Recent reviews by Cocodeey

i HATE playin wit my worm >:(

uno flip my balls lmao

*Spoilers for story stuff and all that jazz*

I am completely blown away. I don't think I've ever played a game that gets you into a very close relationship with the protagonist and also makes the weight of the game fall onto your shoulders by relying on your relationship with him.

OneShot is built around the nonexistance of a fourth wall. The blurb on the store page that says "the world knows you exist?" It 100% does, and you need to be prepared for the game to acknowledge you as something higher than a "player". Niko is the messiah whose goal is to bring the light to a dying world, yet he does it through you, the god who determines everything Niko does. This isn't an exaggeration; this is the motif of all of Niko's actions, and this motif is followed through the brilliant dialogue. You'll combine 2 items to solve a puzzle and Niko will say something like, "Oh, I'd never have thought of that! That's really smart, [player name]!" (That's not a direct quote, but you probably get the idea.) In games like Undertale or DDLC, this would be unnerving because you're not conditioned to an environment where the game directly points out that you exist. OneShot lets you know that you exist and it doesn't scare the player... the player will get scared for other reasons.

You will also immediately understand that OneShot will mess with your computer by adding files and other stuff. This isn't jolting, either. I mean, the explanations for why you need to dig through the files are scary because of the implications via the story, but actually doing so is relatively intuitive. It can start from cross-referencing numbers on a document to use them in-game, progress to changing your wallpaper to help you solve a puzzle, evolve into needing you to close the game to solve a puzzle, and end said progression by simultaneously using an application you'd find with the game to help you get to the top of the tower.

The motif of you being a god watching over the game is OneShot's biggest narrative strength. While you are still in complete control over everything in-game, there are times where you will legitimately believe that you are part of the game world. You get so conditioned to being referred to by your name that when you are eventually disconnected from Niko, you get scared. I caught myself saying out loud, "What is happening? Why can't he hear me", as if I was a bystander in the situation (which, to an extent, I was.) Your personal attachment to Niko makes the ending entirely unnerving. You must tell Niko the consequences and dichotomy of bringing the sun to the tower to return it or destroy it. And yes, you can delete your save in the game files and start over from the beginning if you want to see the endings. This isn't an immediately obvious option when you're faced with the endgame decision, however. You will decide how you end the game with your heart pumping out of your chest.

Story aside, the music is absolutely phenomenal. This is coming from somebody who's spending their life studying music, but the soundtrack generates such subtle ways to create fear and weight to the player's actions. Even when the music is supposed to be cheerful and relatively smoothing, there are times where the song will do something like transpose down a semitone in order to create a sense that you're either making progress, or are gaining a feeling of nervousness. The music is THE primary factor in making you feel unsettled.

Please play this game. 1 playthrough is well worth 4 hours of your time.

Also, if you suffer from anxiety like I do, be cautious with this game. The game will autosave any time you close it, and there are beds you sleep in to immediately save and close the game. Take breaks when you can and calm down before you keep playing.

LITERALLY EVERYBODY I PLAY THIS GAME WITH IS AN IDIOT ITS SO FUNNY

11/10

this game makes me want to punch a hole in my wall but actually winning is so satisfying

i feel like i need to go into therapy after playing this game but its still a 10/10

RoA is super competitive, satisfying to control, and really fun to play. Character variety is great, balance seems good too. Pretty faithful to what it's trying to emulate.