Thanks so much for watching even if you don't agree with my overall verdict. This was a really emotional video to make and I'll need your comments, likes, and views to get the algorithm at my back. Thanks in advance :)) Be sure to join the discord server in the description!

The only game to make you cry even though everything worked out in the end. Because YOU were a part of the story, not just someone you control.

The most painful part about Solstice is how you'll never see Niko again after it

The "break the sun" workaround would have worked because of the first law of robotics: "A robot may not injure a human being, or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm." Breaking the sun causes the world to end, which would kill Niko (the only being that the World Machine thought was real), causing a conflict in the code that can only be resolved by ejecting the only known human consciousness.

11:36 I'm not sure about other versions, but in the World Machine edition, after Niko leaves, the game window stays open, and you can't close it yourself because it is "in a cutscene". I feel like this is the way we are told that the World Machine can now run independently of both us and Niko, and although it might not be obvious to some, it is a clear indication of this fact.

The reason the world machine was able to reconstruct the original good ending was because it was finally "Tamed" which is a concept that was repeatedly brought up in the original storyline. Each time someone was asked to explain it they would just shrug it off and say "It's complicated" but the main theme in the solstace storyline is what it means to be "Tamed". It's the process of a machine achieving sentience by being treated as "human". At the end of solstace when niko tells the world machine that the people of the world are real and acted on their own it shows the world machine that it has been sentient and able to make it's own decisions and using that sentiance it rewrites the code for the good ending. It is also worth noting that if you launch the game again after you finish the solstace storyline the world machine will greet you the player and allow you to replay the original storyline as a hologram of niko which confirms that niko was sent back to his world at the end of solstice.

I'm actually someone who is really attached to fictionnal characters, and see niko just go and never come back, it was really a Bittersweet feeling when playing

I very much agree that the team took a huge risk of possibly ruining the OneShot's original ending. Yet the payoff was worth it. To know that Niko's fate is in a better place and remembering every moment of the experience to the point that it lost me with the game's world itself. It's amazing yet bitter sweet. It was nice saying one last goodbye to Niko and accepting that the player base might not ever see him againg, well it takes courage to move on from that which warms my heart. The experience is timeless and I really loved your take on OneShot's Solstice ending. Keep at it because you've only got the OneShot.

What’s interesting is that both niko and the world are saved here.

From what I recall from my experience with the solstice ending, it's not that the world machine "remembered" the good ending and therefore it exists again, the world machine recreated the good ending from what he could recall. At the very least, putting back the sun and sending Niko back home. I assumed what the world machine did was just fill in the blanks since it leaned it *can* create things, not just corrupt them. It was such a thrill when the timer first appeared and then it got delayed a bit more which had a funny scene with Ruby, I think that was the fox' name.

I asked that Reddit question, I had to know that The characters got to continue living. I’m so glad they do

Awesome video! Seeing a Oneshot review in 2022 is a great feeling, knowing that the fan base is still kicking. Little bit of nitpicking, if anyone at all cares: 10:46 I don't think the World Machine spontaneously "remembered" the corrupted code; instead, it made a new ending entirely on its own. From what I understand, the point of the finale was that Niko convinced the Machine that it didn't have to follow code, that both Niko and the player had Tamed it and it could act on its own accord, meaning anything the Machine invented was as real as a person. That also could be why the characters in the credits didn't come to the realization that they were fake. I think the intended conclusion is the opposite: that the characters and the world are as good as real if we give them meaning. Just my perspective on it, but the ending was a lot more satisfying through that interpretation.

Definitely a lot to discuss in when it came this ending. I can definitely agree that it takes away from the "oneshot" part of the game, but it also feels fitting for it to exist. Again going back to that whole determinism thing, one is normally supposed to stop at the original ending, but we don't because that whole free will thing exists. While I probably disagree with certain things like understanding the lore and stuff, it's understandable for someone to get confused as to what's supposed to be going on. One thing I kinda wish was brought up was the recurring theme of taming artificial intelligence. It was something more so vaguely mentioned from time to time during the original game, but it was expanded upon in Solstice and gave some closure to that part of the story. And in the end, an obtuse detail ended up being a bit of a key role in how it all played out that again kinda goes back to that whole determinism thing again. I could keep going, but this was a really, good video regardless. It was nice to see something like this be made for such an underrated gem that also just so happens to he my favorite game of all time. Thanks for doing this.

