Otherworld: Omens of Summer is a hidden-object game that places you in the role of a nameless protagonist who is trying to save a little girl, Fiona, from the clutches of an evil fairy called “The Shade.” Omens of Summer is actually the second part in a series, and sees you trying to find the girl’s former teacher, Ms. Thomas, who has information that can stop The Shade once and for all.
That’s just the beginning of the story, however. After finding Ms. Thomas, you’ll be sent on a quest to retrieve three artifacts from the elder fae who guard them. With those in hand, you’ll be in a position to face down The Shade in a final battle.
Omens of Summer sticks to the usual tropes of the genre. That means you’ll be playing through lock-and-key puzzles, subgames, and hidden-object sequences. The game does make some effort to stand out, though. The art is displayed at 1280×768, which is a step up from the 1024×768 that is the norm of the genre. A Hardcore difficulty is available, which disables hints, subgame skipping, and other assistive features. In addition, there’s none of the repetition of the same hidden-object sequence multiple times, that other HOGs use to pad out length.
The environments are surprisingly varied. Most HOGs generally take place in an abandoned town or house, so you see a lot of run-down Victorian buildings and very little else. But, in Omens of Summer, you’ll travel from a haunted forest to the seaside to the top of a mountain, which mixes things up nicely. The fairy-tale nature of the game was appealing as well, and reminded me a lot of the Drawn series, which are the very best HOGs you can play.
The Collector’s Edition has the usual array of stuff. In addition to the bonus chapter, you’ll get wallpapers, access to the soundtrack, concept art, and an in-game strategy guide. If it weren’t for the strength of the bonus chapter, I’d say that the Collector’s Edition wasn’t worth the money for three reasons. One: the concept art and wallpapers are uninteresting. Two: you can only listen to the soundtrack while in the music gallery; there are no MP3s for you to enjoy outside the game. Three: The game is so easy that the strategy guide is unnecessary. Playing on Hardcore mode won’t help that last one because it only disables your ability to access the game’s built-in help systems. The game doesn’t actually get any more difficult and I didn’t need help at all while I played.
Fortunately, the bonus chapter is very good, and is both worth playing… and paying for. It takes place in a brand new environment, and features a story that bridges Omens of Summer with its eventual sequel. Most HOGs generally re-use the main story’s assets for their bonus chapters, so this is a welcome change.
There are some downsides to Omens of Summer, however. The final couple of puzzles pit you against an entity that actively works against you by undoing your progress every few seconds. It’s not hard to beat him, but the extra work required is annoying and feels like a tacked-on addition to provide difficulty for the sake of difficulty. Interacting with other characters was unpleasant as well. When people speak to you, their mouths open and close ever so slightly in puppet-like fashion, and they don’t emote or change pose while they talk. It was very distracting until I learned to expect and ignore it. The rest of the production values were quite good, with nicely painted art and voiceovers.
Is It Worth Your Money?
Otherworld: Omens of Summer Collector’s Edition costs $20. While it doesn’t really break a whole lot of new ground for hidden-object games, it’s still very well built. The story is strong and the worlds you travel to are interesting to explore. Additionally, the bonus chapter is good enough to justify the added expense over the standard edition. I’ll admit the price is high compared to indie adventure games, but it’s worth the money nonetheless.
