Omnisia

I must start this review off by saying I did not finish this game. I wanted to, but after getting stuck for about the ninth time in a row I decided to call it quits.

Battle System- 2/5
As far as I could tell, very little about the battle system was changed from the default setting. Enemies were given a lot more hp and there were a few small script additions, including a Blitz type input for several attacks and the addition of HP and SP bars. Each character only started with a single battle skill, and only learned more through rare Skill Scrolls hidden throughout the game. I believe I was level 8 before I had learned my first additional skill, which bothered me immensely as the leveling curve was quite slow. Balance was decent, but there was entirely too much forced grinding for my tastes. It didn't hep that the encounter rate was through the roof in certain areas.

Storyline- 2/5
A child declared he is going to form his own army in order to protect the kingdom. Suddenly he blacks out, and wakes up as an adult. Stepping outside he sees his kingdom in ruins, and after a bit of investigation he has discovered he did indeed start an army, and it has turned on the kingdom. One of his oldest friends is now the leader, and after being beaten senseless our hero discovers a crystal which transports him a few years back in time. Now he is forced to correct the disaster he set in motion before it can burn his kingdom to ash. This initial premise interested me greatly, but unfortunately after the introduction the writing completely fell through. The main character claimed no responsibility for his actions, and it is quickly revealed this his villainous friend has been possessed by a magical being from space who is forcing him to be evil. I felt the initial potential was immediately squandered and never picked up again.

Characters- 1/5
This game does not have a single believable character. Pretty much everyone instantly accepts that the main character is a time traveler, and everyone who joins is quick to leave their life behind to follow him in his mad quest. The villain initially had some promise as he was supposed to be a former friend of the main character, but he is immediately freed of all culpability as it is declared he is possessed by an evil entity controlling his actions.

Level Design- 4/5
I immensely enjoyed this aspect of the game. Towns were well laid out, full of interesting people to talk to and various secrets to uncover. Dungeons were thick with puzzles, some more innovative than others, but all entertaining. As you progress through the game you acquire various tools you can activate at any time with a proper key press. My only complaint in this category is that the way tools behaved were sometimes inconsistent, particularly in the case of bombs, sometimes a certain object was destructible, and other times it was not.

Graphics- 2/5
The game sticks entirely to the RTP, with no efforts to improve upon anything. About all I can say is the game didn't make things look worse than the default.

Music/Sound- 2/5
The soundtrack appears to be a mix of RTP and songs ripped from various games. Songs only vaguely fit any given scene, and it appeared to me the author didn't put much thought into this portion of the game.

Random stuff I liked-
There was a city which had a room in which you could watch a magical demonstration of a certain element, provided by one of the great sages of the city. These were flashy, ridiculous, and fun to watch. The highlight is an old man riding around on a giant fireball as a crowd cheers.

Random stuff I hated-
The game has several staircases that act like brick walls. Whether you can go up the stairs to another floor or the stairs themselves are impassable seems to depend only on what tileset is being used.

The game is completely lacking in direction. You'll be often be told to go this cave...or this town...or to find this monster, but you'll never be given even the slightest bit of direction. The part of the game that finally forced me to quit was a sequence in which my party became stuck and I was told to talk to every NPC in a city for hints. Unfortunately, not a single one of these NPCs said anything different compared to before I reached this puzzle. I later found out I was supposed to be breaking into some guy's house, even though the game gives no indication this person is even living in this locked building.

Final Thoughts-
A potentially great puzzle adventure marred by a lackluster battle system and a complete lack of direction. It works best when you actually know you are trying to solve a puzzle, though unfortunately most of the time you will be looking around wondering if you're actually supposed to be looking around this map.