PROLOGUE, Part 1 - FOREST PLAYGROUND
WHITE SPACE
WHITE SPACE is almost as you left it, with one important distinction: The door is gone. Eep. Speak to MEWO several times and he'll tell you that there's always a way out. Check the sketchbook and you'll see a new picture at the end of the pages, as well.
Wander as much as you like, but there's no obvious way out of WHITE SPACE this time. How do you get out? The answer is simple, but grisly. Enter the menu and you'll see that there's an option to STAB at the top, in red letters. Choose STAB, then choose OMORI. Eesh.
SUNNY'S HOUSE
Once you regain control you'll apparently see a boy in his room. You can choose his name, though by default it's SUNNY. We'll stick with SUNNY for this guide. SUNNY will be in a very dark room (his bedroom) that you can navigate. Check the nearby answering machine that's beeping in the dark, then leave SUNNY's room to the south.
There's a bathroom next to SUNNY's room where you can check out his reflection, and there's a note from his mom on the mirror as well. (It reminds SUNNY to brush his teeth. Remember this for later.) Down the hall to the left is the mom's room, where you can find a picnic basket for saving. Out in the hallway you can find stairs leading to the ground floor, though SUNNY will refuse to go down them. Head back to bed.
When you wake up again the house will be a little brighter, and SUNNY will still be hungry. Go down the stairs, and... eventually...
SOMETHING
This battle is basically scripted. SUNNY is afflicted with AFRAID, and can only attack - and will miss every time. Wait until SUNNY learns CALM DOWN, then use it to end the fight.
After SOMETHING is driven off you'll be on the ground floor of the house. Grab the FIRST AID KIT to the left of the stairs, then go through the door in the south. You'll wind up in a sort of living room. There's another note from MOM beside the entrance to the room.
(Note that there are two doors SUNNY will not use. The first is to the right of the bottom of the staircase, the second is the sliding glass door in the living room. Interesting. There's also a wall to the left of the bottom of the staircase that you can inspect. Hmm.)
Go through the lower hallway first on the left side of the living room. You'll find a small room filled with more boxes. Check the small dresser beside the door in the north to find a BANDAGE. This door will take you into the kitchen. Grab the STEAK KNIFE off of the counter and open the fridge to receive a COLD STEAK. Place the COLD STEAK in the microwave to transform it into a MICROWAVED STEAK. Place it on the counter to eat it.
The food apparently doesn't agree with SUNNY. Go to the bathroom beside SUNNY's room and interact with the toilet to barf up the food. Head back into the hallway... and you'll hear a knock. You can either go back to bed immediately or go to the front door of the house (the southern door in the living room) and see who's there. Following through with the knock will earn you a creepy little scene, and you'll need to go to bed regardless.
WHITE SPACE
Welcome back! WHITE SPACE is pretty much as OMORI left it, though now you can access a game of HANGMAN via the laptop. The laptop provides a series of hints as to where you can find the letters of the alphabet, all of which are spread throughout the world of OMORI. You'll find them as you play through the game. If you are playing the SUNNY ROUTE you can find all but three of the keys; if you're playing the OMORI ROUTE you can find them all.
After checking the laptop something will appear in WHITE SPACE. Check the area around OMORI's little room to find a HEADSPACE MAP. (It appears randomly in WHITE SPACE, so you'll just have to search a bit.) The map outlines the various locations you can visit in HEADSPACE, of which WHITE SPACE is just a small part. Once you have the map you can go through the door.
OMORI's gang of friends are back in their usual hang-out spot, NEIGHBOR'S ROOM, though they're distressed by the disappearance of BASIL. Everyone parties up again. Head for the northeastern door and the snake on the stairs will give you 200 CLAMS as you leave.
Just south of the tree stump you'll find the letter A for HANGMAN. You can go north, east, and west, as before, though they're all still blocked. (And a bit creepier this time, as well.) Head south.
FOREST PLAYGROUND
Upon arrival MARI will greet the gang, also wondering what happened to BASIL. Everyone decides to head to BASIL's home and look for him. You can now speak to MARI and learn about your current quest, as well as any you've already completed. Have a snack and save at MARI's picnic blanket before you leave.
