat system and a gorgeous world, and you got yourself a time-travel tale that is amongst the best.