Omori's and Whisper of a Rose's Similarities

Yeah, so, major spoilers for both Omori and Whisper of a Rose.  Like...don’t read this if you’re not fully familiar with whichever game(s) you have any intention to play in the future.



So, like...has anyone else noticed that Omori is uncannily similar to Whisper of a Rose?

The answer to that question seems to be no.  Which is surprising, considering that Omori has gotten an Undertale-esque level of attention, adulation, and intellectual interest since its debut 2 years ago (an earned response, I should note).  You wouldn’t think some random ass internet yutz like me would be able to notice something interesting that no one else has recognized about such a widely beloved and scrutinized title, so long after its release.  But it’s also not surprising at the same time, because Whisper of a Rose is a pretty damned obscure indie RPG whose lasting impact on its player base could be considered tepid at best, when it’s not simply outright forgotten (and frankly, that’s not exactly an unearned response, either).  For me, however, all RPGs entrap themselves within my mind in cages of relevance, so, as long as my memory still functions in any capacity, even obscure and frankly unremarkable titles stay fresh enough in my consciousness that they’re on hand and ready for purposes of comparison.

And that’s why I’m in, as far as I’ve discovered in my searches online, the unique position of realizing that Omori is not the first RPG I’ve played which does all of the following:


- Showcases an adventure that takes place within a colorful and varied dream world.
- Intimately connects the characters and purpose of said dream world with the protagonist’s past emotional trauma.
- Incorporates significant counterparts of a number of the signature elements, items, and individuals of real-world childhood into the dream realm.
- Creates a plot-essential dichotomy between this dream world and the real world.
- Thematically features phobias as enemies or obstacles to be overcome.
- Involves a final battle against an unemotional entity of the dream world who aims to manifest himself in the real world.
- Tells a story about the necessity of confronting the source(s) of one’s trauma and pain.
- Contains an ending in which the protagonist has jumped off a skyscraper, and the credits roll as we watch them falling to their death.


I mean how does that last one happen twice?  Granted it’s at least not the 1 and only ending for Omori, but still.

So now, having established this bizarre level of similarity between Whisper of a Rose and Omori, I have reached the part of the rant where I usually would reveal that I had some sort of point for bringing this up.  Except...I’m kinda at a loss as to what to do with this information.

I mean, I’m not drawing these comparisons because I think Omori plagiarized Whisper of a Rose.  I genuinely think these parallels are coincidence--nothing about Omori’s actual approach to these similarities feels like that of Whisper of a Rose, I haven’t seen any indication that Omocat has ever mentioned the game as an influence or even ever played it before, and as I noted above, WoaR is so exceptionally obscure even by indie title standards that it doesn’t seem like anyone before me has noticed the resemblance.  Omori’s definitely a work quite proud to have been influenced by others that came before it,* but I would honestly be surprised to discover that Whisper of a Rose was 1 of them.

I guess I could go into a whole big, extensive rant about why it is that Omori succeeds so effectively while Whisper of a Rose never seems to bring it home on any of its points, but...I don’t wanna?  I mean, most of what that rant’s gonna come down to is just Omori having better writing, more varied and layered storytelling methods (which is really just “better writing” again), a more genuine and varied set of personalities and means for speaking in those personalities’ voices (which again really just falls under the “better writing” category), and a stronger purpose in communicating with its audience (“better writing” yet again).  If you ARE familiar with both games, nothing I’d say would be news to you; I’d only be noting the obvious.  And if you’re only familiar with 1 of them, odds are that such a rant would only be shitting on some game you don’t know anyway, so who cares?

Besides, while I don’t shy away from criticizing it, and while I don’t like it, I still do respect Whisper of a Rose for trying to do something meaningful and cerebral.  It doesn’t deserve to be dragged out into the spotlight to have its every failing re-examined just so I can hype up another game that’s already received its critical due anyway.  Hell, WoaR probably didn’t fully deserve it the last time I got my licks in on it.

So yeah, I guess that means that we’re kinda at the end of today’s rant.  I just thought it was interesting that I’ve played 2 unrelated Indie RPGs that shared so many significant and signature elements and directives, and wanted to say so.  Make of it what you will!  Don’t worry, I’m sure I’ll be back to form with another 6+ page analytical treatise on something tiny that doesn’t matter in the slightest all too soon.















* Is it just me, or are all the best Mother-styled games not actually part of the Mother series?