MY EXPERIENCE AND REVIEW OF ONESHOT

Dear Little Cat Feet and Nightmargin.

So a little over 5 days ago I saw multiple occurrences of this game “oneshot” in my twitter feed. Apparently GD Colon, a (former) Geometry Dash Youtuber who i have known and had contact with bought it and made it semi-relevant again. His reviews of the game seemed gleaming and positive, he urged everyone to try it out on one of his twitter posts. Then another GD Youtuber by the name of SdSlayer100 had started posting about the game too. His reviews also pretty positive and he gave us updates about how he was feeling about the game too. I started to become fascinated

I saw that Sd had retweeted some pictures of fanart of this character from the game. I found out that their name was Niko (I thought that Niko was a female when i first saw fanart of them) I really liked Niko’s character design. I searched up the trailer for oneshot. It seemed like an interesting game! And after a few days had passed, I decided to draw them too. I even tried out some new art techniques such as shading and shiny lines. I was proud to post my work because i knew GD Colon would be pleasantly surprised when he saw I was becoming a fan of the game.

I talked with GD colon a little bit more on discord about the game, he said i should get it too. And on the day of thursday, may 9th, I did. I had searched up an intro playthrough beforehand to make sure i knew what i was getting into. I knew a little bit about the game too, so I wasn’t shocked when the game became meta.

When i first booted up the game, i knew what to expect up until the bedroom section ended. I knew this was a puzzle game, so I eventually made my way downstairs to the point where you pick up the sun. after I put the sun in the Keyhole, I was transported to the barrens. When I walked outside of the trailer thing, i decided to start exploring. I managed to find prophetbot, a character I knew nothing about. I asked the 4 questions and was quite delighted when Niko called out my “name” and I answered. I knew I probably would develop a bond with this character.

I did the normal things that you do in the barren, like unlock the box, accidentally almost smash the sun with the crowbar, (whoops) having Niko take a nap, seeing their, dream then having a one on one conversation, talking to Silver, Rowbot, and many of the other robots scattered around the landscape, finding out niko was not a cat because cats walk on four legs and-. I found it pretty cool when the entity reached out to me and told me to look in the document files. Where i did so and received the gasmask. I explored the other places, but then i got stuck after a while. I kept on persevering through, and found out what to do. (I enjoyed the other interactions i got to do with Niko)

After leaving the barrens and heading toward the glen, i was in awe at the panoramic shots and full pictures that showed. When i arrived at the glen, I started going through it and exploring again I had known that there were these bird children in the game. I arrived at the second puzzle that changed my desktop background, i thought this puzzle was very cool. When I met Calamus and Alula, i liked them, i thought they were well designed characters with cute personalities. After putting niko to rest and having another conversation with them. I headed out to find the writing tool I needed, I enjoyed my time interacting with the village characters and the demon ram that goes UHGU6GU)_%&*HGUHGUHU^(H89UHGUHGUH++-75&6UHGUH (I got stuck again) after getting the writing tool I needed, i stepped inside the passageway to the refuge, and was pretty unsettled by the squares that seemed to follow me.

When arriving at the refuge, i talked to the next guardian bot who let me have access to the seed room, i put the seed in the pot. At this point it is worth mentioning i had established a deep bond with Niko and was curious to go see where the story would lead to next. I did a lot of running around trying to find out how to fix the elevator after I met plight. Then i found the next entity puzzle, i was confused at what it meant so i had to get a hint. The puzzle was pretty cool once i figured it out. *pancakes happened* After that i had found out why Niko likes Pancakes, understanding them a little bit more. I think this is where i left off the game.

The next day, after school, I was eager to get back on the game and continued looking for a way to reactivate the elevator. (i got stuck yet again) my favorite moments in the first part of the refuge include the plush penguin [HELLO] and the roomba. After “I tried” i figured out how to make the button work and got into the elevator. After one of the best lines in the game, i was finally in the second part of the refuge, the surface. I walked into the alley and was immediately unsettled again. This game does a great job of setting up suspense and anxiety with its music and choice of setting, I kept thinking a repeat of the squares popping up behind you was gonna happen. I was relieved when nothing bad happened to Niko. I continued on, I do not recall what specifically happened in that area, but i knew that Rue and heaterboi were in there.

After arriving onto the other side of town where all the vendors were, I talked to everyone there and collected the water pill, (without realizing what the water pill was i tried it on the plant, but to no avail) this is where i made my way to the small entrance where the path to the tower leads, i thought this was yet again going to be another place where the squares confront me so i was nervous once again. After getting a little bit lost, i ended up in the factory and was very excited when i got the color puzzle right up my last attempt. I viewed various parts of the factory and then Niko alerted me that the scientist we just talked to (kip) was very similar to silver. I had an Aha moment when i listened to kip tell us about silver, and i had learned a little bit more about the place that we were in. I finally eventually stumbled across the library and was relieved to have finally found it.

