Yesterday, there was a thread created comparing Undertale and Oneshot. I was massively crapping on Oneshot in the thread. I promised to replay the whole game and give a full review. Here it is.
Part 1: The gameplay
I’m starting with this because it’s the easiest to explain. It sucks, and it really does hurt the game. You walk around the map while interacting with things until you find the right thing, then repeat. This is the only part of the game where I still agree fully with my past criticism.
Part 2: The story (No spoilers)
The story’s pretty good, actually. I like it a lot. It is by no means a perfect story, but it succeeded at engaging me.
Part 2.1: The story (Mild spoilers)
The game succeeded in making me feel attached to Niko. Their dialogue was very good. On the other hand, I did not really like how almost every other character was basically a prop. I thought the game could have used more characters like Silver.
Part 2.2: The story (ALL THE SPOILERS)
I didn’t understand why people were talking about the game being emotionally impactful, but I do now. It was fairly obvious from the beginning that this wasn’t the kind of game where everything would be just fine at the end, but I still wasn’t prepared. Whether to break or return the sun was by far the hardest decision I’ve ever had to make in a video game. HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO ME, DEVELOPERS? WHY DID YOU MAKE ME KILL THE CUTE CAT CHILD?
Part 3: Undertale comparisons
Undertale and Oneshot are very similar in nature. They are both indie rpgs with similar art styles, and they both perfectly integrate their stories. However, there are some key differences. Undertale is far more gameplay-oriented. It includes battles and other action sequences, while Oneshot is composed entirely out of puzzles. Undertale’s story has more major characters, and (Undertale spoiler)Frisk is more of a blank slate than Niko. If I were to pick one of the two games, it’d have to be Undertale, due to the reasons listed in part one.
Part 4: Why did I initially have such a negative reaction to Oneshot? (Mild spoilers)
When I first started the game, I thought of the whole “You aren’t the main character, you are god” thing as a gimmick. I wasn’t focusing on Niko as a character, instead thinking of them as an extension of myself. (You know, like I normally do) Without this element of the game, it just felt like I was doing boring, repetitive busywork, and ended up quitting before it got good. After reaching the second area of the game for the first time, I was able to separate myself from Niko, and only after doing so did I start really enjoying myself.
Part 5: Verdict
I was unfairly harsh to the game before. Now that I’ve replayed it and thought harder about it, here is my final verdict: The story is really good, but I am not a fan of the puzzles. Therefore, I give the game a good/10. Thanks for reading.
