A couple years ago Spearhead Games had a breakthrough with their Action RPG Stories: The Path of Destinies. It’s easily forgivable if you missed this game, as the name of it is not overly stimulating. However, it found a decent footing with console players when it was offered as one of the PS Plus offerings a while back. And for those that have played, you know that the game itself outshines the title greatly. With branching decisions leading to the end of the world, you must find the correct paths and piece together what you learn to save everyone. The team’s newest game follows a very similar structure, and even takes place in the same universe as Stories.

When I played through their last game, I ended up picking the story path every time, meaning I played the game in the least amount of time possible. I didn’t mean to do this – I made several decisions that I expected to be wrong, and ended up being right. Despite this, by the time I got to my fourth playthrough of the same levels, I was ready for the game to be over. I’m not sure I would’ve actually finished the game had I chosen the incorrect paths. While I thoroughly enjoyed the game up until that point, I couldn’t help but be burned out with the same levels being reused with slightly different narrative. This time around, there are fewer paths to take and each day feels shorter, which is refreshing, but I took a number of wrong paths extending the play time. Luckily, you are able to skip portions of the day you’ve already played through if you’re missing a key item.

This time around you play as the Harbinger, a creature of legend that shows when the world is about to end. And end it does, as you relive the day before the world is consumed by an evil snake like creature. There are four companions that you are able to play through the day with, seeing exactly what happened before the world ended. During one of the levels you are able to view your first omensight, which is essentially a memory of something you didn’t see. Being the Harbinger, you are able to share this vision with the companions at the beginning of the day, changing their course of actions. It’s in this manner that you will experience the story and eventually attempt to seal away the beast of legend as the Harbinger always has.

For those that played Stories, this plays very similarly. Being that it’s in the same universe, this feels more like a spiritual successor opposed to something completely different. The characters are all anthropomorphic animals, and they each have their own allegiances. Gameplay is pretty standard for this type of game, with a quick attack, heavy attack, dodge and block. As you level up you’ll learn new abilities and they’ll grow in power. You’ll also be able to upgrade your powers, health, and more using amber, which is one of the collectibles you’ll find in chests and boxes throughout the levels. There’s also a heavy amount of lore to be found, although this is purely optional for those that want to learn more about the world and characters.

While the game is more concise this time around, I still couldn’t help but feel fatigued by the time I came to the end. The world changes in terms of aesthetic, as the void’s grasp becomes stronger each time you progress in the narrative, and occasionally you’ll be visiting different parts of the levels, but for the most part you’ll know each area like the back of your hand no more than halfway through the story. This isn’t always a bad thing, as it helps with knowing what to expect battle wise, despite enemy waves being different, but parts that are annoying never get better. Probably the most frustrating aspect of the game was the fact that the controls didn’t always register properly. One of the skills requires you to hold the quick attack button, and sometimes I had to attempt it 3-4 times before it actually worked. This was especially noticeable during the final boss – in fact, this is the part of the game that made me realize it wasn’t my fault that it wasn’t working how I wanted it to regularly. This skill has been noted as an issue (more about it activating unexpectedly) that should be taken care of in the day one patch, which would make combat less frustrating.

It’s important to note that combat is a big portion of this game, and while you may not always make full use of all the abilities you acquire, slowing down time means you can utilize tactics more than simply attacking and dodging and is something you should always utilize. It allows you to set up moves and projectiles while also attacking head-on, evening the odds. Your companions also have abilities you should abuse, as they are very powerful and help out in the battle when things may look grim. I spent a lot of my time not activating any of these, but near the end I found combat to be much more enjoyable when I started to experience it at its fullest. In addition to combat, each character has a very distinct personality that propels the game ahead and makes you care about the world they inhabit.

If you’re looking for a fairly short action game with a story about saving the world, chances are you’ll find something to enjoy here. The combat can be deep if you let it be, and there are collectibles to bring players back if that’s your thing. The repetition of levels can be a strength or a fault depending on how you feel about it; while I appreciate reusing levels in innovative ways, this mechanic becomes a bit boring near the end. Overall though, I enjoyed my time with it and am glad to see some of the issues I had with their previous game fixed. At this rate, their next game (if another in this universe) should be fantastic.

8 out of 10

Pros

• Fun Companions
• Deep Combat
• Omensight Mechanic

Cons

• Overly Repetitive

Omensight was developed and published by Spearhead Games. It launched on PC, PS4, and X1 on May 15th, 2018. The game was provided to us for review on PS4. If you’d like to see more of Omensight, check out the official site.

 

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