Omega 6: The Triangle Stars review: Rock, paper, scissors, fruit!

by

The anime “Omega 6: The Triangle Stars” is derived from a manga by Takaya Imamura, an esteemed artist who spent over three decades at Nintendo. If his name doesn’t ring a bell, you may recognize his style from games such as F-Zero, Star Fox, or The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask. Indeed, he held positions like art director at Nintendo, and the impact he made will undoubtedly persist for a long time. Notably, he is the genius behind Captain Falcon and Tingle – a claim few others can make!

Nintendo is written all over this thing

Omega 6 is as offbeat as they come. It’s like an interactive story set in a vast sci-fi universe, jam-packed with quirky characters that would make even the most eccentric Star Wars alien seem normal. Each encounter with a new character is a treat, from their retro, 90s-inspired pixel art to their outlandish designs featuring exaggerated eyes, whimsical expressions, and a disregard for color-matching. The music, composed by Shinobu Amayake, has the feel of an old Nintendo cartridge, fitting since she’s known for scoring games like Wario’s Woods.

The combat kind of makes me want to jump out of a moving Arwing, though.

From here on out, let’s take a step back and rewind the tale. It’s becoming eerily reminiscent of those far-fetched conspiracy theories that our elders might stumble upon in their social media scrolling these days. With science pushing human lifespans to multiple centuries, it’s causing quite a predicament for Earth – a scarcity of young people affecting both the population and labor economy. In an attempt to rectify this, aliens of all sorts are welcomed en masse, yet concerns start to rise about our own dominance being threatened. Steering clear from any unsettling Great Replacement notions, however, the narrative takes a turn when Omega 6 unveils a duo of superpowered androids, Thunder and Kyla. Their mission? Journey across the cosmos in search of a habitable planet. Intriguingly, during their voyage, a band of rogue space travelers (I chuckle at the thought) introduce them to a planet that’s calling for treasure hunters – a more enticing proposition than planet-hunting, if you ask me!

Rock, paper, scissors, shoot me

Experiencing Omega 6 is reminiscent of old-school SCUMM adventures such as Monkey Island or the original Sam and Max. It’s all about observing, using items, inspecting, talking, moving – essentially choosing an action from a menu. The narrative is primarily a sequence of tasks where you encounter obstacles, guide the androids to find the next clue, locate the right item, or solve puzzles. Sadly, there’s a lot of combat in it, which might have left me with some unwanted memories, making me hesitant to ever again appreciate a friendly game of rock, paper, scissors. Just thinking about it gives me chills, I must admit.

In simpler terms, this game features a mechanic where you and your opponents take turns making selections from a rotating array of options. The objective is to outsmart the opposition by choosing wisely to inflict damage on them. You can modify your choices with items or uncover hidden ones, but it’s essential to consider probability as you monitor what moves your opponent has left before their choices are reshuffled. In many ways, it resembles Fate/Extra, a PSP role-playing game set in the Fate/Stay Night universe I used to love, except that it has significant, soul-crushing flaws.

1. The game’s combat is quite sluggish, offering enjoyable animations and color schemes, but the pace leaves much to be desired.

2. Furthermore, the damage balance in most battles, especially crucial ones for progressing the story, seems severely imbalanced. Often, I found myself landing numerous attacks while my opponent only needed a couple to knock me down. Even utilizing items to amplify damage or favoring my character’s preferred attack didn’t seem to make much of a difference. It felt like hitting a boss with a stick in Dark Souls and barely depleting their health bar. Then, I’d inevitably misjudge once and watch my HP plummet by nearly half.

Tree labor abuse

A significant aspect of the game is nurturing bonsai trees aboard the ship named Omega 6, from where you can acquire items other than shopping. I soon discovered that exploiting this feature was crucial for survival, and I spent a lot of time sifting through my inventory to squeeze fruits out of these trees as if it were a farm subsidized by the government in my bedroom. If these were eggs instead of fruits, I might have been violating intergalactic animal welfare laws. However, if I lacked the ability to harvest healing or desired move-providing fruits when needed, I would repeatedly encounter the game over screen. The most frustrating aspect? After losing a fight, you’re given the chance to try again, but any used items are still depleted. I unintentionally lost a tough, drawn-out battle due to clumsy button-pressing and felt like the unfortunate man who breaks cookies in the amusing Squid Game series. That wasn’t very sporting, Omega 6. I thought we were going to be friends.

Without the bothersome battles, I would have adored Omega 6: The Triangle Stars. It’s quirky, hilarious, and brimming with Nintendo-style charm, even though it’s not actually a Nintendo game. It seems like the creators of WarioWare, Inc. made an entire game instead of just a quick minigame. I appreciated delving into the world, meeting the eccentric characters, and solving puzzles to unravel the story. However, the relentless rock-paper-scissors gauntlet that was the worst I’ve ever encountered tarnished the whole experience for me. I thought combat would be a simple minigame I’d occasionally encounter, but it turned out to be a significant, unavoidable aspect of the gameplay. If Omega 6 were a pure visual novel, I would have loved it. It’s still intriguing, but now I only look forward to reading the manga when it gets an English release later this year and moving on.

On February 28, 2025, you’ll be able to play “Omega 6: The Triangle Stars” on your Nintendo Switch or PC. For this review, we were given a Nintendo Switch access code by the publisher.

Read More

2025-02-27 16:27