I feel like the best way I can articulate my hatred for this game is that it is anti-escapism in the same way that Mushoku Tensei is anti-pedophilia, or how 13 reasons why is anti-suicide, or how Hasan Piker is anti-capitalist
I mean, one of my friends committed suicide (actually, no shenanigans) when we were in seventh grade and were all going through usual teenager shit, and the boyfriend of another of my friends committed suicide when she was 17 and I was 18 (there were also two other non-suicide deaths when I was in fifth and eleventh grade) and, like, none of those experiences feel meaningfully reflected in the game. The characters in the real world sections aren't particularly deep or fleshed out, so the narrative has to show them grieving in a very, very unsubtle way. I'm not someone who needs everything to be super subtle or whatever, but the way the narrative is framed means that there aren't a whole lot of chances to see a lot of the small changes to personalities and interpersonal dynamics that occur when you deal with grief, especially as a kid or teen. It feels like the only event that has ever significantly affected any of the characters' lives is Mari's death, or at least directly related to the repercussions of her death. The hikikomori thing also just strikes me as so bizarre because that's just not really a phenomenon in America (where the game seems to be set); NEETs are sort of a similar phenomenon, but the dynamics are pretty different, and you generally aren't a NEET until you at least graduate/drop out of high school.
Also wrt to the romanticization of depression, a ton of that felt very undercut by the game's need to be an RPG that lets the player explore and do sidequests and stuff. Sunny can get a job and do it just fine despite being a hikikomori who's barely interacted with people for years. He's basically locked himself inside after the apparent suicide of his sister has access to kitchen knives (where the hell are his parents? are they not worried at all about their clearly very depressed child having access to things he could do self harm or commit suicide with?) and there aren't really consequences when he stabs Aubrey once or that they get into a physical altercation inside of a church during a service (where the hell are the police? Is there any kind of authority in this town?). It makes it hard to feel like he's being crushed by reality when it seems like he really isn't. That could be really interesting, showing him as someone who desperately tries to maintain a happy face even while he's extremely depressed but that's clearly not the case given that he's a hikikomori, so he's clearly not trying to put on a fake happy face for other people.
Omori made me realize depression is real. Every time you press a button to overcome mental illness the game deepens in profundity. Omori invented anxiety and sadness. Deepest game ever made. Too bad the gameplay sucks
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Note: Unlike reviews, comments are considered temporary and may be deleted/purged without notice.The hikikomori thing also just strikes me as so bizarre because that's just not really a phenomenon in America (where the game seems to be set); NEETs are sort of a similar phenomenon, but the dynamics are pretty different, and you generally aren't a NEET until you at least graduate/drop out of high school.