Nintendo Switch is quickly becoming a little portable haven for RPG fans. If you liked Lost Sphear and I Am Setsuna, you’re definitely going to dig Oninaki.
Yesterday, the long-awaited first Nintendo Direct of 2019 hit. There was nary a peep from Animal Crossing, Luigi’s Mansion 3 or the much-rumoured Metroid Prime trilogy remaster, but there were certainly some choice reveals to keep fans happy.
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, the biggest Switch title of the moment, only made a quick and mysterious showing. We were promised a big version 3.0 update in the Spring but were told nothing of what it would actually entail. We didn’t hear anything of the rest of the DLC fighters, either, beyond the fact that Joker is dropping before the end of April.
Elsewhere, that adorable Link’s Awakening remake at the end really stole the show. Then there were lots of port releases to announce. Final Fantasy VII is on the way in just over a month’s time, while Final Fantasy IX is available on the eShop right now. If you’ve played the heck out of both of those, though, maybe you’re in the market for a brand-new and intriguing RPG instead. If that’s the case, feast your eyes on Oninaki.
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As the Direct explained, Oninaki’s is a world built upon the tenets of reincarnation. To abide by this code, the people are forbidden to mourn the loss of friends and loved ones. Lost souls do not reincarnate, becoming beasts instead, and it’s up to our hero Kagachi, a Watcher, to save them.
To do so, the player travels between the Living World and The Beyond (a similar mechanic to The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past’s Light and Dark worlds), to meet some of these poor people (the Lost) and save them from their fate. Those who can’t be saved? Well, naturally, that’s when it’s monster battling time.
When the great slathering beasts approach, the Souls you have retrieved will bestow a range of different powers upon you. The trailer below only shows a snapshot of these powers (they take the form of different weapons, like a bow, axe and sword), but hopefully there’s a lot to experiment with and customise here.
Not to mention incentive to do the whole ‘hero’ thing and rescue as many lost souls as possible, of course. Whatever the case, Oninaki promises a deep and engaging campaign when it launches this Summer.