Omnis: The Erias Line (PC) Preview

The golden 90s feels like centuries ago at times. While technology has improved and graphics looks stunning, some classic hooks of the craft have been lost. Long tutorials and slow starts lead into an exploratory midgame for training skills taught until the endgame, where it all is put to the real test. A safe, yet yawn-inflicting concept that has herded gamers of old days into titles such as Dark Souls.

In times like these a title such as Omnis: The Erias Line seems like a blessing sent from the past, like a lost game of the mid 90s, a JRPG not afraid to show its fangs and challenge the players even at its earliest stage. No tutorial, no kindergarten-esque start-zones, just pure challenging action from the get-go!

The demo mission starts in the depths of enemy territory, where armies of enemies are located. The goal is simple: locate a train and release a captured prisoner. However, on the road there, Omnis: The Erias Line shows off some clever game design, mixing clever puzzles and adrenaline-pumping combat perfectly, similar to some of the finest games in the genre. It is challenging both with problem-solving and tactical combat, where house-holding with limited resources is important.

Omnis is not shy with its challenges, yet it manages to never cross the line into becoming unfair. The puzzles are sometimes tricky and clever, playing on old and classic tropes such as obtaining passwords and lighting up switches in the right order, but the answers always offer the famous "a-ha!" experience in a way only fairly designed puzzles can. The combat, while always on the edge and forcing correct decisions from turn to turn, is never straight-out unfair and offers a perfectly diabolic tutorial that forces the player to learn all the tricks of the trade, from economical usage of items to timing of special moves, all thanks to the limitations and heavy penalties when misused.

However, it is still obvious that Omnis: The Erias Line is in an early build, and that is especially showing on the graphical department and on some balancing aspects. What is seen now is certainly not the finalized product, but it is a promising taste of what's to come. The demo ends on a cliffhanger of epic proportion and leaves a lust for more, even in its current state. A promising game that might well turn into a modern classic.

To play Omnis: The Erias Line feels like traveling in time back to the 90s in all the right ways. Perfect puzzles, a mysterious story with epic hooks and tight combat from the start. Hopefully the rest of the product ends up at the same high quality.