Omensigh

Omensight from Spearhead Games is a delightful surprise in this day and age - a colorful game with vibrant characters and a story that, while well told, isn’t super heavy or trying to make us reflect deeply on big important themes with a stern look on our faces. It wants to make you smile, and laugh, and take you on an adventure. And for the most part, it succeeds.

Cast in the role of the Harbinger, you exist halfway between the Grim Reaper and a Time Lord; you are a sign of the end times, but you’re not there to cause the apocalypse, you’re there to prevent it. In this case, that means hunting down a priestess’ killers. And so you relive the world’s final day over and over, using information, clues, swordplay, and bit of light platforming.

Being a story that hinges on time travel, there’s a lot of revisiting the same levels. That said, it doesn’t feel like backtracking - since things in a level will change depending on how you mess with the timeline, it feels like a chance to try new paths, unlock new secrets, and fight tougher enemies. It’s more like replaying a level to get a better score than the boring lull backtracking usually is. Loading into an area, even one you’ve seen before, never feels like a chore. At least until you get to the Imperial Fury level.

In this scenario, you’re on top of a massive tank that’s steamrolling its way through a burning forest as it obliterates everything in its way with a large cannon. It’s fabulous to look at thanks to Omensight’s beautiful visual style and bestows a sense of power as you lay siege to your enemies. It’s also not fun, because at one point, the tank must pass by three groups of would-be saboteurs in quick succession. If one of them reaches a designated detonation plunger, it’s back to the checkpoint to start the gauntlet over.

It’s misery every time; the camera is too far away to effectively see when an enemy is attacking, too many enemies have ridiculously powerful area attacks, the area is too narrow to make use of movement, and the fighting is too cramped to effectively target exactly who you want. And should a runner reach the plunger, the animation can’t be interrupted, so there were far too many moments where I was crying foul. This level is the worst example of a difficulty spike and/or unfair playing field, but there are smaller hiccups as well.

Most of the time it has a clear flow and challenge that’s reminiscent of the Arkham games, albeit a bit more frenetic and button-masher friendly. The animations are smooth and full of flourish, and the Harbinger exudes the type of coolness you felt when you doodled your first original character on the inside of a math notebook. Watching her slice through bad guys is a delight.

 

Omensigh

Omensight from Spearhead Games is a delightful surprise in this day and age - a colorful game with vibrant characters and a story that, while well told, isnt super heavy or trying to make us reflect deeply on big important themes with a stern look on our faces. It wants to make you smile, and laugh, and take you on an adventure. And for the most part, it succeeds. Cast in the role of the Harbinger, you exist halfway between the Grim Reaper and a Time Lord; you are a sign of the end times, but youre not there to cause the apocalypse, youre there to prevent it. In this case, that means hunting down a priestess killers. And so you relive the worlds final day over and over, using information, clues, swordplay, and bit of light platforming. Being a story that hinges on time travel, theres a lot of revisiting the same levels. That said, it doesnt feel like backtracking - since things in a level will change depending on how you mess with the timeline, it feels like a chance to try new paths, unlock new secrets, and fight tougher enemies. Its more like replaying a level to get a better score than the boring lull backtracking usually is. Loading into an area, even one youve seen before, never feels like a chore. At least until you get to the Imperial Fury level. In this scenario, youre on top of a massive tank thats steamrolling its way through a burning forest as it obliterates everything in its way with a large cannon. Its fabulous to look at thanks to Omensights beautiful visual style and bestows a sense of power as you lay siege to your enemies. Its also not fun, because at one point, the tank must pass by three groups of would-be saboteurs in quick succession. If one of them reaches a designated detonation plunger, its back to the checkpoint to start the gauntlet over. Its misery every time; the camera is too far away to effectively see when an enemy is attacking, too many enemies have ridiculously powerful area attacks, the area is too narrow to make use of movement, and the fighting is too cramped to effectively target exactly who you want. And should a runner reach the plunger, the animation cant be interrupted, so there were far too many moments where I was crying foul. This level is the worst example of a difficulty spike and/or unfair playing field, but there are smaller hiccups as well. Most of the time it has a clear flow and challenge thats reminiscent of the Arkham games, albeit a bit more frenetic and button-masher friendly. The animations are smooth and full of flourish, and the Harbinger exudes the type of coolness you felt when you doodled your first original character on the inside of a math notebook. Watching her slice through bad guys is a delight.