Omega Pattern HD (Android) Review

Omega Pattern HD is a great entry into the visual novel genre, although it does falter from time to time. Let's not dwell too deeply on the negative just yet, however, because there's plenty to love in here. While there are issues at hand, they don't manage to ruin the experience. Instead, they leave an asterisk next to the game in terms of its overall quality.

This sees the player assume the role of Shaiel; a young man who, thanks to the luck of the genetic draw, displays the 'Pattern.' The Pattern is, as it tends to go with these kinds of stories, a super power, disguised as something that's much more of ab burden to the protagonist. Shaiel falls into the clutches of a secret organization that, as you might expect, wants to utilize his power, as these organization tend to. As typical as the story sounds at a glance, how it arrives to its conclusion, if it could be called that, is actually pretty brilliant.

The story takes some very humanizing turns, and utilizes plot points rarely seen in the "superhero" genre, if that's where this ends up. Even though the whole thing falls into "sci-fi fantasy," and doesn't provide a wholly original plot, the moments that make up the story maintain a surprising feel throughout. It cuts between the present, where Shaiel is held in the confines of the organization, and a few years earlier. Here, the protagonist is joined by a sort of mentor/father figure in the form of Dabir.

These flashbacks are fantastic, and give a real sense of what led Shaiel to this place. Above anything else, Omega Pattern HD, manages to show the player Shaiel's growth as a character, all while keeping the story cohesive and intriguing. Additionally, there are multiple paths to follow, and here is where this seems to slip into familiar territory. Every so often, you'll have to dictate the response to a specific situation Shaiel finds himself in. These responses lead you down one of three paths, leading to multiple endings. This ensures plenty of replay value, and provides a sufficient amount of content to justify the price of the game.

A final point of positivism, everything looks pretty nice. The artwork definitely feels a bit simplistic, but it still holds together very well. As time goes on, every character, with the exception of only a few, manages to feel unique in its physical presentation, especially in Dabir. The art design here might come off as amateurish, but over time, it grows on you.

In terms of low points, this only has a handful. Firstly, the dialogue, while very good, occasionally borders on ridiculous. The game actually takes some big creative risks that should be applauded, but some dialogue seems unintentionally funny. Add in weird creative choices, like purposelessly withholding a speaking character's name, despite the player directly interacting with them, yet not doing this with any other character, further complicates the overall presentation of it all.

The other pitfall Omega Pattern HD has is oddly enough how it's presented on the Play Store. IF you were to read the "Read More" section, it states this is the first part of the novel. However, the title would indicate this is a complete experience, thanks to a lack of an additional moniker such as "Part One" or "Chapter One." While it states this in the synopsis, it's not made very clear by the title. Now, there are a few things on this that make it worth pointing out…

One, in the game's defence, the additional episodes might just be downloaded with the base file. This would mean in the future that anyone who buys this gets every episode released thus far. In that way, it's kind of like this is in Early Access. Still, it would do wonders if this made this clearer. At the price of the game, it's probably best to make it explicitly clear early on that this is just part one. This feels more like a play for demo, and it's a bit frustrating seeing this end just as it seems to be taking off.