Plukh

The most important thing you have to understand about Omno is that it's not really a game - not a "walking simulator", not a "puzzle platformer", nothing like that at all. Instead, it is an amazing creative work - a unique, immersive, interactive audio-visual experience. Yes, it's short (I finished it in about 4 hours). Yes, the puzzles are mostly too simple and too straightforward. Yes, there are minor lapses in story and world consistency. Those would all be serious problems for a game, but they don't really affect Omno - rather, they add to its already unique and mysterious atmosphere. Treat it like a work of art that it is, and you'll find yourself enjoying every minute of it, like you do with a good movie or an interesting book. Treat it like yet another indie "platformer with a story", and you'll be disappointed.

This could've been a great game. Unfortunately, it falls far short from greatness, and barely reaches mediocrity. First of all, it uses the same in-house engine that Cognition was using, and it's horrific. Animations are terrible, facial expressions are terrible, clipping is terrible, interaction with backgrounds is terrible - everything about this engine is terrible. There is just no excuse in this day and age to use something that bad to present your game. Second, the writing is, well... uninspired, to say the least. I can't say if Jane Jensen had really lost her magic, if it had something to do with strains of producing a completely new game on a tight budget, or perhaps some personal issues - but the end result is a barely coherent story with underdeveloped and (mostly) instantly forgettable characters. If you're a die-hard Jane Jensen fan - by all means, do check this game out. But, in all honesty, everyone else would be better off getting (or replaying) any of the Gabriel Knight games instead.

Just like other users, I simply can't get so-called "professional" reviewers' score. The game is beautiful, it's easily one of the top adventure games visually. The way characters are blended with backgrounds, the way they're animated and interact with each other and the world around them is incredible. Writing is fine (even if a little bit different in style from the first two games), the puzzles are a little bit on the simple side (I hadn't had to use a hint system once for the first 50% of the game) something that could be improved upon. Overall flow of the game is excellent, the characters are fun and believable, the mood is "just right" for the Broken Sword game. Technically, it runs well so far I hadn't had any glitches or crashes at all and, of course, with it being an adventure game, you don't need a powerful machine to run it, which is a rare thing nowadays. All in all, this is an absolute must-have for all adventure games fans.

It's obvious that PO Studios had learned a lot from the first three episodes Episode 4 is by far the most polished, most cohesive story-wise and with the best pacing between all four episodes. Unfortunately, it's also the shortest (took me around 4 hours from start to finish, without accessing any hints). It also feels less like an adventure and more like that "interactive movie" game, where you're mostly watching cinematics, but occasionally have to solve a puzzle or two. Still, it's a very nice conclusion to the, overall, great adventure series. P.S. Raleigh Holmes absolutely should do more voice work.