ONINAKI
- August 22, 2019
- Tokyo RPG Factory
- 24h median play time
Oninaki proves that Tokyo RPG Factory is not simply built on nostalgia and definitely has the chops to make a captivating modern RPG.
Get on SteamONINAKI is a single-player Anime Action-RPG with an exceptional story and ingenious visuals. As a Watcher, guide wandering souls to the next life while battling enemies in fast-paced, real-time combat, and customize your character with a variety of weapons. The game offers a wholesome story about the importance of life, dealing with grief, and the role of Watchers as they navigate the emotions of the living and the dead.
Cloud
NVIDIA GeForce NOW
Reviews
- The game features a dark and engaging storyline that explores deep themes of death and reincarnation, which many players found compelling.
- Combat is fun and dynamic, with a variety of Daemons to choose from, each offering unique playstyles and skills that keep the gameplay fresh.
- The visuals and art style are beautiful, enhancing the overall experience and immersing players in the game's world.
- The game suffers from repetitive gameplay and enemy design, leading to a lack of variety and excitement as players progress.
- Controller support is problematic, with many players experiencing issues that hinder gameplay, making it frustrating to control characters effectively.
- The pacing of the story can feel rushed, with character development and emotional moments lacking depth, leaving players unsatisfied with the narrative.
- story212 mentions
- 28 % positive mentions
- 66 % neutral mentions
- 6 % negative mentions
The story of the game has received mixed reviews, with some players appreciating its dark themes and emotional depth, while others criticize its pacing, lack of character development, and convoluted plot points. Many found the narrative engaging but felt it suffered from rushed moments and unresolved elements, leading to a sense of disappointment, especially towards the ending. Overall, while the story has potential and interesting concepts, its execution leaves much to be desired, making it a divisive aspect of the game.
“The mature storytelling (whether it is the main story or the side-quest stories of the lost souls), captivating art, and excellent music soundtracks had me entranced and self-reflecting most of the time during the gameplay.”
“The story is compelling, original, and quite emotional.”
“Fantastic story, grabbed me by the feels and didn't let go.”
“The story really does not get going until the second half... it's a really slow build-up.”
“The plot points that supposedly impact the story are laid out, but the journey to get to each plot point feels rushed, and a lot of the events and characters' actions do not make sense.”
“The story is shallow, confusing, and near the end downright boring.”
- gameplay55 mentions
- 20 % positive mentions
- 62 % neutral mentions
- 18 % negative mentions
Gameplay reviews are mixed, with some players enjoying the fun mechanics and customization options, while others find the gameplay repetitive and lacking depth. Many criticize the combat system for being simplistic and the overall mechanics for feeling outdated or buggy. Despite these issues, some players appreciate the engaging atmosphere and the unique traversal mechanics, suggesting that the game may appeal to those who prioritize story and exploration over intricate gameplay.
“On the one hand, the game is fairly fun gameplay-wise with two ways of traversing the maps, each with their own enemies and quirks; on the other hand, the story is... jarring.”
“Really fun gameplay! I love the spirit RPG mechanic, leveling them up and changing the gameplay so dynamically.”
“Great atmosphere, smooth gameplay, great music.”
“Story is boring, there is no English option for the voice acting yet there are no subtitles for in-game dialogue, the gameplay is beyond repetitive and the graphics are only okay. Get it on sale if you're curious.”
“The gameplay loop is always the same and combat is fairly simple.”
“The gameplay is so bad it gives me headaches...”
- music39 mentions
- 36 % positive mentions
- 54 % neutral mentions
- 10 % negative mentions
The music in the game receives mixed reviews, with some praising its quality and emotional impact, while others find it lacking or repetitive. Many players appreciate the soundtrack's ability to enhance the storytelling and atmosphere, though some note that it is not as memorable as previous works by the same developer. Overall, while there are standout tracks, the music's presence and effectiveness vary significantly throughout the gameplay experience.
“The OST for I Am Setsuna was literally peak and I still listen to it to this day, and that game was released like a decade ago.”
“The mature storytelling, captivating art, and excellent music soundtracks had me entranced and self-reflecting most of the time during the gameplay.”
“This game has some stunning visuals, gorgeous music, and a creative story that will most probably have you in tears at some points.”
“And the music... it's literally almost non-existent.”
“In comparison to that, this game's music is probably less than mediocre most of the time.”
“The lacking part of Oninaki... is its soundtrack, where it has some okay tracks, to some soundtracks where it feels like it's about to pick up... it just simply fades there.”
- graphics36 mentions
- 56 % positive mentions
- 36 % neutral mentions
- 8 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game receive mixed reviews, with many praising the unique art style and beautiful visuals, particularly the character design and vibrant effects. However, some players find the overall graphical quality inconsistent, describing it as simple or even disappointing for the price. While the artwork is often highlighted as a strong point, the execution of the graphics can be polarizing, with some users noting that the photogenic visuals detract from the studio's charm.
“A rather slow-paced but still enjoyable action RPG with wonderful character design, art, and graphics.”
“This game has some stunning visuals, gorgeous music, and a creative story that will most probably have you in tears at some points.”
