The world is set up into four locations: the barrens, glen, refuge, and tower. The barrens is the outer most location that consists of abandoned structures, a factory, and toxic fumes in certain parts of the area. The glen is a forest like setting that consists of a village, the ruins, and some buildings for research purposes. The refuge is a city area that consists of the library and is also where your final destination is: the tower where the child you guide needs to put the new sun.

Plot/Gameplay: (10/10)

OneShot can also be described as a save the world type of game. The player is guiding a cat-like character named Niko, who is said to be the messiah of the world. Prophecy says that Niko is the one who will restore the world’s sun by bringing the new sun, the light bulb, to the tower.

When the description says that “The world knows you exist,” it means literally. This aspect was one of the coolest and most fun in the game because I really appreciate it when a game can put the player into the world. It creates a lot of interactive gameplay mechanics, and OneShot did just that.

The name the player uses in their Steam account will be the name used in the game. Players can also change their name in the game at a certain scene if their Steam account name is not the one they want to use.

See below…

Furthermore, the gameplay is easy with simple controls. The player can open up the menu to see these controls whenever they want. I always like that they do this because sometimes RPG maker games will show you the controls once and then never bring them up in the menu again.

The other part of the interactive gameplay that I enjoyed was that it has players solve puzzles using your computer. Documents will show up in different places in your computer for you to find and help Niko in each area. This was something I had never seen in a game, so that was a very satisfying feature. The puzzles themselves were not very difficult, but I still found them fun. I felt that the creator put a lot of thought into them and there was a good variety as well.         

Another feature that I liked was the save function. In the game, the player can either exit out of the game anywhere or use the bed to put Niko to sleep. The bed function is used regardless for story purposes because Niko can get tired after each area is complete. I think these were great times to just take a break from the game, but it is also a good addition because it gives the player more background on Niko. I actually found these new scenes adorable and deep because the player gets to interact more with Niko. Both the player and Niko are in this journey together where there is a sense of urgency to complete the mission to restore the sun. However, these scenes create a more relaxing and calm atmosphere where we can take a break from that urgency.

Overall, the story itself was fun and bittersweet because of all the interactions between the player, Niko, and the other characters that you will both meet along the way. There is no doubt that you will get attached to Niko. Niko is a simple character, but is also very lovable and caring towards others. I was definitely absorbed with the game mechanics and story.

Music/Sound: (8.5/10)

I thought the music in this game was pleasant. It created an ambiance to the different areas. I wouldn’t say it is an OST that I would listen to frequently, but I do think the music matched the game well.  

The game also comes with two sound tracks one being the original and the other being the Solstice OST that was released when the Solstice DLC patch was released.

Graphics: (10/10)

The artwork in this game is very satisfying. It’s all in a 2D style, but incorporates both 8-bit graphics and drawn graphics.

The 8-bit graphics are throughout the regular gameplay but are also in some CGs. They really bring out the dark ambiance because of the loss of the world’s sun. It feels like a very dystopian kind of setting, where the areas are dark and muted. The brighter colors bring out more of this neon effect to show that the world still has some light in the darkness.

There are a good variety of backgrounds because of the four different areas. They all have that dark look while others have more of the neon colors. The barrens had the least amount of light, where only lanterns and the water were brighter colors. One of my favorite areas was the glen because I liked seeing the greenery and lights on the trees. The villagers in the glen all wore different colors, so I thought that was nice to see in contrast to the darker setting.

Lastly, the other CGs of the game revolve around Niko’s dreams. This happens when using the bed save function mention in the gameplay section. The colors in these scenes are much softer, which was nice and very dream like. They brought out a lot of nostalgic feels and a heartwarming atmosphere. I honestly love the drawing style they did for Niko’s dreams.

Verdict: (10/10)

I give OneShot a 10/10.

The player involvement in this game really sold it for me. It was a fantastic idea and story that made you become attached to Niko and the world. The story plot twists were very satisfying. I found myself absorbed with how the story would play out and if the player and Niko were really making a difference in fulfilling this mission to help this world.