I figured out how to get a library card from Kip but then i got stuck on how to get past the face recognition test. After walking around for a bit, i had encountered a boy who apparently offered to take a picture of niko, I was happy that I had finally figured out what to do, after solving the lens puzzle, I took as many pictures of Niko as the game would allow me to. I was stumped on how to put Niko’s photo on the card, but then it hit me. I would have to use the glitter glue. After doing so and making my way up to to the 2nd room in the library and talking to george (I did not know she had 6 different personalities for each playthrough) I checked out everything i could in the room and then let Niko take a non-cat nap. During this dream, i was shocked when i saw the sun on the ground, shattered. When Niko Woke up, they did not have any conversations with me, leading me to believe they were traumatized

I talked to george about the book, as I had been instructed to do, the pieces started to fall in place, i was making more and more inferences about the world i was in. I finally apparently had all 3 pieces of the sun, and was eager to head for “the base of the tower” I had thought about the room with the big X i was in earlier, and after a lot of looking, i knew that was where i had to go. Once I was in the room, i thought about how george said something to do about windows, so i had closed the game.

When I saw Niko having another dream i had figured that i had done it and now i was in the tower. It was more empty than i thought, I eventually stumbled upon the final computer of the game. The Entity told me that this was the end of my and Niko’s journey. I didn’t believe it for a second because i knew there had to be more to this game, it wouldn’t end like this. The entity had insisted on keeping Niko asleep and i didn’t know what to do .

Fortunately i had stumbled upon the journal writer’s message telling me to go to the oneshot file on my computer, i was confused, but then i moved the “you cannot close the game while in a cutscene” box away and finally knew what to do.

What happened after i clicked on the clover and relaunched the game was unforgettable. I had experienced the coolest thing i had ever seen in a video game. I had to drag the page onto the clover and the shape of the page would tell me where to go. While doing this, the journal writer began to tell me about the entity, I was very intrigued. After making through all the puzzles and picking up the sun again. I had arrived in the final room with Niko, and the final choice of the game confronted me. I stared at the screen thinking long and hard about what to do. I finally decided to return the sun, and the ending cutscene played. I Did not cry, but i was kind’ve emotional after the game “ended” I was extremely attached to Niko at this point and I was stunned to see them “gone”

I had heard about something that would happen after the game called “solstice.” I deleted my “save file” and was glad to see Niko back. I dropped my controller when i heard them call out my name. I had figured i was in the solstice run after making my way through the barren, Niko had experienced a vision and the journal was now glowing, however i did not realize that once i left the barren I had aborted the run. I was the most confused and hesitant when i arrived the the countdown room, the entity told me the bed would take me back to the beginning, but the journal writer had told me during the first ending that the entity was trying to trick me. I was hesitant on who to trust. I tried asking about it on the oneshot discord but it didn’t help me. I continued through the run as normal. When i had all three pieces of the sun again, i went to the room again but nothing was different. Now I was REALLY confused. I went back to the discord once more and asked a lot of questions. As it had turned out, i had aborted the run had needed to start over, they said i would KNOW once i had started the solstice run and needed to do something in the barrens.

