Part 56: Neverending Playground

UPDATE 56: Neverending Playground















GAH! What the hell, Something? Are you just going to follow us around forever now?





Something can't be interacted with, they're basically just wall decoration. Y'know, if the walls were decorated with reminders of the murders you committed.





Hey Sunny, it's Mommy. Tomorrow is the big day! The movers will be here first thing tomorrow morning. I gave them the keys so don't freak out if you see them. Remember to finish organizing your things today. I'll be picking you up in my car out front. Just come outside when you're ready. Okay, that's it for now! Mommy loves you!


Same Mom message as before. For an Earthbound-like, there's very little interaction with our Mom.





Oh... Something will always appear in every room now. They're always at the door we come in the room at. It's uh... a bit discomforting how you just get used to it.





Like this, just gotta make our way through the simple image of our dead sister peering at us on our way to brush our teeth.





While we're in here... let's take another look at Sunny in the mirror now that we're officially locked into to the Hikkomori route.





Oh, hey Omori. What's up? Sunny's flirtation with a fugue state has gone overboard and he now sees himself as Omori. Based on what Stranger and Coral Branch said, Sunny has gone through this cycle at least 4 times now, and has rejected the truth all four times. Though rejecting it now, on his final chance to truly accept it and change... Sunny's mind has had to go to extreme lengths to continue to live safely in denial. Right up to erasing his own identity as Sunny. All the jumpscares this mirror produces and this is the one that actually makes me feel the most disturbed. Also, unlike all the other jumpscares, this one doesn't disappear whenever you check the mirror again. This is what you see in the mirror for the rest of the day.





Hmm... the picture that fell last night is back on the wall. Clearly no one else is here, so it must have been another hallucination.





Now then, it's the final day before Omori moves. We should go ahead and do our last chore and pack our stuff up.





Four boxes appear, the small box next to Omori is for toys, the small box in the middle is for books, the small box on the right side is for trash, and the big box next to the phone is where we get the items to sort. It's basically the hardware store job, except doing this job utterly depresses me. Just like actually moving!





Granted, the real reason I'm depressed is finding out just how childlike Omori's world truly is...





Humphrey, one of the three guardians of Omori's world. Large enough to be a dungeon and major figure in his Headspace. Is just a character from a children's book.





We already figured this one out when we left the house and went to Hobbeez, but if Hikkomori was your first route - this is when you'd find this out. I wonder how you'd feel if this was the first route for you at this point.







The toys we saw in the dream clubhouse...





Clearly trash. What would Omori need with something like this? Why was he even saving it to begin with? Someone named... Mel liked it I think. I'm not sure.







Yes.





Ah, and there we go! Sweetheart is another toy Omori turned into a major character in Headspace. The degree of her insanity, was mostly due to Omori's need to distract himself from reality. At least, I hope there wasn't a kid's IP based on Sweetheart. Even as a villain she's a bit too much.















How many times did you read that book that you based a whole location based off it?







Not sure what you're referring to game, that plush belongs in the trash.





It took Omori the whole day to sort through like 10 items. Taking half a day to wash dishes is pretty bad, but taking a whole day to move an item from one box to another is... pretty bad.




Playing Forever







...Uh oh.









What else would we do? There's nothing to do around this house except sleep and... dream. Anything to make the eyes go away.







Save













































WHITE SPACE





If there's anything the Omori route really nails is how comforting it feels to become Omori. All the gameplay in real life is boring, there's jumpscares and creepy imagery, there's an unsettling atmosphere - even if you don't know the truth. None of that here - in White Space.





Unlike previously, there's nothing leaking into White Space. No jumpscares or scary moments. White Space is locked the hell down. Hell, as the game goes along in the Sunny route the White Space theme turns into a soft piano piece. Unlike this route where it stays an 8 bit tune forever. It's the small things.





Speaking of locked down, there's a red hand blocking the way out of White Space.





That's right, there's more abilities for Omori to learn! Red Hands are really really good! This is basically Omori's ultimate ability and will deal major damage to one opponent four times! I'm going to be using this as much as possible, juice permitting.







Hmm... that's new. That looks like the piano in the Lost Library. We'll need to remember to check and see if we can go back there. We couldn't go back before, because Omori the Sprout Moles repair the stage.





Let's take a quick trip back to reality since we haven't explored the real world on the final night yet.









Hmm... nothing out of the ordinary here.





That picture... is on the ground again. A little creepy, but not the worst thing.







... Okay yeah, that's the worst thing. We've found it. Thanks Omori. Sadly, that's it for jumpscares. This is mostly because we didn't open the door for Mari on Night 0. The amount of scares opening that door produces is insane. And it makes perfect sense. There's actually a cut content scene where Hell-Mari would appear in place of Kel on day 2, only for Sunny to blink and reappear back in his room while Kel knocks at the door. It was probably cut for overusing her, but it would have been very effective at making even more people go down the Hikkomori route.







One of my 'favorite' scares in the game, is that Hell Mari will appear here on Night 3 if you opened the door for her. The feeling of being a kid and throwing the covers over my head to prevent the monsters from getting to me was a feeling I'm not sure a game could make me feel again.







Now then, let's go ahead and skip past White Space and head straight into Headspace.




LOST AT A SLEEPOVER

















Don't give me that, Hero! You only say that 'cause you were losing.

...




Hmm... so that's familiar. That's the exact same setup as when we first walk out the door in Update 1, the dialogues the same and everything. Only difference is Aubrey doesn't need us to find her toy - you can see the already squashed melon in the corner. Anyway, we can't proceed until we gather our party so let's talk to Hero and continue on.