There are a few new things to look at around the FOREST PLAYGROUND before you move on:
- BOSS is now hiding behind the tree in the north of the playground. Beside him is a wanted sign for a creature - planet? - named PLUTO. You'll meet him soon enough.
- DAISY is hanging out on the left side of the playground, and she wants to give a FLOWER PUZZLE to someone she likes (NEB). Speaking to her triggers the side quest DAISY'S DILEMMA, which you can't solve in this area. Once you bring her a FLOWER PUZZLE she'll give you a, well, DAISY.
- There's a floating mirror in the middle of the playground. It doesn't do anything... yet. Still, the reflection is nice. You'll run into more of these mirrors as you explore HEADSPACE.
Leave the playground and head south two screens, to BASIL's various flower gardens. You'll notice that some of the flowers are dying without BASIL around to water them. You can use the watering cans near each of the flower gardens to rejuvenate his flowers. Watering the withered flowers will grant the character associated with that garden a permanent +1 HEART. Watering the flowers also extends one of the game's endings, so between that and the +1 to health it's worth doing whenever you come through this area.
South of the gardens is another picnic with MARI. Hang out via the cooler and you'll see a cut scene of the characters expressing their concern for their missing friend.
Continue to BASIL's house. He's not home, but something else - something you keep seeing - is, at least for a second. BASIL's house is about the same as before, though if you check the bookshelf in the corner you can get into a fight with a DUST BUNNY. In all likelihood it will blow itself up and end the battle almost immediately, so just tank the hit, restore yourself at MARI's picnic blanket, and enjoy the EXP.
Now that you've checked BASIL's house you can explore VAST FOREST a little more thoroughly. Head back to the road sign to the north of MARI and you can go either east or west. Both directions are connected, and will eventually loop back to the road sign if you walk far enough. We'll explore both, starting down the eastern path.
EASTERN VAST FOREST
This is the first area where you'll start running into enemies, and you can avoid them if you wish. Nothing here is terribly dangerous:
- LOST SPROUT MOLE - You've faced these guys already. They're pretty easy.
- FOREST BUNNY - Aside from normal attacks, they can make your characters SAD and lower your ATTACK stat. No big deal.
Despite the overall lack of menace, your characters are still going to take damage going through here, and HERO doesn't have enough JUICE to heal everyone. You may want to head to the MAILBOX at FOREST PLAYGROUND and buy some CANDY or APPLE JUICE, just in case.
Upon entering the area you'll see red tracks leading north. If you follow these all the way to the northeast you'll come to a tall ladder that the team won't climb, because OMORI is scared of heights. Ah well. There are still things to be seen in this section of the forest anyway:
- If you go northwest from the red prints as they start to go east you'll find JACKS sitting at the base of a big pinwheel. Just north of here is a small clearing with a tire swing. Important? Maybe.
- There's a bridge running through the forest that leads to the lower path. You'll find APPLE JUICE on the right side of the bridge.
- Go south from the bridge and take a left and you'll find a DANDELION. To the right is a CANDY, a conspicuous bone, and a clearing with a dog house. Petting the shadowy dog near the dog house will get you a CAN. You can recycle the CAN for CLAMS in a future area, one you'll be visiting soon.
If you follow the southern path through the forest that leads east you'll come to another screen, and beyond it is a misty boardwalk.
FOGGY BRIDGE
How straightforward. Walk along FOGGY BRIDGE and you'll find the letter B for HANGMAN. There's a northbound path that will bring you to a tangle of boardwalks, though you'll hit a dead end in the north. The letter R for HANGMAN is across the gap, though you can't reach it yet. Keep going east.
WESTERN VAST FOREST
Leaving FOGGY BRIDGE will bring you to the western half of VAST FOREST. Just north of the end of the bridge you'll find PLUM JUICE half-hidden behind a tree. There's a clearing nearby, within which you'll find the WISE ROCK. It dispenses advice for CLAMS. There's some amusing - and occasionally prophetic - advice to be had, but if you're low on CLAMS the WISE ROCK is skippable.
Follow the path east to the main section of the VAST FOREST and the path will split. If you go north you'll find the TRAIN STATION. There are a ton of odd little creatures here. You can speak to the SPROUT MOLE in line to get into a fight (whoops), and GIBS THE STATIONARY MUSICIAN, up on the stage, will play you a song for five CLAMS. To the right of the stage is a POPCORN.