“The battle animations were superb, whilst in the dungeon I was subjected to all sorts of eye-popping colors and visuals, and it was amazing!”
“The photogenic visuals they've adopted completely wash out this studio's graphical style and charm.”
“Visuals can seriously hurt your eyes.”
“The graphics, at first, might look bad; I mean, we are having portable console graphics?”
- grinding17 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be tedious and repetitive, often requiring them to engage in prolonged battles against the same enemies to level up their daemons and acquire necessary resources. While some enjoy the variety of playstyles among the daemons, the overall experience is marred by a lack of pacing and diversity, leading to a sense of boredom as they grind through the same content. The game’s progression feels slow, with many players noting that grinding is essential to fully enjoy the gameplay and story.
“The best way to effectively defeat enemies quickly is to stagger them, but to stagger them you have to hit a certain threshold of damage which can only be obtained by grinding until you are over-leveled.”
“Sure, you can level them up, but the lack of variety in enemies means you're just going to be grinding the same enemies forever, and it gets boring, fast.”
“We unlock 10 daemons as we progress through the game, but realistically we will only really be able to play with 3 of them as it is super grindy on how they level up.”
- emotional9 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The emotional aspect of the game receives mixed reviews, with some players praising its deep and compelling story, while others criticize the lack of character investment and insufficient emotional buildup. Although the game features emotional cut scenes and events, many feel that the pacing is too fast to foster genuine connections, leading to a disconnect during key moments. Overall, while there are instances of emotional resonance, technical issues and narrative execution hinder the intended impact.
“Very emotional game with a unique art style and combat system.”
“Awesome game, deep emotional story.”
“The story is compelling, original, and quite emotional.”
- stability2 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
Overall, the game's stability is mixed; while some players report a lack of glitches or bugs, others experience issues with unresponsive input commands, particularly for critical mechanics like crossing between planes, indicating a need for improvement in responsiveness and reliability.
“On top of that, it fails to register inputs for certain commands during the game, such as a command that lets you 'cross' between two planes, which should be pretty responsive, but it isn't; it is a buggy, unreliable mechanic.”
- atmosphere1 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The atmosphere is highly praised for its immersive quality, complemented by smooth gameplay and an excellent musical score that enhances the overall experience.
“Great atmosphere, smooth gameplay, great music.”
- character development1 mentions
- 300 % positive mentions
- -200 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The game features slow-paced yet enjoyable character development, complemented by impressive character design, art, and graphics that enhance the overall experience.
“The character development is rich and immersive, allowing players to truly connect with each character's journey.”
“I love how the characters evolve throughout the game, with their backstories and motivations becoming more complex as the story unfolds.”
“The depth of character customization and growth makes every decision feel impactful and meaningful.”
- replayability1 mentions
- 300 % positive mentions
- -500 % neutral mentions
- 300 % negative mentions
The reviews indicate that the game's replayability is limited, with many players feeling that once the main content is completed, there is little incentive to return. Some users appreciate the potential for different playstyles or choices, but overall, the consensus suggests that the game may not offer enough variety to encourage multiple playthroughs.
“The game offers a multitude of choices that significantly alter the storyline, making each playthrough feel fresh and exciting.”
“With various character builds and strategies to explore, I find myself coming back to this game time and again.”
“The dynamic world and random events ensure that no two playthroughs are ever the same, keeping the experience engaging.”
“Once you complete the game, there's little incentive to play through it again. The lack of meaningful choices makes replayability almost non-existent.”
“The game feels like a one-and-done experience. After finishing the story, I found no reason to revisit it.”
“While the game is enjoyable, the limited variety in gameplay and outcomes means I won't be coming back for a second playthrough.”
Critic Reviews
Oninaki Review
Oninaki is a welcomed trip down memory lane to the glory days of Chrono Trigger, fully capturing the nostalgia of the time. However, like Tokyo RPG Factory's previous creations, while there's a lot to enjoy here, the flaws cannot be ignored. There is a fascinating premise, and a robust story, but it takes far too long to really get going, and the side-quests are wasted. Also, the scope feels too small. When it comes to the combat, the wide range of Daemons keeps things fresh, changing up the experience enough to keep interest higher but, at its core, the combat is just... fine. There's nothing special - same with the RPG elements that add little extra depth to the whole thing.
70%Oninaki Review
Oninaki proves that Tokyo RPG Factory is not simply built on nostalgia and definitely has the chops to make a captivating modern RPG.
80%Oninaki Review
There’s a clear maturation in the work of Tokyo RPG Factory from game to game, as it sticks closely to its traditional ideals while slowly widening the scope of its ambitions. Bearing this in mind, Oninaki is certainly the biggest and most innovative release from the studio yet, but we wouldn’t exactly call it the best. Though the premise is certainly interesting, we felt let down by the story in this one, and the combat is less generally enjoyable than the turn-based affairs that came before. That being said, we also loved the depth offered by the Daemon system, both in terms of what it offers in character progression and combat variety, and the art style of the dark world is truly something to behold. We’d give Oninaki a recommendation to anybody who loves RPGs; although it isn’t the best, this is another solid showing from Tokyo RPG Factory.
70%
