I'm So Happy I've Found This Post. This Is Why I Dislike The Game OMORI (no Hate, Though). This Post

i'm so happy I've found this post. This is why I dislike the game OMORI (no hate, though). This post analyses game with respect and attention, but still calls out all the problematic points.

It beautifully puts into the perspective WHY I've felt so sick after finishing the game. It wasn't just because of the topics. It was because of HOW they were presented.

An actual crime (Mari's death/staged suicide) is being sweetened and watered-down. Sunny's (Omori's) guilt is being cutesified and put through the "UwU" filter.

And the fact the narrative BLAMES Mari for being killed... is so creepy.

There is an real ongoing problem of femicide that's still happening throughout the world. There are thousands causes of men/boys murdering girls and women... And getting aways with that unscathed. It's so weird to find victim-blaming undertones in the game that praises itself for it's compassion and support.

Like the game implies that Mari's life is LESS important than how Sunny feels after murdering her.

That's so wrong.

It thank you for the amazing post!

It helped to process and verbalise my thoughts and feelings about Omori.

OMORI’s poor writing (Part 2)

Once again, if you are a big fan of OMORI, this review is not for you. Treasure this game, love it, recommend it, make fan art, buy the merch, do what you will with it. I am not here to take OMORI away from anyone. Based on the overwhelmingly positive reviews on Steam, I know that my opinion is in the minority.

However, just as the fans have the right to praise the game, I have the right to examine it, criticize it, and explain why it failed to provide a compelling experience. This is second part of my review where I will tackle OMORI’s problematic themes and disrespectful appropriation of mental health.

[ See Part 1: Plot Writing Lies ]

(Note: I use “OMORI” in all-caps for the game title, and “Omori” in title case for the character name.)

Spoilers and criticism below.

Part 2: OMORI’s message is mishandled and distasteful

OMORI provides a warning that it depicts scenes of depression, anxiety, and suicide. Because the game includes these scenes, I assumed these mental health issues are presented in a way that is meaningful and respectful.

However, that is not the case. 

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Do you think ill be famous one day or at least well known???

There is always a chance, that you will ✨✨ I'm sure, with time, you'll find people who admire your content a lot. Just, pls, always put your health first and don't push yourself to create stuff when you're sick or tired 🕊️

Fyodor and his God. How does Dostoevsky see him? BSD analysis.

God is the only entity Dostoevsky seems to love genuinely. So I've been cracking my brain up about how Fyodor "experiences" His presence. What he imagines God as.

As a bright light? A warm embrace? What else?

One thing for sure: Fyodor's faith is strong. And I think that it's partially due to how many near-death experiences he had.

Some people report seeing visions of the heaven/loved ones/afterlife in the moment of dying. What they see differs from person to person, but it's often connected to the collective subconscious and has some religious undertones. In the moments like this brain's working overtime to increase it's gamma activities and problem-solve it's way out of death. It almost feels like dreaming.

I wounder, how many of these dreamy visions Fyodor saw. How many times did he fly through the dark tunnel towards the heavenly light and only to "woke up" in his new body? How many times did he come close to "attaining" God and then was pulled away into his earthly existence again?

It probably cemented his beliefs in Paradise, and the fact that at least some people go there when they die.

Maybe, Dostoevsky's special ability has somehow influenced the way he views God too. And it's also shaped the way in which Fyodor eventually plans to "unite" with Him.

You know, Dostoevsky's whole gist is to get killed, then "fused" with his killer, replace them and then adopt some aspects of their personality?

It goes like this:

Someone kills him -> Fyodor respawns -> He absorbs some of the feelings of the person who tried to murder him before

It's an automatic response created by his ability. Dostoy lived through it over and over. It's probably imprinted into his subconsciousness.

And what's God? Traditionally, he's seen as all-embracing love, forgiveness and peace.

What if Dostoevsky thinks that if "God" kills him, he will get to experience all of this?

He will act so horribly and sinfully that God will try to kill him… Personally. Will he be able to "fuse" with God, using his ability? And become the "love, light, peace" he earned to experience for eternity?

Does it mean that "God's" presence will entirely erase Fyodor's personality and overpower him, so he would no longer have to be a sinner and an ability user?

Maybe, being "killed" by God is a way for Fyodor to return his soul to where it belongs.

Nikolai fought against God in order to lose the sight of himself.

Fyodor fought for God in order to become one with him. And probably lose the sight of himself as well.

It's interesting, how they have similar goals of self-erasure, but go about them in the opposite ways.

No wounder Gogol thought of them as besties.

Wow, thank you for your wonderful response!

I secretly hoped that you would go in depth about Gogol's path and the way it paralleled Nikolai's. And you did! I really appreciate you digging out all of these details about Gogol's inner turmoil. It kinda adds a lot to Nikolai as a character. Especially, the desire to fix internal pain with external solution that's so radical it leaves nothing behind.

Thank you for supplying me with such a delicious treat of information I can ponder over while waiting in limbo for the next time Nikolai appears!

Will he be able to break free from the rolle of a "plot-moving-device"? Let's roll the dice 🎲

Hello, Kizo! you've also mentioned some of the interesting aspects of Gogol's personality I haven't thought about before. Like his pessimism. He is so constantly and desperately wants to seem excited, amused, thrilled, that he's managed to fool me. But it makes sense. "The only salvation from emotions is mine or smn else's death". He is quite pessimistic, just like Dost. And he's a perfectionist. He wants an absolute perfect freedom and nothing in between. Why is he like this, maybe trauma?