Of most import at the TRAIN STATION is LEAFIE, the little leaf sitting on the bench with the mission icon over its head. LEAFIE hates bunnies, and will give you rewards for killing FOREST BUNNIES in the VAST FOREST as part of the RABBIT KILLER side quest. You'll receive the following items for killing bunnies:
- Five bunnies - COTTON BALL
- Twenty-five bunnies - BUNNY EARS
- Fifty bunnies - RABBIT FOOT
This sounds like a tall task for your first trip through VAST FOREST, but don't worry about fulfilling all of LEAFIE's requests now. The leaf will be sitting here for the majority of the game, and you can check it to receive new prizes later. There are plenty of other bunnies in OMORI. (Though if you decide to spend a bunch of time killing the buns of VAST FOREST only, you'll find the BUNNY EARS and RABBIT FOOT to be very good CHARMS early in the game.)
The TRAIN STATION aside, the western half of VAST FOREST is much like the eastern half, and you can find more things of note by exploring the area's paths:
- Hidden behind a copse of trees on the right side of the intersection that leads to the TRAIN STATION is an APPLE JUICE.
- Just east of the TRAIN STATION is a collection of trees surrounding a pond with a pinwheel sticking out of it. There's a 3-LEAF CLOVER sitting in the open in the top-right corner of this area. There are also a number of items hidden behind trees in this spot. In all you can find a BANANA SMOOTHIE, some CHOCOLATE, a CHERRY SODA, a LIFE JAM, and some TOFU.
- In roughly the middle of this area is a park bench. Sitting near it is a BRACELET.
- At the intersection that leads to the BRACELET there is a BIG STRONG TREE. It looks like all the other trees, but running into it will trigger a battle. BIG STRONG TREE does nothing, and is very difficult to damage. You get plenty of EXP for defeating the BIG STRONG TREE, but... otherwise...
- Follow the southern-most path to the west and you'll find a clearing. Inside it is a hard bulb that contains... something. You can't open it yet, but keep this spot in mind for later. Follow the same southern-most path to the east and you'll find some JACKS, behind some dead branches that OMORI can cut out of your way.
All paths ultimately lead back to the road sign.
FOREST PLAYGROUND
Eventually the group will come to the conclusion that BASIL isn't in VAST FOREST. Head back north to the FOREST PLAYGROUND and everyone will speak to MARI. They'll decide that they need to climb the giant ladder that's east of the stump that everyone calls home. OMORI is afraid of heights, but regardless of whether you agree to climb or not the path is set.
Have a picnic at MARI's picnic blanket to see a little dialogue, then speak to VAN, near the tetherball pole. BERLY will point out that there is no longer a ball on the tetherball pole. It flew off into the VAST FOREST. The group offers to get it back, beginning a new side quest.
BERLY'S LOST BALL
This one is simple, though you'll need to backtrack a bit. You can find the missing ball by heading to the western half of VAST FOREST and walking along the southern path to the west. It's sitting just outside the clearing with the hard bulb. Take BERLY back to the FOREST PLAYGROUND, then inspect the tetherball pole. BERLY will teach AUBREY HEADBUTT, an excellent attack SKILL that will come in handy during boss fights. You'll also receive the BUTT CERTIFICATE.
(BERLY comes with you during this quest. If you try to do anything besides look for her ball - visit the TRAIN STATION, for example - BERLY will ask if you're still looking for the ball. If you say not she'll leave, and you'll need to backtrack to FOREST PLAYGROUND to set the quest in motion again. So, just... find the ball first.)
That's all for the FOREST PLAYGROUND for the moment. Head back to the stump and go east. With everyone's encouragement OMORI will get over his fear of heights, and everyone can climb the giant ladder leading into the sky...
... though partway up, KEL will lose HECTOR, his pet... rock. HECTOR was an equippable CHARM, so you can now put something else on KEL instead. (Don't worry, you'll find HECTOR again... some day. It's a side quest and everything.)
When the team reaches the top of the ladder they'll find themselves in a strange, new world, and if you completed BERLY'S LOST BALL you'll see a funny little extra to the cut scene. Either way, head north.