So I came back from college (insert Hero reference here) and we had a big discussion about connections: Stuff like how they're necessary for day-to-day life, how advertising and social media has watered them down, creating problems and selling solutions, etc. And my Omori-pilled ass brain (I played in late 2024 and it still shows up) decided to connect this to the game, and it kind of reframed the way I look at it and how it's discussed.
In Omori, connection is healing. It's the main driving force that sets Sunny down the route to telling the truth and moving on. Connection is what heals the friend group as a whole; it's what mends Aubery's relationship with everyone and mends her resentment, it's what makes Kel and Hero realize that their avoidance has done more harm than good, and it's the reason that Sunny goes outside in the first place.
It's not just the friend group either, connection is embedded in faraway town. It's a place where everyone knows eachother, and everyone can help eachother. You can help a random man fix a pipe just because. You can see bits of history from families with their own lives adjacent to the main characters. And it doesn't go to waste either; if the flowers in the hospital are any indication.
Even deep in Sunny's self-isolation, the thing he values most, and fears losing, is connection. He can't just sit in White Space forever, as the negative thoughts and reminders will eventually come back to him. He creates headspace, with all these different versions of people he knows because even the illusion of connection is preferable to him than nothing at all. And yet, he doesn't interact with the real world, because he feels he doesn't deserve it and fears what will happen when that connection is lost (when they find out the truth). This is precisely what happens towards the end; when Sunny confronts himself. Because it's not simply the idea that he won't be forgiven that terrifies him; it's the erasure of his lifelong connections ("The person they love isn't you at all"), and what's left of his own grasp on the real world. It's the fear that everything, from his childhood to the past 3 days doesn't matter and never did, because the person that was all for doesn't exist anymore. And without that, he would have no reason to interact with the world. Is that a bit too dark? I don't know. But it says a lot that he tells the truth when he does remember and does value those memories and connections, emboldened by the townsfolk he helped along the way.
I want to bring this up because I've noticed a trend where this theme, among many others, get lost in the discussion sauce in favor of the final twist, with all the questions that come with that (Could Sunny and Basil be forgiven? Do they deserve to move on?) And I get it, that's not something one can just shake. But centering the twist imo misses so many other aspects of the story and imo, makes the ending feel even more edgy than it was likely intended to be and, frankly a bit self-defeating. It paints Sunny's self-isolation (and really most of the friend group's isolation) as at best neutral, and at worst deserved, which I don't think was the point at all.
I find that part of the story to be a lot more meaningful if you look at it as a conclusion to the messaging that's been there all along; Excessive self-isolation is more harmful than good, and you are allowed to move on and be loved even after you've done horrible things. Otherwise, the twist kind of feels like throwing all of that in the garbage can by making Sunny and Basil the "1%" who supposedly don't deserve those things. And sure, you can argue the nature of the twist supports that idea (covering up a manslaughter isn't exactly the most forgivable crime), but I prefer to look at the horror as the point; an extreme to prove the rule. Because if Sunny can move on from that and still live a normal life, why can't we? Regardless of the intention of Omocat or anyone reading the game, I don't consider the more cynical view a healthy mindset to view the story through, especially for those who deeply relate to the characters inside.
I don't know. I feel like there's this disconnect in the fandom between people who view connections as genuinely healing and necessary for life and people who view them as simply a privilege for those who "deserve" it, but maybe that's just me projecting.
I guess I want to give this message, putting aside the boundaries of the game for a moment; are the thoughts and conclusions we're having positively impacting us? Are they helping us understand the world better and become better people? Or are they validating negative behaviors we're more comfortable with?