Osmose is gliding along. The organic nature of the interactivity provides for a great, relaxing, tactile experience. Floating and flitting about, the idea of being an orb of existence, losing and gaining, pursuing directions of a combatorial nature, the larger aggressor consuming the smaller, Osmose frames the aggressive grabbing of material in a manner disconnected from most games. Osmose is thus about living in a world that doesn’t have much feeling. To some extent, the individual is injecting themselves into the experience, and causing dynamic system changes.
On the whole of games, such a natural progression of interactions should be lauded, as should the non-violent interactivity. Though there is a sense of conflict in Osmose, the conflict is abstracted in a manner to seem as though the avatar is of a life worth living, a being searching through a place to find comfort. Seeing that comfort occur seems to have an effect on individual demeanor, the act of digital comfort becoming, itself, a comfort. Perhaps by Osmose being a game out of place in the world of games, it fits into the larger experience of our world.
Thus the experience of Osmose is dictated by how connected or disconnected we personally see ourselves. Within the realm of the game, we see part of our world. The slow, passing kind, the aggressive, fleeting kind, the spaces in between, dictating the boundaries and margins of our spatial relationships. And so, we find ourselves floating as to wonder what kinds of connections we will make next. As they add to the world, they become us, we become them, a larger whole.
As a game, Osmose succeeds in presenting itself as a piece of media, rather than an invoked message. To a degree, that may be wise, as the biggest downfall of the modern media industry relates largely to expectations. Videogames are the worst offender, if only due to their consistent failure to question the issue. Though simple, Osmose achieves a peace and flow which is rather unparalleled.
Achieving that peaceful refrain requires a certain sacrifice of complexity, and Osmose is no exception. Osmose never intends readings, never intends to force message, or control, or power. There are certain limits, but these limits deal with the space, and within the limits of the possibility space, there seems a fair amount of intent at making the power of movement a free flow, a sharing of consciousness.
Recommended: Yes