For as long as I can remember, I have been playing games. Despite having 13 years of games played across consoles and PC, I genuinely cannot remember my "favorite" game. Everytime I am asked that, it actually takes me a minute or two to come up with an answer that I really do not care for. Sure, I have played an endless amount of good, engaging games across all genres, but the truth is that I've never really had a all-time favorite game. A game that I could truly stand by with all my passion. No game has ever really affected me deeply enough on a emotional and entertaining level to make me say "This is truly a masterpiece, and I am glad that I got to play it." There has only always been good, bad, or mediocre.

I was gifted OMORI as a Christmas present from a good friend, and being a fan of Lisa and UNDERTALE while being unaware of what this game was, I was sure that this game would just be in the " good" category. But I was dead wrong. Off from the first two hours, I knew that something about this game was special just from the music and the amazingly drawn art style, and when I thought I knew I was going to happen or how something was going to play out, I was only a victim of constant surprisal and fear. When I thought the game would hit a peak, it only kept showing me that there was more of the mountain to hike, that each time my expectations were broken and I set new ones, they were only continuously destroyed again and again. For the 36 hours I played of this game I was emotionally invested for ALL of it, which is something I cannot say about most games that come out nowadays. You really get invested into the protagonist's situation, and you start feeling for the characters that are with you on this journey the more you understand them, while the constant repression of fear and the dread of what is going to come next is in the back of your mind until the game prompts you to start being afraid. A masterful craft and use of psychological horror.

The last time I have truly felt something, let alone emotions formed and fueled by a video game other than small entertainment with or without friends is utterly beyond me. I do not remember if I ever have even. Maybe it is because I have been dealing with depression, anxiety, and a history of suicidal thoughts/attempts when I was younger from cancer, and it still lingers on today. Maybe it is the themes of the game itself relating to my childhood. But a game that has had this much of an effect on me, and has maybe even changed my views on somethings, is definitely worthy of being called a masterpiece.

I would wholeheartedly recommend this game to other players.