Now you spit in your hand, too.

This is a brother's handshake. If you shake my hand now, then I'll dub you my honorary brother!


... Okay, this is new. And gross. We're gonna do this... because we are good friends with Kel... well, the dream one anyway.







Hooray! We're now Kel's brother! And Hero's honorary brother. If only there was some term for this, like a legal brother or something.





Aubrey also has something new to say compared to the first time we talked to her.





Hero, remains the same though. And is who we need to talk to in order to leave here.







Wow! 6000 clams! We really really...





Did not need it. Though it does make us have a nice amount of clams. So yeah, I'm going into this route at max level. It's going to make some fights a little too easy, but I wanted to just be able to get through random encounters easily... also, I guess now is the best time to mention - this entire route was nearly 100% blind for me! I knew of a couple big things, some new bosses, a new area, but for the most part I didn't know what to expect from this route. I did keep to a generalized spoiler free guide on where to go and when to try and make sure I do get to show off all the content for the LP, however.









BY YOUR SIDE





KEL'S BEING MEAN TO ME AGAIN!!!

Oh, no! Not again... How could he?

Pshh, I'm not being mean! Aubrey's just being all whiny.

Well, Kel! You've just made a very convincing point. Now I don't know who to believe!

BELIEVE ME!!

NO, BELIEVE ME!!

Sigh... Settle down, you two... _{Why does it always have to be like this?}

Chin up, Hero! Look at you, being all responsible.

I really like that about you... hehe...

Come on, Mari! Not now...

Oh Hero, you know I'm just teasing. You're so cute when you get all flustered!

...


This is all exactly the same as before, weirdly enough. It skips a conversation or two here though.





Ah, okay... but its nothing amazing.

Oh Basil! Stop doubting yourself! I'm sure they'll be great.

You're right, Aubrey. Sorry... I'll try to believe in myself more.







We've seen these before, but it's been quite a while since we've seen the dream photos. Plus there's... a new one at the end. May as well go through them all again.




























































The last one just... disturbs me in a way I cannot adequately explain. It feels... uncanny. I just do not like it.


These photos are all so charming, Basil. You really know how to capture the moment!

Thanks... I didn't take all of them though. Mari likes to steal my camera sometimes.

Only sometimes!





Before I met you all, I only knew what it was like to be alone.

But you've all taught me so much... how to care for others and how to care for myself too!

Awww... Basil! You're so sweet. We all feel the same way about you!

Yeah, we'd do anything for each other!

No matter what happens, we've got each other's backs!

Uh-oh... I'm feeling a group hug coming.

You know what, Hero? You're right. I think I do too!

H-Huh? A group hug? Right now?

I'll start!

Hey! Don't leave me and Mari out of this!

Hey, you too Omori!

Get in close, everyone!







It's okay... We don't always need a picture.

It's not just about the memories... It's about us! I know that we'll all be friends for a really long time.

We'll always be together... like one big, happy family.

Aww... You guys really are the best.

I'll cherish you all forever.





This is such a cute and endearing moment


OH MY GOD ITS NOT REAL PLEASE SNAP OUT OF IT SUNNY





There's nothing pressing right now, but doesn't that feel good? Go on and do whatever you want! The world is your oyster.

Whenever you need me, I'll be here.


Mari is right. Welcome to the true endgame. The story for Omori is, for all intents and purposes, complete. There are some new things to learn about Headspace, and some storylines that had some hanging threads we're going to go tie up. But in terms of the main plot dealing with the real world? We're at the end of the line. This may disappoint some people, but I love it. Omori did nothing but stay in his house and have dreams, what story is there to wring out of that? He didn't grow, his character is in the exact same state, if not in a worse state, than when we first saw him. The only thing left is to eventually, go back to reality and go to the final day and experience one of two endings. We'll be putting that off for quite a while, however.









Basil does give us a Flower Crown, which is going right on Omori. The Flower Crown raises HP by 100 and juice by 25, it's an amazing item. Basil will also offer to show us the photo album again every time we talk to him from here on out. So as to not end on a downer, let's have our first picnic with the full group.





It's so nice to all sit and relax together like this!

Mari! Basil! Why don't you ever tag along with us?

Oh, you know I'd love to... but I have to take it easy. I have a bad knee, remember?

OH yeah... Do you think it'll ever heal, Mari?

No I'm afraid not... But that's okay! I can still help you by setting up picnics!

Don't you worry about me... I'll always do what I can!

And it's not at all bad anyway, since Basil is always here to keep me company.





You do? What do you guys talk about?

Everything, really! Sometimes, we even talk about you guys!

Yeah! We talk about how cool and composed Omori is all the time... Or about how Aubrey is so caring about everything...

Or about how nice it would be to be as carefree as Kel... Or about how the time Hero fell asleep and a bird thought his hair was a nest...

W-Wait... What was that last part again?

Oh, nothing!


The Coral Branch told us that Mari is kept confined to her picnic blankets to keep her safe here in Headspace... but it works the same for keeping Omori safe. If Mari were to wander around on adventures with us... Well, that could potentially open a wound that Omori isn't expecting. The same way that Basil did originally way way back at the beginning of the game. That's why he's confined there now too. You can't have unpleasant memories appear if they stay in the safe zone... sorta like White Space.

Next time, we retrace our steps in Headspace... to resolve any last loose ends in Omori's dreams.