Omensight: Lack of player choice in its worst form. (See desc.)

Channel:

Charem the Shadox

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Published on June 4, 2018 9:11:02 PM ● Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mFTQqv_cUKY

Game:

Omensight (2018)

Category:

Let's Play

Duration: 56:30

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This is a 'relevant' chunk of my Part 2 of Omensight, edited to the part that 'matters' for my point here.

For a full explanation, this is a game where you re-explore the last day of the world over and over again, tagging along with different characters to see where they go and learn about what happened by doing so. There is a lot of freedom to go along with any character you like to.

The game is also divided into Acts, however. During Act 1, you are getting introduced to each of these characters and learning who they are and what their values and goals are.

Interestingly, the character Ratika does not at all need to be visited during Act 1 to learn what you need to learn to get to Act 2. I found this out in my playthrough, and realized too late what the consequences were.

See, during Act 1, your companions are unaware of the end of the world coming and you, a mute protagonist, have no way of telling them; so they move about that day as they normally would. Upon getting to Act 2, you gain the Omensight, which lets you basically 'inject knowledge' into the characters when you visit them at the start of the day, letting them know about the end of the world and getting their help with them and you taking a different path through that day and learning new things.

Well, I say 'lets you', but I SHOULD say, 'forces you'. Once you get the Omensight, you are FORCED to give the other characters that knowledge. You CANNOT choose to refrain from informing them to keep them set to their normal day path. So you can't tag along with them on that normal-day path anymore, get one-time collectibles, etc. In the case of me and Ratika, I entirely missed her introduction and the ability to see how she normally went that day, cutting out a huge chunk of the character's story for me.

In this video, you see me learning I'm forced to use the Omensight, then shrugging it off and guessing it's just forcing it this first time I use it. So I go through Ratika's alternate day, come back thinking I'd have the option now and...nope. Omensight or bust. Which is why I quit the game there.

In a game about time travel, where the characters you meet are entirely reset every time you rewind time...there's absolutely no reason that I shouldn't have the choice to Omensight or not. It fits with the lore (I'm trying to solve a murder mystery, so if there's ANY avenues I haven't explored, it would be wise I explore them), it fits with the gameplay (time travel! player freedom!), it just fits. And yet, the developers refused to give this choice.

I cannot agree with the devs doing this. It's just dumb on every level. I was invested in this story, but then immediately ripped out of it. I saved Ratika to visit last because I found her to be the most interesting character; to lose a huge chunk of her story and gameplay as well as missing unique collectibles? That's too much of a punch in the gut, and killed my immersion.

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