You ever get the feeling... that you've done this before?

Am I in a time-loop of playing games that are, themselves, time-loops? Maybe. But Omensight isn't another Deathloop or Katana Zero or Outer Wilds so much as it's another Stories: The Path of Destinies.

(It's from the same developer, so, makes sense.)

Just like Stories, this is a hybrid of button-mashy combat and choose-your-own-adventure-style branching paths; here, the trick is that some information you learn - the titular "omen sights" - can be shared with NPCs in the next loop, causing them to make different choices and reveal even more clues.

With well-written hints at every beat, suggesting your next steps without giving them away, and with merciful time skips when you've already seen some events, Omensight's mystery-adventure storytelling is a pretty great iteration on Stories. And the plot that you gradually uncover is ... fine, given that its original ending is unsatisfying as hell and a "good" ending had to be patched in later.

The combat is improved too, though still fairly imperfect. Well-timed dodges slow everything down, helping you set up counterattacks; and diverse enemy tactics keep fights from becoming too repetitive. But shoddy auto-targeting, lengthy recoveries from interrupts, and a few particularly annoying enemies (like dudes with shields who can also teleport away) can make some encounters fairly frustrating.

It's still fun most of the time, though. And even when it isn't, combat is kinda just punctuation between story events.

At the end of the day, Omensight is a better version of Spearhead's previous time-looping adventure, and I don't think I'd be disappointed if they keep on making them.

Better than: Stories: The Path of Destinies
Not as good as: The Sexy Brutale
It's funny: I hate dying-and-retrying in a game, but these time loop narratives do the same thing and I love it.