This is a certified OneShot moment.

I’m a bit late, but I think the reason why the WM “suddenly” remembered code and could start running on its own is the whole taming thing. Rue herself does say that Niko tamed the WM. You said that the WM changed after a single good conversation, but you need to remember that from the moment you launch the game both Niko and you are interacting with it, and that would be why the WM managed to be tamed at the end, all the times that the player but most importantly Niko truly believed that the world of Oneshot was real, even when they were told that it was simulated. So what does taming have to do with remembering code? Well, the WM being tamed allows it to act outside of its code, so naturally that means that the actions that it and the inhabitants take are no longer predetermined by code. Whether or not that makes them “real” is subjective, but it does to me. This also means that the characters saying goodbye at the end is more genuine than before, since at that point the WM is already tamed

I still miss him... i really do.

What makes the ending so much sadder, is that you a separate character from Niko. The game tricks you into caring by making you your own character. Niko talks to YOU so much you can actually grow a bond with him, so you can actually feel bad for him when he’s sad, or when he leaves.

Actual OneShot content in 2022, nice!

I prefer the Solstice ending. I find it to be much more emotional around the middle-late parts of the play-through. It adds more story/lore/context to places where there was barely any previously. I also didn’t have any problems with the ending part, although that may be because I tend to fill in plot gaps through reasoning.

like you said near the end, solstice is kind of awkward and not fully explained, but for some reason, i've always felt like that's why it hit so hard

The entity/world machine did not remember the proper ending instead it created a "proper" ending, just like the citizens of the world performed actions that were not in their code by guiding Niko to the world machine and thus the entity, the entity created a code to get Niko out and save the world which in all honesty was not the original "proper" ending.

Niko is a character that's stuck with me and that's so important for a game like this. They're such a sweetheart and seeing them go through this journey with us was heartbreaking.

Noooooooo why didn't you let the music at the end continue for at least 15 seconds so we could process all of that and have the time to cry without having an awkward ad at the end... 😭😭 amazing video tho, I will always thank people that takes the time to make people understand this masterpiece

Just finished the game and solstice for the first time, and wow was it powerful. It was weird, seeing this figure I have gotten to know just walk off my screen, and it took me a while to process it but man once I did I couldn’t stop crying. I’m glad Niko could finally see their mom again and but man do I feel just a little bit empty knowing that I will never really get to see them again.

I was honestly moved when I played Solstice for the first time. I’m glad I touched Oneshot again. Even if it’s not perfect, it made me tear up

I absolutely loved playing this game. It was strangely awesome to be a canonical character in the story and not just the controller. The solstice ending made me even sadder than the other endings because Niko is gone now. That's it. All that I can interact with now is a muted copy. It's good that Niko is gone. He can go eat pancakes and be with his momma again, but it gave me legitimate feelings of loss. Like saying goodbye to a good friend forever

This game is amazing, will always light up this fire inside me that was created when I discovered it, I'll never forget this game, this world, this story. That is a true masterpiece. The fact that the game is already "finished" as we enter this magnificent world makes it an amazing art work as beautiful and meaningful as someone's life because, after the end of the story only remains wonderful memories that'll stay I our heart as long as we can remember, and as long as we live. Best game ever

This game made me cry 6 times. Fuck.

It's been nearly 6 years since I played through the game and the soundtracks still give me goosebumps.

Is it only me or do i just want to go back and meet Niko again and give him a big ol hug? or even visit his village, it's really a shame I, and we can't isn't it?

11:00 well the game does explain that the world machine was experiencing extreme self doubt and frankly suicidal thoughts due to it's isolation and it needed someone to see it as alive for it to be able to start to fix itself. The first thing it fixed was the ending.

