NOTE: This spoiler-free review is accurate as of the newest update (Solstice). Due to the content and ending added through this update, I highly recommend this game, and if you have finished the game before this, I implore you to replay it to experience the true ending.
I was introduced to this game by Markiplier's playthrough. I only heard 10 seconds of what he said before I closed his playthrough and decided to get this game myself, feeling that this game is worth going in blind, and would be one with a lasting impression.
It's True. This is the most emotionally-invested game I've had the pleasure to experience. Even after the end, it haunts me till today... and my emotions are so messed up just thinking about my experience that it's difficult to even review it. Even so... I'll try.
Oneshot is A story-driven puzzle-adventure game. You play as a cat-like persona named Niko in a Mission to restore a world's lost sun, a large lightbulb. You only have one chance to save the world. It seems very straightforward.
...Except you're not playing as Niko. You are considered a separate entity.... yourself. By opening the game, you unwillingly become "god", in charge of a world that operates, exists and disappears at the click of your mouse. Niko, meanwhile, is just dragged in as the "protagonist", waking up in a different, crumbling world... a child trying to get back home, to the waiting arms of mommy. You are essentially Niko's guiding voice, in a world both of you have no understanding of, and are in charge of leading Niko to bring light back to the lands... and at the same time, bringing Niko back home.
Of course, its not that simple. The game is sentient, aware of how it's a program running on your computer, and will attempt throughout your journey to keep you from returning the sun. In the end, it is unable to control your final decision... and yet, it still gives a last stand by denying you a perfect ending. It's in control of the story and is hiding things, and without you thinking outside of the box to beat the game's coded "story"... Niko, the world, and the game itself... will never find peace. The writing and story in and of itself is one of this game's strong points, as the amount of fourth-wall breaking and events that reveal the true nature of the world is extremely compelling, especially since its all addressed to who the ingame people think is "god"... you.
The biggest draw to this game, however, is simply How personal it makes the relationship between you and Niko. Leading Niko feels like leading a younger sibling, in which Niko doesn't really understand what's going on, but will deal with events in their own childlike, innocent way. During your adventure, Niko also comments on Every action you take and even questions you about our world all in your own name... which further got me attached to Niko. Standard game mechanics are also used to strengthen this bond, as when Niko is tired, you have to find a bed to let Niko rest in; this is the only way to save and close the game "naturally", and also initiates dream sequences along with more dialogue between you and Niko. If you decide to close the window instead, Niko will be afraid and in a state of shock when you open the game again, as you brought darkness to the World Niko is in. This happens often, to the point where you'll likely be afraid to hurt Niko by closing the game.
Yet, despite your cluelessness and inability to explain how you can access things out-of-game... Niko trusts you. It's a sort of child-like trust towards an adult that's so innocent that you can't help but love Niko back. When the game denied me the Opportunity to respond to Niko, who was frantically calling my name... I Realised that I could do nothing but stare at the screen. That feeling is horrid, accompanying a person almost all the time... and then being denied the chance to say "I am here for you". Eventually, I wasn't playing for the sake of the world... I was playing for Niko. For Niko's happiness, and to hear Niko speak to me again.
Niko felt real. I wasn't ready to let my little cat-like child go, even though that's what I was fighting for this entire time.
And that made the full game's ending all the more painful. You wouldn't expect a person's happiness... to hurt you so much.
OneShot is initially a story of trust and moral decisions, but its true lesson is of attachment... before Letting go. The initial ending will make you think of your consequences. The true ending will make you cry, reluctant to pass the credits. You only have one shot, as once you complete the story... you'll want it to stay completed. And yet... I Don't want it to end.
2023-01-25 22:10