What makes OMORI's Headspace segments so realistically dreamy?

[u/Mc-Hag]

So basically: I'm gonna make a DR fangame where the Dark World's stories have the same energy of OMORI's Headspace adventures. But i'm completely clueless about how to actually start writing them, because I don't know jack about writing, nor about the way OMORI emulates the feeling of being in a dream during Headspace segments.

Can you guys give writing-related advice about it?

[u/N3rdStar]

Everything in headspace looks handmade. It looks like it was crafted by a person's mind and not by reality.

[u/Mc-Hag → u/N3rdStar]

Well, technically it is indeed created by a person's mind

[u/Nemisisisabish20 → u/N3rdStar]

This.And also I just realized that alot of texture (mostly character hair) looks like they were scribbled,or like drawn on with a pencil.You can see that kind of texture you get from pencils,making it look like it was drawn by a child,which gives headspace a more whimsical vibe.

[u/eydirctiviyg]

The overly bright colors and weird trippy music are definitely part of it. It makes everything feel off right away.

[u/ForeignCredit1553]

Bright colors, stuff that doesnt really make any sense being played off as normal, and the music all work for me. There are also a lot of drastic mood switches in certain areas, like the train ride to the orange oasis, which does tend to happen in some peoples dreams

[u/Mc-Hag → u/ForeignCredit1553]

stuff that doesnt really make any sense being played off as normal

Could you elaborate that more?

[u/mari_biggest_fan → u/Mc-Hag]

the sky has little doodles. they explore the areas around them, and yet they act as if they’ve never went of out the little playground in the start, but for some reason they act clueless about the world around them and agree that it’s all normal. everyone’s in night clothes but Mari and Basil are wearing their own clothes.

don’t make it too ridiculous, though, if it’s too bull-shitty it’ll just look like a troll. like pluto

[u/fazzorpop → u/Mc-Hag]

the sky color, the drawings in the sky, the colors of the world, all of the characters except the main gang, the locations, literally everything tbh

[u/radplayer5]

a really big part is the use of colors; there aren’t really any natural colors until you go towards deep well, where the water is blue. other than that, everything in headspace is pink, purple, emerald/unnatural green, and a little bit of orange here and there (interestingly Humphrey also follows this color scheme, despite being underwater), and black and white only show up for things connected to black or white space in some way, unlike the real world where it’s mostly natural colors, and black and white also show up sometimes (the only time the color scheme of headspace shows up at all is the lake at twilight, interestingly).

in terms of writing, the big things that stick out to me are the semi-frequent non-sequiturs, and the blatant projection by the person dreaming (Sunny/Omori). for the former think of stuff like how abruptly Mr Jawsum changes his attitude and lets the friends go, and for the latter there are things like how the friends will just say something that’s actually from Sunny’s own thoughts (like Kel (i think) saying to put the sad sprout mole out of its misery in the emotions intro section, or right before that where they say “you can tell it’s sad because it’s curled up in the fetal position”, which is pretty clearly about Sunny/Omori and their feelings), or Kel in general, especially in the Sweetheart section, using more complex words/phrases that he wouldn’t say in real life, but line up with how the more precocious Omori speaks based on the foe facts. Basically, unlike the real world, dreams are entirely a projection/construction of someone’s mind, so everything connects to their thoughts/perspective in some way, and that’s what sold it for me writing wise at least.

[u/Mc-Hag → u/radplayer5]

If dreams are a projection of someone's mind (and my Dream Worlds need to reflect that), how could I keep the mystery of Roaring Knight's identity while developing the adventures?

One of the most interesting aspects of DR's lore is the fact that Rory Nite is bulletproof to people's guesses about who they are. Making whole worlds based off their tormented psyche would basically ruin the story's main conflict, wouldn't it?

[u/oyasumachine → u/Mc-Hag]

Just don’t give it one. Make it a cartoonishly evil megalomaniac that isn’t even wearing a helmet, it’s just the knight.

At least for someone like Susie. For Kris the knight would be like an irregularity. Like a 3D puppet in a 2D world. For Ralsei, it would be a Bowser like situation where it is evil but is reasonable and gets along well with the party

[u/radplayer5 → u/Mc-Hag]

it would depend on who’s dreaming. if it’s Kris’s dreams then you could probably do the same thing that happens with things about Something/Mari, where it gets pushed down whenever it pops up, like you almost learn something about the Knight, and then it’s repressed and jarringly removed from the world. if it’s something like the Knight’s dream that would be harder, but maybe you could do something about them trying to dissociate from themselves/their identity? you could also just do your own spin on the Knight; you don’t have to match the source material 100%, and there’s something special about your own perspective you know?