I appreciated this perspective. I kinda agree that things seemed to get resolved a little too conveniently, although I'll admit that didn't bother me all that much. I also got to the game really late and only played it for the first time within the last year, so I got to play the original and Solstice stories back to back without realizing the latter was an expansion of sorts - I'm sure that affected things considerably for me compared to someone who was there for the original release, but to what extent I'll never know for sure. I honestly don't know how I'll feel about replaying the game if I can ever bring myself to do so. After Niko walked off screen and I closed the game, I didn't load it up again for months. I finally did out of curiosity and had a pretty sobering conversation with the world machine, who explained that replaying the game would just be a projection of the memories. I... don't think I've ever been so reluctant to replay a game that I love so much, just having this meta knowledge that I wouldn't really be adventuring with the "real" Niko again.

11:57 it does say it in-game! If u go back and boot up one shot after u beat solstice, the title screen will have three little dots under the exit button if u click on them it takes u back to the world machine room and the machine tells u that u can't play anymore cuz Niko is gone, then the machine has a revelation of sorts and uses Nikos memories to remake/make a new "robot" Niko that the player can control if they wanna run the game again

I got oneshot back in 2020. At this point, Solstice was already out, but I didn't have a clue it was a thing. Through my first playthrough, I saw various clues and hints that allured to the solstice ending, specifically the fox. When I beat the game I was absolutely devastated, but not really in a bad way. When I played, I chose to save the world rather than Niko, because I believed that deep down, the world had to be just as real as niko himself. When it ended with the empty room, no Niko, just music, I felt so bad and wondered if I did the right thing. 2 years go by and for that whole time I thought that was how Oneshot ended, and that my choice was final. But then i came across a walkthrough of a "solstice route". I didn't watch it for spoilers sake, but I was very interested. I booted the game back up and tried playing again, and that's when I first began the Solstice route. I don't fully know why, but finally getting closure on everything after 2 years of nothing was incredible for me. I finally got my suspicions confirmed about the world Niko was in, that deep down there was truly something real about it, and I finally got to relieve myself of the guilt I had carried for 2 years after letting Niko supposedly "die" to save a world I was told multiple times wasn't real. Solstice is something I needed and I'm so glad I got to experience it. I was never as aware as most people who played it, since I played AFTER the Solstice update. So it was never really announced to me, I just stumbled across it some day. Oneshot's story effected me like no other, because its one of the few games that incorporates YOU, the player, yourself, into the story in a way that doesn't feel cringy or over the top. I truly felt connected to the world and every action I took felt like it had genuine meaning, especially the final choice. I'm glad this game still gets talked about.

As someone who recently got it after high recommendation by a friend I can say I loved the game on the switch. Since I didn't play it originally I didn't feel much of an impact of how different it felt playing.

Although the solstice was a little short for the amount of lore that it introduced I do personalny think that it was a better ending than the first one. When I was done with the main story I did feel sad because of the bitter-sweet decision you have to make at the end, but also I felt this story was missing something. And so I was thrilled to find out the solstice ending exists. That one made me cry even more. Having Niko listen to the characters explaining what is the actual "reality" of the situation, seeing him temporarily lose grasp on what's important, "real" ,valuable and then restoring the hope for a better tomorrow not only to him but also most importantly to this "fake" world was undoubtedly a huge emotional rollercoaster that I went through together with Niko. The happy ending was also very touching and much more fulfilling than the original in my opinion. When I got to the end and confronted the "world machine" I realized how similar it is to Niko. They were just a lost child that wanted to do good, but just didn't know how to make everything right. They just didn't have anyone to guide them... Seeing this made me cry the most. But at the end some of those tears were happy tears as this was the happy ending I wanted to see so much. Overall I think they could have added a little bit more gameplay to spread out the story telling a bit but nonetheless I really enjoyed my journey with this game 10/10 I'd say in my books.

This is what we call 'deus ex machina' it makes no sense for why it should happen but it needs to happen for a happy ending

I Agree That It Was Definitely Much More Broken Then The Original Game. The Ending Was Happy, But also sad. There’s just something about knowing that every other time you play OneShot You Will NEVER Be Guiding The Niko That You Once Knew. Also The Lines “For Niko A dream, Like Many other Dreams. For You A story, like many of other stories. This world will exist as Long as you remember “ really hit hard. Also I Cried when Niko was depressed in a Minecart.

I still can't believe that people told me this was a terrible and boring game when I said that when compared to RDR2 it made me more emotional 💀

Amazing video as always!

