Why ‘OneShot’ Is One of the Best Indie Games You Never Played and When It’s Coming to Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One in 2022
With thousands of video game releases each year, most fall between the cracks. While triple-A games like Super Mario and The Legend of Zelda have the luxury of a built audience, indie games do not have that cushion. This has been the case with OneShot, a metafiction indie game that never quite hit the mainstream, but anyone who has played it swears it is a once-in-a-lifetime experience. And the next chapter for OneShot, Nintendo Switch adds the game to its library.
The simple but complex narrative on ‘OneShot’ comes to Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One
Video games in the genre of metafiction, or games that break the fourth wall, have popped up here and there. And they often leave a lasting impact. Doki Doki Literature Club, Undertale, and There Is No Game have all broken into the mainstream to some degree.
However, OneShot has never become mainstream despite adding another game to the metafiction genre.
“Publisher Dangen Entertainment and developer Future Cat LLC have announced that they will re-release 2016 PC game OneShot on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One in 2022,” Nintendo Enthusiast reported.
The video game starts with an adorable cat person named Niko waking up in a mysterious world. It seems like a normal game at first. Niko reads a message explaining that Niko needs to carry and restore the world’s sun to save everyone.
However, Niko is not the only one tasked with a mission. Messages appear in separate message boxes outside the game window, directly on the player’s computer. And they tell the player that to save Niko, they have to shatter the sun.
You, the player, has to choose. And you only have one shot.
Or, you did before the announcement for OneShot on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.
The game pushes metafiction and fourth-wall-breaking in games to new extremes
Over the course of the adventure, both Niko and the player must overcome obstacles. While Niko might need to push objects onto certain squares like The Legend of Zelda puzzles, the player must dive into the game files to reveal secrets.
While Doki Doki Literature Club played with the concept of having players tamper with game files, OneShot pushes the idea more. The player moves files and opens semi-transparent images to overlay them on the game window to reveal secret paths. You even have to drag the game window around their computer screen to reveal codes.
Most OneShot fans agree that trying to summarize the game in a 600-word article does not do it justice.
However, in 2022, a whole new audience can experience OneShot on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.
When does ‘OneShot’ release on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One?
On Dec 8, 2021, the Dangen Entertainment YouTube channel uploaded a video announcement. The end of the video said when old and new fans can expect OneShot on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.
However, no specific date beyond 2022 came on screen in the video.
The description of the video even teased, “New features designed for consoles.” Could this mean new content for the game? The OneShot console trailer seemed to tease an artificial desktop to play the game on.
When Doki Doki Literature Club jumped on consoles, they created a similar system. However, they packed the computer with secrets and even more content than the original game.
Only time will tell if OneShot on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One will have any major differences from the PC version.
