When the Tokyo RPG Factory released its first game, "I'm Setsuna," the mission statement reminded the game of Square's golden age of RPG. This was a lofty goal at first, but the more games I play, the clearer it is that you need to inspire nostalgia more than active time warfare-if I believe now more than ever that they really do n’t believe in no longer Make them as before.
Oninaki, the latest work of the Tokyo RPG factory, takes place in a world of faith in death and reincarnation. I've always been interested in JRPGs dealing with death, as some of them (mostly Final Fantasy XV and Bales of Tales) provide interesting perspectives on this subject through Buddhist and Shinto perspectives. Oninaki, on the other hand, has nothing to say.
In fact, it has little to say that after 30 hours, I am not sure what the plot is, or if there is a plot rather than a series of different tasks. You will control Kagachi, a white boy who joined Watchers after the death of his parents, a group of people with the ability to walk between the dead and the living. If someone regrets to die, they will stay behind like ghosts instead of being reincarnated, so observers will bear any issues that may prevent someone from moving forward peacefully. This is not yet the level of "Oh no, I've turned the oven on", but it often comes up, especially if you encounter ghosts randomly, all you have to do is visit the specific location on the map again so they can last See it once.
Traveling between worlds is not the only talent in Kaga-he can also connect with daemons, ghosts that cannot pass through, because they lose their memory for some reason. At the same time, the monsters in Oninaki are called fallen-they happen when the ghost is full of hatred and turns into a monster, but don't ask why, unlike the other two monsters, you can also find them in the real world.
Here, random battles are a thing of the past, and all monsters are free to roam various dungeon maps. The daemon also acts as your weapon and special attack. You can equip a roster of up to 4 daemons, calling them in a manner similar to Persona, while still controlling Kagachi. For example, equipping the daemon Dia can turn Kagachi's basic attack into a long-range attack using a pistol. Special attacks include launching huge explosions or deadly volleys with the daemon. Equipping Wil can bring you huge benefits, etc.
The monster throws weapons for each daemon. There is also a system for embedding upgrades in weapons, but because Oninaki doesn't have a system that lets you track the growth of final statistics, these systems are much better than actual planning strategies. Of course, there is also a daemon skill tree that allows you to unlock buffs, new special attacks and daemon memories, and you can observe them in the static cutscenes of the daemons as they tell you their story through voice acting.
Switching between daemons and trying different weapons and attacks is fun, but basic combat is a bit difficult. There are not many types of enemies, and Oninaki pushes them to you in large numbers. If you want, you can move on the map by only the forward impulse of the attack, and you will spend a lot of time just sending spam to the attack button.
The world itself is bland, composed of ordinary dungeons made up of the same brown shades. Sometimes you need to switch between ghost and real world with the click of a button. The other world is the same as the map you are on, just blue, but you need to go there to make the ghost visible and sometimes bypass obstacles. This is a redundant mechanic.
The boss fights are fun though. These things are ruthless, you have to keep moving to avoid attacks, and then find a small window of time so that you can successfully hit them with a special attack. Of course, this is not the soul of darkness, but because each special attack prevents you from moving, and you must be close enough to the enemy to hit, find the right time to complete all the nervous things. You may end up being hit in exchange for an opportunity. Oninaki wants you to do this because multiple bosses won't do anything but chase you around the circle until you are close to hitting.
In general, I'm confused as to how much work the daemon does and not everything else. It feels like someone came up and tried to build a game around the game without really investing in anything else. The daemon not talking is your only combatant, which immediately corks the storyteller, because if no one interacts with you, you won't have too many stories.
At the same time, Kagachi's only personality trait is that he has always been moody, not in the way of the charming Vesperia Storybook or in the way of the annoying Final Fantasy 8. Basically, he is annoying. None of the characters you encounter will exist for a long time, and they will never have an actual conversation. They make a battle plan, like "walk left, walk right" while sitting in front of the TV, desperately want to know who these people are, and why I care. No matter how malleable the role of Watcher is, at some point in the game, it is the field of protection, then the assistance of the dead, and then the will of the people, which tells you how much work world construction has condensed.
Of course, if you want to remember it, the overall picture is not what we get from JRPG every other Sunday. Evil must be combated. But Oninaki never wanted to go deeper than that. Writing is really bad-not as stupid or overworked as JRPG, just bad. Sometimes when faced with very Japanese expressions, localization sometimes disappeared completely, but the shouts of battle were so many that they were not even translated. Treasure is nearby.
A good idea is not enough to create a good game-unless you add a little love to the building blocks that surround it, it won't work. Many JRPGs have such a heart, and even make you feel the most ridiculous quality. Oninaki, on the other hand, is seen as unloved.