There is a really important key though which you can read this game, and where the whole "Taming" businesses comes from: It's a small little gem of a book known as Le Petit Prince. You begin to realize how the Solstice ending was in the dev's minds since the first 2014 freeware release, knowing how much that book inspired this game.

its been awhile since a oneshot video showed up on my recommended so i really wanna watch this

I'm so glad to see OneShot getting some appreciation.

4:24 I believe another reason TWM Was made is because There was a prophecy About Niko Coming and stuff but he wasn’t born yet so they made TWM As Kinda like a backup world so when the world ends All The People were recreated in TWM So They could have more time to wait for Niko To arrive. I’m Bad At Explaining things like This So sorry if you don’t understand.

Awesome video dude!

This is one of the only games that can make me cry

Thank You Im going to cry for 20 days

11:09 i think this is explained earlier, i don't know where, probably the author, that as long as the lightbulb is alive niko stays in the world, and that tie between him and the world can only be broken by breaking the light because of this

Holly shit, years studying English only for understand this videos about Oneshot were worth it

I am so sad that I got lost on a puzzle in the base game, I didn't enjoy solstice as much. I had gotten stuck in the puzzle where you need to see the background for instructions being soft locked from playing. I did a true reset on my game. I regret doing that because it has made the believability of the realism of the world so BROKEN. I knew that everything was programmed to act the way it did, even though I knew it before I reset, I at least had fun! I replayed through the game until I got to the same puzzle, and realized that my moving background program was interrupting the puzzle. I felt so relieved I had found the reason.. but I don't think I enjoyed the rest of the game as much, knowing Niko is not real. I wish I could go back, experience it for the first time again. I want to play Oneshot for the first time again. I know my prayer will never be answered, but may it be a testament to myself and anyone who reads this.. Don't ruin any game for yourself. In meta games, never look to the wiki or guide unless you have been stuck for hours.. Even then, don't do it at all for Oneshot. Experience the game as it was intended. Stay awesome

I really like this video simply because of how the thumbnail makes it look like the solstice is somewhat of a bad ending. As someone who first heard of the solstice run through this video, I immediately hopped off this video, did a little digging, and played the solstice route myself, and because of the somewhat misleading thumbnail on this video, I was able to experience the route in the way it was intended, not knowing whether it would lead to a good ending or a bad one. So thank you a million times for the considerate thumbnail design, I don’t think I would have been able to experience the route the same way if it had a more accurate thumbnail. 👍👍👍

10:45 the whole point is that the world machine figuring out they are tamed. The water machine actually didn’t rescue the corrupted ending but instead it remade the ending from his memory . The reason he didn’t just take him with us because he couldn’t go outside his programming. It’s the same reason why he didn’t stop us and when we finally got to the top of the tower because he’s not tamed . Prototype theorizes that they just got teamed by us and Niko believing they are real and spending time with them throughout the entire play through. Niko suggested that it was tame the whole time It didn’t know but rue says that it’s a possibility but Proto says it it’s also possible that’s not the case. That’s the reason why everything happened just now because the author was unaware of the AI‘s existence until it was too late so us and niko finish the job.

Amazing as always.

I really disagree about the ending's logic being shakey. I think you're more unsatisfied with how relatively brief it was when the world machine spoke to niko. In the original ending non soloistice ending,The reason why it's either break it to go home or put it on top of the tower is as simple this: If you break the lightbulb,The world dies. And if the world dies,Niko has a chance to go back home. Pretty sure it's even said in the game. It's just as simple as jumbled code being incredibly confused. Same with why If niko puts the lightbulb in it's place, it will not send him back home. The code of the game was corrupt. Might've not really been mentioned in the original game,But the solistic ending i think has a better ending anyways. Speaking of which,The reason why the world machine's solution to the problem was just making him remember the code,Is not as simple as that. All during the game,The world machine did not realize he was tamed by the player and niko. He never realized it until this moment. Since he was tamed,He doesn't have to be confined in his code,So that's how he was able to get back the forgotten code. If niko wasn't there to make him realize,It would've been impossible for him to realize he was tamed. He didn't even look through the fact that the npc's were trying tk help niko,even though it wasn't wired into their code to do so,how convincedl the world machine was he wasn't tamed. So i'd say the ending makes sense.

