An expensive, but very good, monster mash.
I’ve played a decent amount of fighting games in my day, even back when arcades were still around. Now that I’ve dated myself, I’ve moved on from the days of fighting toe-to-toe with a person standing right beside me, to an online setting. Street Fighter IV was my last big obsession and I haven’t found a new fighting game that hit me much like Capcom did back in 2009. I’ve tried a lot of them since then, but haven’t found one that I could call home. Aside from a few hard hitting conditions, Omen of Sorrow would be one that I could find myself coming back to if only people were playing it.
From the title, you’d think this was a Castlevania game of some sort. Instead, we get a horror-based fighting game pitting characters like a demon, vampire, werewolf, hunchback, and even a reanimated electronic corpse that favors the mad Dr. Frankenstein’s creation. Think Darkstalkers but with a more realistic look to it all.
Platforms: PS4
MSRP: $49.99
Price I’d pay: $30
Omen of Sorrow is a four button configuration with light and heavy versions of punch and kick. Special moves vary from character to character, but the majority of them are handled through either quarter circle motions or charge motions. There is also a dedicated button for throwing as well as a one for EX moves. It’s simple fare, but as I say with a lot of fighting games that I review, it has a complex nature to it that allows for a lot of flashy combos.
The game features a few special mechanics that change up the dynamic of the entire experience when used correctly. The Fortune and Fate mechanic has players trying to fill a single meter that starts at the halfway point. Playing aggressively and landing hits will move the meter towards Fortune, blocking a lot and using escape moves will slowly begin to move the meter in the opposite direction into Fate. Filling the meter with Fate will result in a “Doomed” state where certain abilities and moves are unavailable to the character. Filling up the Fortune will make the character go into a “Blessed” mode where all normal attacks can be canceled and special moves can provide an infinite combo for a set amount of time.
Typically, bold cancelling would push the meter towards the Fate area so there is another thing to look at. Using too many cancels can very well doom a character as well, but since the game relies on a heavy cancel mechanic, it’s a necessary evil. It’s a push and pull mechanic that adds a lot to the overall fighting mechanics and is something players will have to pay attention to. Trust me, you don’t want to be Doomed.
Along with that mechanic, there is also a super move system using a special meter that allows for super moves as well as EX moves. This meter is also used for a desperation escape move that can put some distance between the characters when they’re in a pinch. Keep in mind, this will then add to the Fate meter.
The mode offerings here are pretty standard. There’s a story mode that feels a little too simple, but allows players to see the back stories of these characters. There’s an arcade mode as well as a survival mode both of which work just fine and finally, an online mode that uses the roll back GGPO code that works really well. In the matches I played, there was almost no lag whatsoever, the only issue is, I had to play with a friend online because he was the only other person online playing. I searched for rooms both in ranked play and in quick play, searched for lobbies, and never found a match. I had to contact a friend that I knew bought the game to even be able to find a match online just to test out the next code. This is the life force of Omen of Sorrow and unfortunately, it is drained like a vampire’s victim.
If there’s no one online to play with, there’s no real reason to play this game after exhausting the single player content which can be done in a matter of maybe two hours. One of the issues that is holding the player base back is the $50 price tag. While this is a great playing fighting game, it doesn’t have the recognition or the content for a big budget game. If this was more of a $30 or $20 game, it would more than likely see a larger player base, and that’s what is the biggest issue with Omen of Sorrow. It’s too expensive, which means not a lot of potential players have picked it up, which then makes the online experience abysmal, which then makes it difficult for me to recommend.
Omen of Sorrow is a really good fighting game that works well and has some really interesting mechanics that change the entire aspect of the fighting game, but because of the price, it bring down so many other aspects of the game making it a difficult purchase to recommend. Maybe when the game lowers in price, more people will pick it up. That’s the only thing I can think of that would help more than anything. It’s a good fighting game, but when there’s no one to play it with, you can only enjoy it for so long.
Review copy of game provided by publisher.
