wfmag.cc \ 63ReviewRated
ReviewRated
potions, meaning you might have to restart from
your last manual save point.
The repetition and frustrations of combat
would be easier to overlook if there was a
compelling reason to endure them, but even a
midpoint twist doesn’t save Oninaki from being
weighed down by a miserably heavy-handed
story. Despite the many tragedies that occur,
I found myself unable to invest emotionally in
the characters, and I soon became as jaded as
Kagachi, who follows the
angsty hero stereotype to
the letter.
As interesting an idea
crossing between realms
is, besides speaking to lost
souls, there’s barely any
distinction between worlds,
so there’s very little incentive to traverse the 9eil
unless the narrative dictates it. The lost souls
themselves are also reduced to Tuest givers,
though their requests aren’t logged anywhere,
making it even more diɝcult to compel yourself
to carry out their wishes, if you can even
remember what they are.
Oninaki is a worthy attempt to break from
the mould of I Am Setsuna and Lost Sphear, but
ultimately, it’s just another underwhelming
JRPG that can’t hold a candle to the classics
that the studio holds dear. When Square Enix
already seems content repackaging its rich back
catalogue, pumping out ersatz titles like this is
starting to feel redundant.VERDICT
Another downbeat JRPG
from Tokyo RPG Factory,
Oninaki never quite delivers
on its intriguing premise.HIGHLIGHT
Daemons aren’t just sentient
weapons. As you upgrade
their abilities and your
affinity with them builds, you
can also unlock memories,
unearthing fragments of their
tragic backstories, which are
fully voiced. The caveat is
that, after the first one, each
memory costs soul stones to
unlock, which you’d rather be
using on a new upgrade.58%
You’ll often have to
defeat tougher
enemies called ‘Sight
Stealers’ in the living
world before you can
safely traverse the Veil.ReviewRated
one-shotting the enemy. Unless you’re prepared
to grind all your daemons, though, it’s likely that
many just fall by the wayside as you stick to one
or two favourites.
There’s nonetheless plenty of opportunities
to level up, if only because )allen are in
generous supply. 2n occasion, you’ll be trapped
in a purple ring until you defeat all the enemies
there, but even if you decide to clear the
room, plenty more just miraculously spawn in.
Sometimes it just gets taxing on the eyes, not
helped by all the particle effects or your own
floating daemon obscuring your view.
The real frustration’s
reserved for the bosses,
which have a habit of
unleashing a flurry of
attacks that put you in
a stunlock, leaving you
vulnerable to the next
hit, and the hit after that.
An autosave system that lets you restart a
boss fight immediately after death is also far
from ideal if you went in with low health or no
“Just to make
matters worse,
a serial killer known
as the Night Devil
is on the loose” Gameplay is mostly from an overhead
perspective, but dialogue scenes allow for
more detailed cel-shaded character models.
Animated cutscenes are kept to a handful.