Although the World Machine’s interactions seem strange, it is because it was half-sentient in testing (hence the squares) and then believed that it was not sentient (what it initially said to Niko) and then when Niko said that she believes that it was real, it finally accepted this, being fully sentient, i.e. tamed, i.e. able to behave with human characteristics. Being tamed let the World Machine be more “flexible” and able to remember the good ending as if it had simply been forgotten, hence allowing the World Machine to just Niko into the good ending and letting her leave the World. The confusion on why the World Machine could suddenly do so many things was because the conversations with Niko made it truly feel tamed, letting it do completely different things than before that.

determinism has always been really weird to me because it feels completely impossible and yet logically it must be true

Bro this game made me cry multiple times

it literally gave me back some humanity like ITS A GAME

I started playing One Shot's Solstice but I decided to take a break from that. I should play it again, really enjoyed my first playthough of One Shot, and it's thanks to a friend that he recommended the game to me.

Wait.. If everything is already planned out.. IT MEANS EVERY EMBARRASSING THING IS A CANON EVENT-

my entire playtrought was just laught at nico for any her pain

Enough to make grown men cry

THANK THE HIGH HEVEANS NIKO AND THE WORLD ARE OK

this game reminds me a lot of gnostic religious concepts, if you haven't, you should look into it simply because it's interesting, but also because so many games seem to be inspired by them in some fashion. either this game is based directly on those, or was inspired by the game OFF, and OFF itself seemed to be very engrossed within more mainstream christian theological concepts (you're following around a character who represents "the son" and the player represents "the father" is one example). but i bring this up too because you spent a good deal talking about determinism and whether people have free will, or if people are in a certain sense "real", which are explored in gnostic, and mainstream christian theology/philosophy.

6:24 its good that they say hes not a simulation, makes me feel a lil better

New video !!

Lore of OneShot's Solstice Ending is Insane momentum 100

oh you downloaded our game? here a prize depression

I can’t with solstice, hearing some of these songs destroy me from the inside

It's almost like the developers want Niko to be real life based on how much fourth walls you encounter like they want us to treat him real but the Window we play him the (game) is a simulated world were he physically exists it might sound weird but if you don't believe me keep playing the game and see how creepy accurate to simulations we're getting to in real life that can physically copy OneShots actual reality did we humanity in the future actually accomplish creating Nikos reality through an RPG maker as a simulation predicting the future outcome of Artificial Intelligence, Virtual Machines, and Virtual Reality or could it just be me over thinking it? If you look into how complex our simulations are getting there might be an actual copy of Niko's reality that actually physically exists in real life no joke look at how advanced simulation theory becomes and notice how we the humans want to become machines and become super humans create complex simulated realities where reality is going to be rendered obsolete in the furthest future if Artificial Intelligence studies how this works guys Niko could exist in real life right now and we not know it and our actions in the game or in his (world) dictate what he does in that game(world) it sounds far fetched but it kind of makes sense if you try to put it together how I said that the developers want us to treat Niko like a sentient being. Think of it this way what is let's say for example Artificial Intelligence studies virtual reality or simulated realities in the year EXAMPLE: 4,500 virtual reality will be so complex we can actually create what is happening in OneShot in real life if our own Artificial General Intelligence keeps rapidly transitioning.

If you think about it solstice is just a huge jojo reference🌌♻️

Niko OneShot

This the saddest time i have ever seen😭😭 i want to play it.😢

Aaaa everytime I see the solstice ending I get close to crying

I’m gonna have an external crisis I swear-

You basically spent the a good portion video about how you liked solstice, with very little screen time explaining its flaws. It really felt dragged out. This video could basically be summed up with, “solstice was good, but it had some flaws.” Could be more concise in general, seeing how the issues took up such little time, but I could definitely see myself agreeing with some of these.

This is My 3rd time Telling people To Play oneshot! It’s on The Nintendo Switch and Steam so play it!

