Omen of Sorrow (PS4)

Ambitious, and passionate is what I'd call this indie fighter. From what I've experienced during my time spent with "Omen of Sorrow" I can see the huge amount of effort put forth in every feature included, though somewhat lazily thrown together in some instances. Sometimes ambition, and passion isn't enough to suffice regardless of effort though, and unfortunately this game does have it's fair share of shortcomings due to an overall lack of polish.

At it's beating heart, or core, lies a four section story of sorts that reminds me a great deal of the Hugh Jackman inclusive film take on "Van Helsing". As with that film we find a chosen one named Gabriel who just so happens to be a nephilim. A half angel, and half human man. Like the previously mentioned film Gabriel encounters a whole host of monsters including a werewolf, a flying succubus, Dracula by a different name, Frankenstein's monster, Quasimodo, Dr.Hyde, a mummy pharaoh, and what seems to be Babylon herself. An ultimate evil in the guise of a woman who utilizes a several headed shadow beast as her means of hero disposal. Incoherently the story mode in which the player discovers the underlying tale, and it's cast of creatures/characters is a mixed up mess of forcefully spoken voice acting from a single voice actress, textual dialogue that only serves to confuse the player more, and decently animated cutscenes that blend Biblical scripture with the fantastical prophecy being spun. All you really need to understand is that Gabriel is the chosen one, that there's a mystical book being sought after, and that through interactions with other key characters, or monsters, he eventually comes to terms with his dark and light side in time to vanquish evil. More or less ...

From the main menu you, the player, will gain immediate access to a whole host of in-game options. This includes a practice menu with a training mode, and a controller diagram that includes meter functionality as well as necessary combat explanations. The combat, while not thoroughly explained through a hands-on tutorial, is a basic blend of oldschool four button fighters. You have two punch buttons, and two kick buttons of varying strength. The two right shoulder buttons house the throw function, and EX attack option respectively. Beyond the basics you'll find that what sets this fighter apart from the others is a three tier meter system. Included in the trio of meters, and gauges is a sigil that acts as a finisher reservoir and a "Blessed" buff when the decimation meter's two sections are filled. To the left, and underneath said character specific sigil is a fortune & fate gauge. As you are attacked the gauge will turn purple, and blue if you are the aggressor. The turning of purple is a two phase player nerf which will first be announced by the female voice actress signaling "impending doom" before the player is ultimately "doomed", and glowing purple themselves. In a doomed state a player cannot use their special attacks, bold cancels, and other key mechanics relating to the meters/gauges. On top of that they also do less damage, and will get guard crushed upon opponent's attack. At least until they are able to attack the opposing player back, or until the effect wears off. It goes without saying that when fortune is favored a player does increased damage, and is more powerful until the opposing player sends them into a doomed state.

Along with the sigil, and fortune/fate gauge comes a decimation meter. This meter, which is bi-sectional, fills up when you attack. For each section filled you can perform your characters' decimation attacks. It is akin to a super or ultra from Street Fighter IV. Supposing you have a full meter or a full sigil (which fills up in the same manner) you can perform a cinematic finisher called a vanquish. It's kind of like what Aksys Games did with BlazBlue.Vanquished finishers are only counted in the final round, and only when they are the last attack landed. Otherwise they deal special attack damage with the cinematic attack sequence still intact, but not conclusive.

Characters are also a key component to combat strategy themselves. Characters in 'Omen of Sorrow' each have a unique move set all their own that is greatly different from the other characters. Gabriel, for example, plays a lot like certain KOF characters. Terry Bogard comes to mind. You'll find a lot of inspiration when it comes to the given move sets, and character designs including some stuff borrowed from Darkstalkers, Killer Instinct, and Guilty Gear among others. Only a couple of characters stood out as wholly unique, and one of those characters was Dr. Hyde. A character blend of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde. His move set allows him to prep vials with three different colored player damaging concoctions that can be thrown high, rolled low, or spilled upon the ground. Imhotep, the mummy king, who is another key character in the lore seems to be a take on Darkstalker's Anakaris in that his upper and lower body separates for attacks. As with a certain other Killer Instinct mummy Imhotep will also summon sand, sand tornadoes, zombie soldiers, and insect projectiles. Caleb, the werewolf, on the other hand seems to play like a mixture of KI's Saberwolf, and Darkstalker's John Talbain. Again, another mixture or blend of other series' character assets. Most of the roster is inspired by different fighting game characters to some extent.

The full roster in 'Omen of Sorrow' includes Gabriel, Zafkiel, Caleb, Imhotep, Adam, Dr. Hyde, Quasimodo, Vladislav III, Arctorious, Radegonda, and Thaleesa. At one point in the story mode you even get to play as countess Erzsebet, or Elizabeth Bathory as she's referred to. There are 12 playable characters in total including two hidden characters that can be unlocked by playing the game's modes. When it comes down to the characters the character design is quite impressive for an indie studio, and rivals the likes of SNK, in my opinion. Everything from the character selection screen to the combat ready screen shows off the talent of the developers well enough. You'll also find that in the game's arcade mode each character comes complete with a background bio in supporting side text. The only flaws with character presentation comes in their stiff movements, and somewhat limiting move sets. What you have to understand is that extending combos in this particular fighting game is only possible through the various cancels, and special attacks. The basic attack variations are not complimentary enough for basic extended combos. Characters do have attack variations upon stance change, but again it is limited in combo potential. Thus mixing cancels with specials/decimation attacks is the best way to capitalize on damage dealing opportunities, and combos.