Thanks for the interesting asks!

It's neat to me that Nikolai manages to fool you. What I love especially there is that, like you said, while putting on that act he's so energetic, vivacious, and drawn very enthusiastic and animated. But when he breaks character, there's a stillness to him. His shrill tone softens into a meditative tenor; his grand gesticulations withdraw into intimate gestures; his stretched mouth and squinted eyes relax into the visage of a quiet, thoughtful, introspective young man. Harukawa expresses all of this beautifully with their drawings, and I just love it so much. The glimpses we see of the Nikolai under his mask are what made me fall in love with him in the first place--it's what makes his character for me.

One thing I really love expressed in characters like Nikolai is the 'sad clown paradox', which I think fits him pretty well. It's the playful jester character who's internally cynical. Nikolai creates a persona of a spontaneous, silly, horrifically brutal psychopath, but the scant few glimpses we get of him, we see a thoughtful and caring person, so much more and so much opposite just under the surface. I absolutely adore that duality.

I'm not gonna talk about potential backstories for Nikolai; I feel like speculation there is kinda pointless for me, since it could be literally anything. But, I can talk about Gogol's influence on him a bit.

Regarding this:

"The only salvation from emotions is mine or smn else's death". He is quite pessimistic, just like Dost. And he's a perfectionist. He wants an absolute perfect freedom and nothing in between. Why is he like this, maybe trauma?

I see a lot of Gogol's influence here. I'm not sure how much you know about Gogol as a person, so sorry if this is reiterative, but it's important context (and please take my cliffs notes version with a teaspoon of salt; I'm by no means a Gogol scholar). Gogol, at the end of his life--though probably during too--was very concerned with the purity of his soul. Why isn't something I can really comment on, but it seems to have culminated in him going to a radical priest, who advised him to undertake an extreme fast (meant for monks, I believe). Gogol then burned his manuscript for the second part of 'Dead Souls', and starved himself to death over the course of about twelve days (whether or not he meant to die isn't agreed-upon as far as I can tell, but that he died as a result of this fast is). All to reach a purity of soul he felt he didn't have, and couldn't get without drastic actions.

I genuinely have no idea if this story inspired Nikolai's, but I wouldn't be surprised if it did. There are a lot of parallels, and if you replace Gogol's 'religious purity' with Nikolai's 'freedom', you get a similar tragedy. Both seem based on the belief "my mortal/inherent failures/limitations are holding me back from what I need". And rather than go inwards and seek clarity through introspection, both externalise their problems and try to "fix" themselves via grand--and painful--proofs of their "faith/conviction".

There's also the parallel with Gogol's priest and Fyodor, though I'm not sure how much it tracks. Fyodor does seem to have some influence on Nikolai, but it sounds like Nikolai was already on his path when they met... that's all backstory stuff though, so who knows.

Then there's still the missing piece of 'why', with Nikolai. Why does he feel he needs to free himself from his emotions? Gogol's motive makes sense several ways: fear of Hell, self-hatred, a deep, spiraling depression. It's understandable, it's human, it's relatable. But Nikolai's freedom?

That Asagiri chose 'freedom from emotions' to be Nikolai's pursuit isn't something I've ever managed to understand. I just don't get it. I can't connect it to anything. You hear about people wanting to be numb, sure, but Nikolai's wants seem more about being capable of doing anything, or proving that he can... And he said (paraphrasing) "in spite of happiness I choose free will," so at the very least Nikolai thinks he's capable of happiness, and it's just not as important to him as his "freedom."

Yeah, idk. There's definitely something interesting there, though, that Nikolai's Ability gives him the freedom to do pretty much whatever (as Atsushi said in Sunday Tragedy), but he's so wrapped up in his own mind that he either can't see the freedom he has, or physical freedom is ultimately meaningless to him--which would make him seeking freedom through external actions an interesting failure to understand himself.

Then again, I don't know how honest Nikolai's being with himself, honestly. His whole "freedom" thing is an ever-moving goalpost. First it was torture people to death and kill himself. Then it was kill his best friend. Then it got so convoluted I won't even try to summarise it. And now he just seems lost. Giving Asagiri the benefit of the doubt and assuming this is intentional characterisation (and not just giving him plot-convenient reasons to take certain actions), Nikolai seems at best very confused (and trying to appear like he very much isn't). And, well, I'm confused too.

So yeah, all that's very interesting. Not sure how much of it was intended. Hard to tell with a character that gets like one scene every two years. And hard to tell where he'll go, considering how rarely BSD characters stay true to who they were past their debut.

Regarding the pessimism thing: ironically, I'd say Fyodor's pessimism is more optimistic in nature than Nikolai's. Because Fyodor believes in a world that can change. Fyodor believes he can make the world a better place, and is doing everything he can to achieve that. Nikolai, however, in his best case scenario, proves that it's technically true that complete freedom exists. But his world is still comprised of people in cages. It's cynical and oppressive, and his grandest hopes don't come close to changing anything for the better. I think that fits mostly very well with some differences I've observed between Dostoyevsky and Gogol.

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This shall not go unnoticed

Friend.

YOU UNCOVERED MY TRUE NATURE, MORTAL Do not even think I'll stop spamming you with likes, though 😤 My brain craves content, and I'm gonna feast on yours, just like Ryuk on apples! 🍎

This smile. This haircut. This time skip and implication that Sigma will live. Thank you. I needed this. I'll pray to every entity for this to happen.

sigma for your soul