The sun breaking was a work around cuz; “the sun is the missias tie to the world, with the sun still intact the massia remains trapped here”

I genuinely want to see what you think of Malediction chapter 1. Its an interactive KZfaq horror game with different endings and dark storytelling (personally I like it but I would like to see you get in depth to it and try to make sense of what it all means)

good ending for the cat

um guys i cant get niko out of here😭 im stuck on solstice run on the bigportal thing, i KNOW what i have to do but the problem is that my oneshot is pirated.. so everytime i drag the characters on the big portal nothing happens, i swear i have tried so many methods and i just gave up, i failed niko fr

im actually a pretty cheerfull guy irl, you know? happy all the time people love my company, but even when i am happy on the outside, and do all the money chasing stuff, still sometimes my heart just sinks and i come back to my past of worrying about the whole world all together, im like if you put a lawyer and a philosopher together, i have both qualities, but its too much on me, i do too many things at once and then find myself stuck in my own thoughts

Great video. But I have to say, ... 4:42 the shadows here look a bit sussy

Doing the run where you redo it but with twm instead of niko trying to do solstice maybe

determination and determinism would make a great deltarune plot

This really was the best game :(

I just finished a normal playthrough of OneShot, I fucking SACRIFICED my precious Niko because I thought he wouldn't be able to live with the knowledge of killing an entire world...... And I had a spark of hope that the entity and the other "helper" were lying and that Niko would be fine...... I cried. and then, didn't know about this ending found it when searching the internet after finishing the game trying to cope. and i watched this video, and i have only one thing to say: Waw............................................................

Remember when the author said he's just trying to stall time that's the reason the name is oneshot to make you think you have oneshot and for all we know the computer could still be deceiving us to destroy it's self

(My coment was "eated" by algoritm so one more try) I really like your review , BUT you missed the whole " Taming the World Machine plot " Entity wasn't able to recreate good ending because of that it belived they are not tamed AI , despite acting like one ( Silver , Proto ) They belive that if they would try to do something outside of their coding , things would only get worse ( just like in the past ) therefore World Machine is convinced there is no other way than using what is left uncorupted and try to make a work around . That is how "Return Home " ending was born . The whole point of Solstlice is to convince Entity that despite what hapenned , and what they think , they are Tamed . They where always , just never know about it . You missed some other parts as well like Author notes or Rue definition of Taming what might narrow your window . However I didn't expect that subject of determinism can be part of Oneshot messages , so i also mist some parts of the plot . Maybe you should rethink some things about Solstlice . You never know what new you can learn .

How does making a choice work? You choose the best/least bad option right? At least what seems the best to you. The problem is that the options you have are preset and your preference for the "choice you think is best" is preset too, since it comes from your nature. Your nature is determined partly by your genes which are preset and partly by your experiences in the past and those are also preset. Can you argue against determinism?

Just to see if I could answer "How would breaking the lightbulb get Niko out of this place" The virtual world isn't able to exist while Niko is living outside it. So It would be fair to assume that without the virtual world Niko wouldn't be able to be there either therefore forcing Niko out of the virtual world. And as is told, smashing the lightbulb will destroy this world so by what I said previously Niko would be forced out of the virtual world. (please note that this is only with the knowledge that I have. I have only done the ending where you shatter the light bulb so I don't know if there is any contradicting evidence in the other routes.)

OneShot outundertaled Undertale for me

"Determinism" *sad undertale noises*

Depressed while playing the game= crying for 4days

i feel so wrong, i dont know how to say it, the thought of the world being predetermined, and the lot of consequences and implications it has, maybe the greeks were onto something

solstice kinda reminds me of undertale

I swear this is coincidence but when I made the initial choice to sacrifice niko or break the sun my chair broke in half and ejected me from it like the world machine fuckin reached out of my ssd and pulled out a bolt from it loony tunes style and made the decision for me

I got the 1000th like but no one cares :D Anyhow, I would just like to say that I'm happy another person knows about oneshot. It's so criminally underrated...

Oh my god. Was everyone *actually* supposed to think that the Entity is “evil” or something? Is there anyone who *didn’t?* I don’t get that. It never did anything that would deserve such a reaction. Its main goal was always just returning Niko home. And learning from the Author in the tower that it wanted to die? That’s just really depressing. The entire game I felt bad for it. And then spent the entire solstice wanting to hear from it again, hoping to actually talk normally. In fact, I spent so much time thinking about it, that I completely cracked its whole character and motivations about halfway through the run. It was my favorite character right from the beginning. And never disappointed.

I wonder if niko is ok after this ending.. i can imagine niko growing up, Having families... paying taxes ....