For those of you worried about stage design it is another design element I feel the development team has nailed. The stages are befitting of the monster lore, are animated well, and look rather impressive. You'll find worthy layered, and highly detailed stages that are able to be selected during multiplayer. Most of which are themed according to the various characters' lore. The fact that the fights going on in front of these somewhat cinematic scenes is accented by notable rock/heavy metal music makes it all the more pleasing. The only setback here is the monotonous female announcer that seems enthusiastic, but less than enthusiastic at the same time. I do wish AOne Games would have invested more in voice-overs, particularly with the script reading and announcing ...

Modes of play ...

Modes of play included in this pricey $50 package include a story mode in which you face fight after fight between 4 sectional path playthroughs, an arcade mode akin to that of BlazBlue's with an actual ending animation, and a survival mode that comes in four enemy inclusive tiers ranging from 12 to 120 consecutive opponents (Beyond the third survival tier lies a mystery tier to be unlocked). When it comes to the story mode it is one of the least desirable features/modes found within this fighter. It is made bland by boring and rather soulless character interactions, a single female voice actress reading a prophetic script, and character dialogue that is so all over the place you will get lost in the lore if you don't play close enough attention. While story mode is a bit underwhelming the arcade mode does offer a difficulty based challenge for those simply looking to fight. You will fight through the roster including the sub-boss, and boss at the end. Difficulty can be set at the main options menu along with rounds, and timer. Lastly, survival, is what you'd expect it to be. You face off against a set number of foes, and must beat them all to complete the tier. Tiers, as I've mentioned, start at 12, go to 60, and then 120 before the final infinite tier is unlocked and made available. The problem with survival, and any other offline mode is that the AI is bad. So bad in fact that I nearly went flawless all 60 rounds of the second tier of survival using only one of Gabriel's special attacks. It is a problem. Also worth mentioning is versus mode in which you, and a couch co-op buddy can fight offline, or one of you against a computer controlled opponent.

When it comes to things that you can earn you can look forward to unlocking profile icons, profile titles, gallery art (characters, environments, art), and videos. It's your standard issue fighting game unlockables, and does allow for a bit of bragging rights, especially in the way of profile icons and titles. Let's also not forget that you can unlock the sub-boss, and boss characters by meeting certain conditions in-game.

The Online ...

Outside of the profile perks, and stats included in said profile/records menu you'll find that the online hosts the basic matchmaking options. You can choose "Quickplay" for a quick match, "Ranked" for ranked play, and lobby to host/search for player hosted lobbies. Tweakable parameters include match time, character selection type (ALL/Favorites), number of rounds, and number of slots (up to 12). The netcode is supposedly that of a GGPO with peer to peer connectivity, and rollback. I have personally tried to get into a lobby a couple of times, and either the game's online matchmaking is broken or 'VenomousFatman' and 'verytoxic' were hacking or manipulating matchmaking. I've had suspicious run-ins with IGN's freelancer VenomousFatman before in fighting games, so either reason would not surprise me. In light of this I cannot give a proper assessment of the game's online.

The Pros & Cons ...

I think at the $50 mark this game should have been more polished, and professionally created. It feels more like a $30 fighter in that crucial parts of the offline experience felt rushed, and (for a lack of a better word) unpolished. My main complaints with the offline come with how the story mode story archs were presented. They felt like a dull interactive puppet show with more emphasis on the spoken script than the telling of the story itself. It was basically told from different characters' vantage points, and to gain the full scope of things the player has to play through all of the story paths while adding in a little mental gymnastics to make sense of things. When broken down it is a very basic plot peppered with seemingly important character relationships and conflicts that are rushed, and not really fleshed out. Story mode could have been so much better than it was.

Also to note in the way of Cons is the pitiful AI controlled opponents. I was able to spam a single special attack with Gabriel, and complete the 120 match survival mode tier with ease. The AI acts very crazy at times, and is definitely one of this game's bigger issues.

Along with these problems there were some technical things that could use fixing. I don't think there's a way to do a recovery when downed, and even oldschool fighters had that mechanic to some degree. Some characters may even need balancing later on. I think it would also be nice to see some optional color palettes added to the characters in a patch. As it stands the only way to get a different color is in a mirror match.

In the way of Pros the game, when it comes to gameplay, characters, and stages isn't all that bad. If the netcode is as good as promised I could see this game catching on among FGC members. Keep in mind though it is a very technical fighter. You will have to put in extra effort to properly use your favorite characters' move set. Even the Ryu of the game (Gabriel) has an advanced side to him. This brings me to one last bad point that I forgot to mention. The game has no tutorial mode. It expects you to learn everything from a few textual diagrams, and a controller layout image. This game could do with a tutorial that gives the player hands-on combo challenges, and mechanics usage practice. It needs that patched in pronto. I think the bottom line overall is that this game feels a little rushed, and could use some polish to presentation. In it's current state it feels more like a $30 game at most not the $50 near 'Triple A' asking price the devs think it's worth. Hopefully AOne Games sticks with it, and adds to it, and polishes it up to diamond state. I do like the effort, ambition, and passion behind it all, and see potential therein.