I had arrived in the mines and the journal was glowing again i kept opening it again and again, until i noticed a black clover, stood over it and opened the journal again. BOOM a minecart appeared in the room, i was surprised and happy to know i had started the Solstice run. I went in the minecart and rode across to a place i had never seen before. I was excited to begin my new journey. But the entity had told me that I was putting niko in danger over and over again, which had me a bit concerned. When i went into the room, a bot that looked like prophetbot confronted Niko, and this robot completely destroyed any previous understanding of the game i had had before. Proto was the first huge eye opener for the solstice run, it had put all the pieces of the oneshot puzzle together for me. I was awestruck when I found out about the world machine and how the world wasn’t real. For me, I could never see Oneshot the same way again, I started to think about the game in a whole new light being flooded with with new vital information. Proto had uncovered for me a part of the Oneshot lore I had never knew. And At this point i was teeming with questions and thoughts. But first I had to figure out the dormitories puzzle, which took me a while. After I had figured it out, i put the memory card in proto and it tried to lead silver and Niko out of the mines. But when the squares appeared on the minecart I knew that the world was deteriorating at a faster rate than it was before. The entity had told me that Niko was frustrated. At this moment, I knew that this route would have way more emotional impact and intense parts than in the other run. I tried to escape from the mines, but then the world started to rumble again, i saw sliver go, and then proto. This was an intense moment for me because I had never seen any of the characters be in this dire of a situation before. While Niko arrived in the other entrance of the glens i was still concerned and nervous about the other characters and noticed the glens was now basically inaccessible and I had nowhere to go. I found that the next guardian bot was disabled by the squares, Calamus and Alula’s home was now gone. I began to feel a little sad when I saw Calamus and Alula because I figured that they might also die in this solstice story. I had found another black clover and the journal began to glow again. At this point I knew what to do, and suddenly a boat appeared. I sailed the boat to the burial grounds and soon found the bird children at their mother’s grave. When I began to explore again a found another new character, I figured this must be cedric and then cedric was the Second eye opener to the new part of Oneshot I had never known about. He told me about how he was he one writing all the journals and his father had created this world after the real world died. At this point I was fully immersed into this new story i had never known about. (I laughed when niko was dumbfounded at the things that Cedric had told them)I had to take the sun to Maize in order to bridge paths across the glen, then she died. I had to retrieve a music box and a battery, both which came at costs. When I finally got both pieces that I needed to restore the plane. The boat that we took had instantly become engulfed by squares. I was concerned once again, but i was scared for calamus and alula since they were one of my favorite characters aside from Niko. when i took the plane trip to the refuge. I had enjoyed all the shots of the plane flying across the air. I had landed at the refuge with cedic. But then it happened again. The plane had become engulfed in squares. Both Niko and I were very concerned about the Bird Children. And i thought to myself that Niko must be drowning in guilt right now for all the prices other NPCs and gamebreaker characters paid for Niko to achieve their mission. When I got off the plane Cedric had began to run for the factory, Kip had told us that the factory would also collapse. At this point I knew that in the solstice run, every character except Niko would be killed off. And sure enough. Cedric appeared to have lost his life while trying to restore protobot at the factory. I was mildly sad after that. At this point. I was in the library, Niko insisted in having to save the world no matter what cost, and the survivors sheltered in the library had faith in Niko, I had also talked to every NPC i could find to hear more about their part of the story. I went inside the countdown room once again. And found a little lever that was just out of Niko’s reach. Once i got Plight to activate the lever, they both got inside the elevator. When arriving at the tower path. Plight got trapped inside the elevator with the squares, i figured he would die too. I went to go find rue, and when i did they told me to go back to the countdown room, but when I got there. I found out that rue’s plan would not work unless Cedric and proto were there. Rue wanted to see the towerview and then Niko and Rue exchanged other eye opening conversation apparently, rue knew about this world more than the others. I was overjoyed when cedric and proto supposedly were alive the whole time. Rue explained how his plan would work After putting the three characters in the big portal, in another pretty mind blowing puzzle. Niko was in the room with the world machine. after solving the arrow puzzle. I found myself in a room with what seemed to be another copy of Niko.

This was the longest and most memorable conversation in the game. As it turned out this “niko” was the entity and the world machine all along. The entity had really truly put all the pieces of oneshot together, and Niko even managed to tame the world machine. I felt a lot of emotions during this conversation, Niko wanted the entity to bring back the good ending where they go home. But the entity told me I would never see Niko again after that. The path was still blocked by the squares, but Niko insisted on finding a way through. At this- wait, I think I’ve used that phrase a bit too much. When Niko walked over the squares I began to fear the worst, but the squares faded away. This is when I became sorta happy, The Entity’s plan had worked and we were in the good ending. After Niko made their way through the room, they ended up in the credits room. Everyone was back alive, and Congratulating Niko and telling them goodbye. Silver, Prophetbot, Calamus, Alula, Forest guardian, Plight, George, Refuge Bot, and more… they were all they’re. But especially Rue, Proto, and Cedric gave out the most salutations, I could tell they were the ones who Cared about Niko and *Me* the most. When Niko finally arrived back in the final room in the tower, they put the Sun back in its place without hesitation. A beautiful ending cutscene played out where it showed everyone thriving in the now “restored” world. The cutscene ended and Niko was back in the room where the game started

Once Niko was in the room, they talked about how they had achieved their purpose and was now going back Home, where I would never see them again. I got a bit emotional at this part, my 19 hour journey with Niko was now coming to a close, and Niko would go back home. They exchanged a heartfelt goodbye, before claiming that they could see the wheat fields and walking straight off of the window screen off of my desktop. Then the game closed.

I sat there for 20 seconds, stunned. When I booted up the game, I noticed an option called … upon clicking it, it brought me back in the room with the entity. The entity talked about how Niko’s journey was over and trying to replicate it would just be acting out their memories. When asked if that’s what I really wanted, I said no.

Niko was back home, with her mother, happy, alive. This is where I decided the story would end. And that is the end of my experience with this wonderful game.

FINAL THOUGHTS

oneshot did not change my life or anything overly dramatic like that, but it still had a great impact on me. How many other games are there where the main character interacts with you like Niko did? None came my mind (there might be another game out there like this but I haven’t played it) still, Oneshot is a truly one of a kind experience. No other game is out there like it. The story is memorable and you become invested into it quite quickly, with Niko and the others knowing you exist. You become part of the game, fueling the character’s motive and strengthening the bond between you and Niko throughout the game. When the final decision arrives, a big amount of pressure is put on your shoulders. That’s why I feel this game achieved something for me no other game could. Make me care deeply for the main character and establish a connection between them that would Impact my playthrough as I go along. Thank you Little Cat Feet, Thank you NightMargin. For creating a one of a kind game that I will not forgot for a long long time.