ONI severely lacks everything
ONI : Road to be the Mightiest Oni (Reviewed)
Publisher: Clouded Leopard Entertainment
Released: 8 Mar, 2023
Price: $29 USD
ONI follows Kuuta as he undertakes many trials against departed spirits of demon warriors. The game is firmly rooted in Japanese mythology.
Set on the little island of Kisejima, It is said that one can awaken the strength that has been dormant within the local demon spirits by putting them through trials where old demons that have already been defeated are called to battle.
Few have ever returned from Kisejima alive, and thus you are here for the trials.
You'll painstakingly proceed through instanced battle after instanced battle and cutscene after cutscene as you open up more sections of the island and story.
The Problems
Everything
When it comes to video games, I don't usually have much negativity towards them or criticism because, more often than not, there is a lot of room for improvements, which I am confident the designers will address quickly.
ONI, however, is precisely what I had feared it to be. Something that was developed and released with next to no direction, such as a prototype or a college assignment to pass a class. In essence, babies first video game.
The game feels empty.
The only thing I can say for sure about the game is that it looks good when it looks good, but other from that, everything else is pretty much irrelevant.
The Gameplay
Is broken up in sections, you can not proceed any further until you make effort to sit through 10+ (missions) to effectively awaken the bosses, but before being able to take on these specific bosses, you must 100% gather hearts, in general the gameplay itself has no real direction in what it wants to be for the player.
• Interact with 10+ spirits (Instanced Fight with Cutscenes)
• Search for lost spirits and run (Scavenger Hunt with Cutscenes)
• Fight the bosses (Unlock New Area)
• Search for Lamps in new area (Repeat)
• Pick up mushrooms to buy a few items.
With the exception of character backstories, this is all the game has to offer.
Everything feels like a chore
Quests are basic chores like use this skill (x) times, find this item (x) times.
For me, at least, there isn't enough of a reason to encourage exploration or gameplay because there isn't anything there to explore it's just too simple.
I would prefer a simple mission that involved finding a demon and talking to this NPC, but there is hardly anyone on the island aside from a few lost souls.
Too many cutscenes
You are still under its control even during combat. When you use your special ability, nearby enemies are frozen as it zooms in for the traditional close-up followed by the "Yoooo" effect before blasting targets away. There is no need.
It's not skippable and the only thing you really need to do is never use it.
Conclusion
Save your money. It's not worth anything
As there isn't actually a game going on, there isn't much to say.
Although the game's marketing made it seem like it was more open and free, you are actually confined in small areas and have little access to the extremely basic and generic combat, that is split up into cutscene instances, so no weapons outside of combat.
To swing a club, you shouldn't have to load a new screen. This isn't turn-based combat, even then, modern video games have advanced past this idea.
The creators ought to go back to the board, to construct something that works and is more than simply a very small, brief game with, progress-blocking impediments, terrible looping music and sound effects. I've never been this upset with a video game.
This concludes my review of this game, while my opinions may be met with criticism, that's what makes gamers unique, you don't have to like the same things that others do, nor do you have to agree with them.
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- Pawkt
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