First post 2024

Happy New Year, even when a week late. New post is quite a bit faster than i anticipated but I still have vacation and got more time to play. Was also at home, so I had a chance to play some co-op with a friend.

• OneShot
  

  9 hours playtime

  11 of 11 achievements

• Untitled Goose Game
  

  6 hours playtime

  25 of 25 achievements

• What Lies in the Multiverse
  

  12 hours playtime

  43 of 43 achievements

Oneshot: Oneshot is different. In a good way. And if you don’t know the game be warned that some sort of spoilers will probably be part in the following text. And if you intend to play the game, the less you know the better it probably is. Oneshot is the story of a dying world. The sun has shattered and the world is suffering. But the arrival of a savior has been foretold by the prophet(bot). And this savior comes in the form of Niko which is guided by the player. Oneshot plays like a normal adventure where you talk to other characters/robots, collect items and use/combine them to progress in the story.
So, what makes Oneshot different? For one, the game is “aware” of the player. You are “god” helping Niko in his quest to return the sun (a lightbulb) back to the Tower in order to save the dying world. And not is only the game aware of it but the characters as well. Secondly, there are certain parts in the game where you have to think outside of the “box”. Literally, which is also the reason why the game suggests to you, being played in windowed mode. And certain parts here have been really clever. Thirdly, the game name is mostly sticking to its meaning. You have just this one shot to save the world. You have no additional save slots, you can not restart and the game saves automatically at each step. And at the end the game asks for a grueling choice. All of this combined leaves you with an unique experience where the story mixes different meta levels and awareness dimensions. And the game asks of you to make decisions with different actors aside of god and Niko having motives of their own.
Achievement-wise, you will most likely miss many of them on your playthrough (unless using a guide which in this case is even more unsuggested). Nothing to complicated but they need some specific steps which can be overlooked and then are missed as there is no way to return to earlier regions. Though, it is not an issue. Because if you manage to reach the final of the game, you can “replay” it and do achievements then. And if you know what to do, it shouldnt take longer than two hours to get all of them. So, play through the game blind first. Just do it. Special mention: The game goes even the extra meter to not make you feel to bad about the achievment hunt. Because narrative-wise, the game can not be “replayed”. So formally, the second playthrough is just a “memory”. Overall, OneShot is a special experience which you should play through blind to get the best experience out of it. And enjoy some clever usage of “out of the box” thinking. \~

Untitled Goose Game: So, this has been my co-op game, I played at home. A refreshing experience, as there is no greater story or things to think about. It is just the story about a goose being mischievous. You control the goose - or in co-op the geese - and walk around a small town. The town is divided in different parts which you unlock step by step. When arriving in a new part, you get a list of deeds you have to do to progress which consists mostly of annoying the humans living there. You have to steal vegetables, steal keys, destroy vases, terrorize children and break stuff. For this, you have the awesome number of four moves: running, quacking, lowering your head and flapping your wings. If you complete most of the list, the humans usually search some kind of “Geese not welcome” sign, unlocking the next area.
In addition to the normal area tasks, there also exist bonus tasks. These usually are based on interaction of different areas and are a bit more complex. At the beginning, this list is hidden but the tasks can still be completed by chance. After playing through the game, the list becomes visible though.
Achievement-wise, you get achievements for fully completing an area as well as each bonus task. Also, each area has a speedrun time which can be tried by “resetting” this specific area. So, nothing is missible.
Overall, the game is some silly fun, especially in co-op.

What Lies in the Multiverse: WlitM is a puzzle platformer with a story jumping between silly and serious. The puzzles are easy to very easy with a hint of tedious. You play through 8 chapters (+ Prolog and Epilog) where in most chapters you can switch between your current and a pre-determined parallel dimension. With the nature of the parallel dimension the gameplay changes slightly with one dimension being frozen, another having inverse gravity and yet another one being poisonous, etc …. But overall, the puzzles stay mostly the same. Nothing to interesting there.
The story is …. it is okay, I guess and has some nice moments. But the different tones of the elements are clashing violently, leaving the player behind a bit irritated. The characters can not stay serious for more than ten seconds but the story has serious tones and the parralel universe are portraying even more gruesome scenes. I think in the case of Everett, this mixture of sillyness and seriousness is “justified” and the point of the game. But for the rest of the case, it seems distracting. Probably, it is better to take this more as a light-hearted adventure and not think to much about it. It is also irritating that the main cast is jumping between dimensions all the time but somehow never ever encountering their alternative counter parts.
Achievement-wise, the game is a bit tedious. Lots of the achievements, you will get by simply playing. However, there are some collectibles and while most of them are easy to find, some are better hidden. So you most lilkely have to replay levels which goes fast from gameplay but you can not skip cutscenes, making it again tedious. Also, one of the collectibles is not tracked by any system, so you better remember it yourself. There also seems to be a bug with the hidden memories which adds yet another tediousness. Overall, the game is good but it has its flaws.
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The next update will most likely take some more time as I return to work this week. And I have to check what to play next. Maybe activating that other Fanatical key (just two left there) and complete the game. Or I will return to some of my “Never Played” list games and try getting them done. Or I make some more maps for Crystal Caves :P