REVIEW

Oninaki Review

by Luke Walsh, September 2nd, 2019

Oninaki’s art style is one of the first things you’ll notice as it’s colourful and an RPG from the creators of I Am Setsuna and Lost Sphear but takes a different turn than the usual JRPG’s leaning more towards a dungeon crawling title than a more traditional RPG.

Don’t be fooled by the cute art style though as the game’s narrative is one of the deepest and twisted you’ll find in a recent role-playing game. Oninaki puts you in the shoes of a Watcher known as Kagachi who is able to jump between the physical and ghostly realm. The premise of this ethereal place has a unqoiuw set of rules where the loved ones of the dead are unable to cry or mourn of the loss in fear of their recently departed being turned into a monster and won’t ever be able to find peace in the afterlife, lovely right?

Kagachi with the help of his friends is able to switch between worlds, moving into the Veil where the lost spirits and monster roam. Swapping between these two places is the main part of the games mechanic and swaps with the click of a button. This allows further exploration of an entirely new area, more monsters to be found and additional game mechanics.

A lot of the game focuses on swapping between these two places and makes a strong argument as to why in the story. Oninaki story is able to weave the game’s mechanics and narrative together nicely where you exploration feels more impactful and ever-changing.

Combat is no different, in the mortal plane Kagachi and his party are for the most part normal adventures like any other RPG game. In the Veil, however, special conditions are placed on the party and monsters roaming around. These can be both beneficial and negative such as allowing the party to produce more critical hits or the reverse taking much more damage.

Switching and navigating between these worlds adds the additional layer to the combat which would otherwise be quite basic. Unexplored parts of the Veil are darkened make it unable to see ahead and can cause instadeath if monsters are around and attack you from the shadows forces you to jump back to the real world frequently.

You are not alone though, in your travels, Kagachi is able to summon Daemons who are people of the past unable to move on and find peace. These beings each have their own unique weapons and skill trees that allow unlockable abilities as the stories progress. Each Daemon has their own backstory and motivation for helping and you can speak with them throughout the game to unlock more about their past.

Fighting enemies with your Daemons though sadly is quite button-bashing with not much skill or tactics needed. Attacks can be broken up by using the skills of your currently equipped Daemon which are visually pleasing and can pack a punch but the gameplay loop of combat does get quite tiresome that is held up by the impressive storytelling that keeps you engage as you move from monster to monster.

Even from the first story in the game, Kagachi is set out to find the spirit of a lost boy who is unable to pass on as he missed his chance to say goodbye to his parents. Most of your travel is between dungeons and a base town/city through the main world map or through your own travel at each dungeon. This is how you eventually find the lost boys parents that are not mourning as the world’s narrative dictates the spirits are able to be reincarnated into a better life.

Upon finding the parents and explaining the situation of their son being unable to pass on, one of the toughest parts of any game I’ve recently played happens. They kneel down and ask to have their life taken by Kagachi as to be with their son instead of living a life without him. The choice ultimately falling on Kagachi who has a foot in each world power over both and the task of maintaining a balance between the two.

All of this happens within the first few hours of gameplay setting a very solid foundation of the game’s ability to tell the story of life and death and how each person sees it differently. Story elements of the game prove strong throughout the 20+ hours of gameplay meeting interesting characters and Daemons along the way.

Sadly, the gameplay and combat never really expands further than the basic dungeon crawling experience of combat, looting and exploration. Using different Daemons shakes up combat a little but with a very limit set of monsters roaming the world, it all becomes too familiar too quickly again.

Loot is dropped by enemies that get better stat boosts as the story and adventure progresses but nothing more interesting is brought into the mix. A lack of other fundamental RPG elements is missing being able to tweak your character, crafts better gear and challenge tougher foes.

Oninaki focuses on the number of enemies for difficult at times rather than a challenging one. At times there are lots of enemies and small space which make combat more of a chore than exciting or interesting.

At the end of the day, Oninaki lacks some areas which stop it from being a fantastic RPG but still a somewhat interesting adventure thanks to its story. The Daemon system, character variety and nice art style keep the repetitive combat from becoming too stale. It’s not the best game that Tokyo RPG Factory has done but for a JRPG fan, it will probably scratch an itch.