Omensight is a reminder of how much I love the character action game genre, but also shows that the genre has come a long way from the era this game takes its inspiration from. Brace yourself for action that’s visually stunning and a beautiful world worth saving from the apocalypse.
You’re introduced to Urralia, a world in ruin from years of war. If that wasn’t bad enough, you arrive in the midst of a siege as the harbinger of the apocalypse; the world is in a dire state, but your role as the harbinger isn’t just to tell the coming of the end but try and stop it by solving the murder of a priest.
You gain clues from allying with four different characters, each have important roles in the ending of the world, these characters are also important figures on different sides of the conflict. Draga, a stout general who has lived her life devoted to a emperor who might not be the hero she thinks he is, or Ludomir, a tortured warrior seeking vengeance. While these characters tropes have been done many times before,the power of Omensight is introduced which changes the dynamic pretty quickly
With the power of Omensight, the harbinger can choose to show an important key moment in the world ending murder to one of these characters. It makes for a really fun ride not knowing how these characters might react when they learn about such a pivotal moment; friends become enemies, a role a character plays on the final day could change and that might result in you gaining important clues or not. While ultimately which character you pick really doesn’t have any effect on the final moments of the game, I still found myself eager to learn about these characters and the twists and turns its take felt worth seeing till the end.
The game is a visual delight. with large and beautiful environments that make a world on the brink of destruction look surprisingly good. Seeing the Harbinger flip around arenas slashing through enemies and slowing down time makes you feel powerful,
you start with some simple light and heavy attacks but get more options as you level up. I would of preferred a skill tree style character progression as i found some abilities more useful than others you get early on, like a dash that lets you cover more ground than a standard dodge roll or a projectile that has an explosive blast added to it. It doesn’t take long to get some of these abilities but i would of liked the choice to have some upgrades over others earlier on.
I had a great time unraveling the mystery murder throughout the 10 or so hours of Omensights story, It made me realize a lot of interesting things can still be done within the character action game genre and the indie scene is perfect to experiment on these ideas. Blending these action games it with other genres has alot of potential and I hope people follow in Spearhead’s footsteps and elevate the genre to new heights even on this smaller scale.
Review copy was provided by the developer, game played and captured on a PlayStation 4 Pro.
