Omensight

Review

“Urralia. A prosperous land, home to many tribes. The gods entrusted the Bird tribe to watch over the others. The tribe founded Pygaria, and all lived in harmony under the banner of the Pygarian Empire, until seven years ago, when Pygaria began recruiting the Dog and Cat tribes. As their strength grew, the other tribes suffered. To protect themselves from Pygarian oppression, the scattered Rodent and Bear tribes formed an alliance, led by a rebel named Ratika. Tonight, the Pygarian Empire launches a brutal assault on the Rodentian capital under orders of Emperor Indrik. When the capital falls, his conquest of Urralia will be complete. And far from the front lines, one who could have brought peace, the Godless Priestess Vera, has been murdered. In her absence, there is no one left to protect Urralia and its people. The end times are near; Urralia needs a savior.”

You play as the Harbinger.  Some think she’s here to bring about the end of the world, but this isn’t the case, she only appears in order to prevent the end of the world. The one person who might have prevented the end of days is the Godless Priestess, a protector of Urralia. However, the priestess has been murdered, and her immortal soul should have returned to the world, but not this time. It seems that her murder and the release of the evil which is to destroy the world of Urralia was planned. So, in this time of need the Harbinger appears, but it’s too late . . . Voden, The Great Serpent god has destroyed Urralia.



Upon entering the game you’ll have a small intro and then you’ll need to battle some enemies; you’ll be told how to attack as you progress. After some more fighting and a small intro, you’ll bond with Ludomir and Draga’s souls and then Voden destroys Urralia. At this time the Harbinger hears a whisper telling him to focus on the voice and to let the voice help her. The voice summons the Harbinger to the Tree of Life, where she meets a witch, who has looked after the Tree of Life since it was but a mere sapling. In this place are ancient powers, one which transcends the bonds of space and time. The witch reveals that you could be sent into the past, there’s no point defeating Voden now as he’s destroyed too much of Urralia and Voden is too strong. The witch tells you to go back in time and find the soul of the Godless Priestess so that the Tree of Life can bring her back to the world and maybe stop Voden from appearing at all.

The witch suspects that the Emperor Indrik might be mad enough to unleash Voden as he’s cruel and there is no end to his ambition. The Tree of Life will allow you to bond with any soul if you meet them before their death. This will allow you to return with that soul to the dawn of their last day. To start with you have the option of two paths: to return with Ludomir (who was killed by Indrik) and then sooner or later find Indrik, or to go with Draga (a general in Indrik’s army, who is understanding and may just help you in your investigation like no one else can). This is where your adventure begins . . .  investigate the Godless Priestess’s murder, find her soul and with any luck find a way to stop Voden.  Now, choose which path you want to take.

In order to choose a path you need to go to one of the four statues of those with whom you’ll be able to bond, and select them at the Tree of Life. In total there are four characters which you can have at your side: Ludomir, Draga, Ratika and Indrik. Ratika and Indrik will be unlocked as you progress with your investigation but for now it’s either Ludomir or Draga. After choosing which path to take you’ll be taken to the start of the day with that character. There are four time zones within a day: Dawn, Noon, Night and End (Voden appears). Once the day starts and the Harbinger reveals his presence to either Ludomir or Draga, you’ll then be able to proceed in the game.

In-game you’ll move through various landscapes from around Urralia. You’re in control of the Harbinger but you’ll also have with you one of the other characters depending on which one you’ve chosen. They will help you fight anyone who gets in your way, although most of the fighting is down to you. Each of the characters has different companion abilities which you can activate and use when needed. There is a cooldown once it’s been used, like with other abilities you have at your disposal, so bear that in mind.

As you make your way through each location, you’ll have many enemies in front of you who you must defeat before moving on to the next section. Fighting is easy to learn; there’s Fast and Heavy Attacks, which are your main forms of fighting, although as you progress you’ll gain other fighting abilities. You’re able to chain attacks between these two attacks, like Fast, Fast, Heavy which can do more damage and stun your enemy. You also can dodge and jump out of your enemies' attacks.

Amber can be found in treasure chests, barrels, pots etcetera. You’ll need to smash the barrels and pots to see if there is any Amber within, or get close to a treasure chest and activate it so that it opens. Once you’ve completed the level and returned to the Tree of Life you can then exchange the Amber for Blessings at the Anvil. The Anvil is on the left side of the screen and once activated will allow you to choose the Blessing you want (according to the amount of Amber you have). The blessings range from increased health to weapon upgrades.

Beside the Anvil is a Chalice, which is where you’ll meditate using any experience points you’ve collected thus far. There’s a totem behind the chalice, which will become highlighted as you meditate, and once the totem is full you will then level up the Harbinger. Leveling up will give you other abilities, such as Phantom Blast, Phantom Dash and Delay of Fate.

As you make your way through each area you may notice some places where you cannot go and are bound by lock and chains. These are Seals and are colour-coded to a certain character; you will be able to open these seals once a character has opened one seal for you. Once one of the seals has been opened you can then open any of the same coloured locks at any time in the future without the help of the corresponding character.

After a day has concluded with Voden destroying Urralia you’ll be taken back to the Tree of Life. Hopefully you’ll have uncovered some clues as to who killed the Godless Priestess and how to stop Voden. After this you can then choose the path of any other characters you currently have. Selecting another character will then take you down that character’s path and maybe you’ll have a different outlook on what is going on. Once you have collected enough clues, you’ll make a breakthrough in your investigation. You will play with each character several times while you uncover new information.

Scattered around the place, including hidden behind secret walls (sausages), are small pillar-type objects. These are Memories and, when activated, will provide you with information about who’s memory it is. There are in total twenty-four memories for you to collect. If you find your health running low then destroying barrels or pots may reveal some apples; collecting these will then replenish your health, allowing you to continue. If you run out of health, you’ll die and then respawn at the last checkpoint. The game has three difficulty levels: Easy, Balanced and Hard.  You’ll have the option to choose the game’s difficulty once you’ve had a couple of fights at the beginning of the game.

In the settings, you’ll find Graphics (Display Fullscreen and Windowed Mode), Resolution, Graphic (Presets Low to Epic, V-Sync and Anti-Aliasing TXAA or MSAA), Audio (volume sliders for Master, Effects, Voice and Music), Gameplay (you can turn off controller rumble, Controls (there are three presets for keyboard and mouse, and support for game pads - my Xbox 360 pad was displayed, indicating the function of each of the buttons), and Languages (English, German, Spanish, French, Italian, Portuguese, Brazilian Portuguese, Russian and Chinese).

This is a fantastic game and if you liked Stories: Path of Destinies then you’ll love Omensight. The story is good and will keep you thinking, and the graphics are fantastic, making the game very enjoyable to play. BIG THUMBS UP!!!

 

Review written by Piston Smashed™ for Zeepond.com!


Positives

+ Good story
+ Fantastic graphics
+ Controller support
+ Has achievements
+ Has cards

Negatives

- My companion got stuck a few times

Review Summary

As the Harbinger, investigate the murder of the Godless Priestess, and relive the last day of fallen characters while trying stop the Great Serpent god, Voden!

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Zeepond Rating: 9/10

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