I hope reading this review gets more people to play the game. Thank you to those who read this review as always. If you know anyone who enjoys playing video games, feel free to share this review with them. Happy gaming!

As much as I dislike teacher student relationships, the route with Kaede is honestly the best one because it doesn’t seem like the writer was trying to be edgy with any reveals and while the bad is ending of course bad (it has cheating), it doesn’t turn Asuka into a danger to others.

Nao’s route has the player learn that the two are not biological siblings, that they were both part of lab experiments (Sakuya and were also involved)in which Asuka was found to be unable to use her powers while Nao was kept by herself because she was the strongest user, that after a lab fire Nao used her powers to get her and Asuka adopted by the same family, the phrase Nao says when Asuka gets headaches is Nao actually preventing Asuka’s lab memories from coming back, and that Nao’s powers are growing weaker, so she starts taking drugs that don’t end up helping.

Ew.  So in the good end, Asuka doesn’t forgive Nao for being a manipulator.  The two get together and I guess we’re supposed to pretend that it’s not creepy, just like in Period Cube (these two games share many negative qualities).  In the bad end, Asuka does forgive Nao, which causes Nao to feel bad, drop out of nursing school, and turn into Asuka’s sex slave.  

During Sakuya’s route we learn about the lab again, that Asuka and Sakuya were in love, that Sakuya had a twin sister and the following: Sakuya’s sister Kyoko died in the fire and is sharing Sakuya’s head space, which then turns out to be untrue as it turns out Sakuya died and has been lingering around in Kyoko’s head.  Sakuya is starting to fade away because she is using her powers.  Also Kyoko is really angry that Asuka forgot about Sakuya so she does very reasonable things like this:

So in the good ending, Asuka tells Kyoko that she picks her over Sakuya.  Before Saukya fades away though, the two have a school rooftop wedding.  Time then passes and we get this scene:

Now this is supposed to be a sweet scene, but how does Sakuya’s consciousness get into the kid?  I can’t think of any good ways for that to happen.  In the bad ending, Asuka picks Sakuya and basically tells Kyoko she doesn’t care about her.  Saukya (and Kyoko) end up passing on, but Asuka gets the body up to the school roof and has a corpse bride wedding.

Last but not least, in  Itsuki’s route we learn most of the stuff from the previous routes, along with the fact that Asuka used to be a brat and that Itsuki seemed to have her current personality to cope with the loss of Asuka.

The two get together in the good ending after Itsuki fees Asuka from being kidnapped.  Nao and Sakuya do not like this, with the latter becoming violent about it.  The bad ending though, oh boy.

Cannibalism!  

So after playing the entire game, I really wish a different yuri game was the first one to hit the Vita.  This one has pacing issues, plot issues, and Asuka acting entirely out of character in three of the bad endings.  The latter point makes the endings more “wut” than disturbing because the jumps they take to reach the endings make no sense with what we know of Asuka.  

She is a hard to motivate, dependent, forgetful, naive, and barely over 100 pounds.  Do we really think she would get wedding dresses on her own and drag Sakuya’s body up the stairs?  Does Asuka sexually abusing her sister seem like a reasonable act with her personality traits?  Buying a new fridge, chopping up another student, and eating said student to “become one” seems more like a horror version of Amelia Bedelia than Asuka.  Not going to lie though, Nao walking in during that ending and basically “Nope”-ing out was probably the best part of the ending.

On another note, I wish more characters had sprite work than just Asuka and her love interests.  A couple characters do show up in CGs, but sprites as well would have been nice.  I don’t remember the music, so not much to say here.  The character design is okay, but I wish they gave Asuka different colors in her outfit so she isn’t one pink blob.

Nurse Love Addiction feels like it was trying to out-edge School Days, but with less of the buildup that makes School Days’ pacing flow better and I would argue memorable.  For another example, imagine if Modoka Magica placed all of the plot revelations towards the last two episodes versus having them paced out over the series.