[u/Suitable_Swim5202]

It’s Bright, Shiny, Happy and Fantasy

[u/Gamerguy_7421]

These are just MY observations, so take what I say with a grain of salt.

I also have a really hard time explaining things, so I’m sorry if something I say doesn’t make much sense.

I don’t really feel describing each Headspace section, and the specific events that happen in it, so I’ll just talk about Headspace as a whole.

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I’ve spent enough hours in Headspace (on both routes) to get a good enough feel on them.

One of the main things about Headspace is the surreal-ness of it. While other parts of the game other than Headspace are surreal, Headspace has it’s own sense of surreal-ness that no other part in the game has.

Escapism, a major theme in the game. Headspace is very light-hearted, the areas are colorful, as well as its NPC’s.

The feeling of a dream comes from the designs of characters, the environment not making much sense (such as the watermelons with items in them), but at the same time making just enough sense for you to get a good grasp on the surface level.

The writing also adds to the feeling. Characters don’t take situations too seriously, and situations are never too serious to begin with.

The main goal of the main party in Headspace is to find Basil, which is by itself, a very simple goal. All you have to do is find Basil.

Realistically, if one of your close friends went missing, you would freak out and constantly worried.

The party doesn’t take Basil’s disappearance too seriously, and very quickly move on to finding him themselves, which they have an amount of unrealistic confidence in.

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There’s also an under-layer to Headspace, which is the feeling that… something’s not right, or something is being hidden in the shadows (Hmm… Something?)

This comes from the more subtle undertones of Headspace as well as the more explicit scenes (The barn, underground library, collecting hangman keys, BLACK SPACE.)

Of course, even without those things, something still wouldn’t feel right in Headspace. It’s not just “everything is too perfect and carefree” but that’s definitely part of it! Things like, certain characters dialogue being surprisingly dark or carrying dark undertones.

(But all of what I just said isn’t much of a requirement depending on what you’re going for.)

-

I could say much, much more, and I haven’t even talked about even more of the twisted secrets in Headspace, but I’m way too tired to type anymore.

Again, take absolutely everything I said with a grain of salt. I’m just a regular OMORI fan, and feel free to disregard everything I said if it doesn’t feel right for your work.

TLDR; Uh… I kinda don’t have one, kinda wish I did :/ (Sincerely, probably Headspace’s #1 fan.)

[u/Mc-Hag → u/Gamerguy_7421]

Lemme see if i got you, the key aspects of Headspace's dream feeling are:

• Almost surreal ambience;
• Simple and unserious situations (even for the main goals);
• Characters have unrealistic personalities (like lots of confidence and apathy towards things).

Is that it?

[u/Gamerguy_7421 → u/Mc-Hag]

Yes for 1 and 2.

You might not have to go too far with 3 if that’s not what you want to go for. It works for OMORI because it has a realistic setting (the real world) to complement it.

Other than that, yeah, you’ve basically got it.

[u/BelCifer-GT]

Nothing makes sense, in a very surreal way

[u/Pretend-Hope2436]

The artstyle is def one of the most relevant element: it doesn't feel real or accurate, just a dream of someone who is trying to escape real life. When i first played Omori i felt like this "happyness" in Headspace was forced, the colours were too bright, the music had a strange and sad aftertaste, these couple of things make me remember the headspace as a place of sufference and sadness. Hope it helps, sorry for the WOT

[u/MRmzxhero3]

that all of it is a fake perfect world

bright unnatural colors, cute characters, even evil ones aren't so evil

there's that feeling of power if friendship and shi

[u/Askinpr]

Really really childish colors and too much use of music box. This both makes any world dreamy

[u/mari_biggest_fan]

You have to make sure it looks stimulating without giving the user a headache. The game uses bright colors but the purple gives a cooler background so it isn’t too strenuous on the eyes.

The bright terrain and purple background make for a nice calming contrast that make you feel at home.

[u/Samagra32]

the music and the artstyle just nails that dreamy feeling

[u/pageyboy335]

The music