The long-anticipated surreal, psychological horror RPG Omori has resurfaced after months and months of silence, and has finally been given an anticipated release date for this year on all major platforms. The announcement was made at the pre-Tokyo Game Show presentation held by Playism, where the developers confirmed the game’s continued existence, and eventual release date.
Omori was first announced back in April of 2014, created by the clothing artist and illustrator Omocat, who runs a popular clothing line alongside multiple other professional graphic designers. The game debuted with a highly successful Kickstarter campaign that garnered over $200,000 from a base goal of only $22,000. The game was originally meant to be released for PC, Mac, and 3DS way back in 2015, but for various – mostly unknown – reasons, the game’s release has been pushed back repeatedly leading to a development cycle of over 5 years. The game prominently features surreal, dreamlike landscapes depicted in Omocat’s signature style that combines soft, calming imagery and bright colors with elements of danger and dread, all wrapped around a turn-based RPG with a strong emphasis on personality and plot.
The game is another in a long line of standout releases from the RPG Maker community, usually marked by their highly emotional storytelling and the bending of the engine to it’s limits, with games such as Lisa, To the Moon, and Yume Nikki. The story of the game relies heavily on the mystery of it’s main character and the world, and therefore has been kept largely secret in development, though an excerpt from the game’s official website describes the experience like this: “OMORI is a surreal psychological horror RPGmaker game. You must travel between two worlds, both welcoming, both concealing the same secrets. Meet new (old) people, fight new (old) enemies, explore your own memories, and uncover some hidden truths along the way (although you wish you hadn’t.) When the time comes, you can only choose one. Which world is more real? You decide, I guess. OMORI’s Kickstarter was successfully funded in June 2014, and the game is currently in production. It is set to release in 2019.”
Omori is planned for release on PC, Xbox One, PS4, and Nintendo Switch in 2019.
