No One But You (PC)

Details: Category: Computer; By Cheryl Gress; 10.Feb; Hits: 5609

Game Info:

No One But You
Developed by: Unwonted Studios
Published by: Sekai Project
Release Date: January 19, 2016
Available on: PC, Mac, Steam OS
Genre: Visual novel
Number of Players: Single-player
ESRB Rating: Not rated
Price: $9.99

Thank you Sekai Project for sending us this game to review!

No One But You is a visual novel game that puts you in the shoes of a high school teenager named Hideaki. He recently moved back to his childhood neighborhood with his mother. While he re-acquaints himself with some childhood friends, he makes many new ones and most of them are (single) females.

Hideaki is plagued with bad dreams and has to sort out some bad memories from a childhood accident. Depending on choices made within the game, Hideaki will become close with one of the students and open up to them and they in turn will reveal an unexpected situation in their life as well. Like many visual novels, there are many different endings and some of them are happier than others.

Highlights:

Strong Points: Funny conversations and characters; unexpected story twists
Weak Points: No voice acting; some holes in the story
Moral Warnings: Lots of language; violence; sexual situations and possibilities for same-sex attraction; ghost references

Some of the endings can be quite sad and end in tragedy. While the artwork is usually bright and cheerful, there are some violent and bloody scenes as well. One of the girl's stories involves attempted rape and murder. This is another visual novel that is not suited for children given the violence, foul language, and sexual situations. Though sex was never described in detail, it was talked about often, and some of the endings elude to it taking place.

In fact, my Steam achievement collection now contains a picture of a girl’s underwear. There are eighteen Steam achievements available and you can get the first one by simply launching the game! Other than one other, the rest are hidden.

The writing is decent and the characters are likable though a little cliché’ at times. I was disappointed with some of the story holes that didn’t reflect the choices I have made in the game. For example, there is one girl I had the option of following after seeing her storm off, and I chose to leave her be. Later on in the game I text her and she’s all chummy with me though we have never talked. The time progression is also a bit strange as the game sometimes progresses day by day or it skips weeks ahead in time.

Score Breakdown:
Higher is better
(10/10 is perfect)

Game Score - 80%
Gameplay - 16/20
Graphics - 7/10
Sound - 7/10
Stability - 5/5
Controls - 5/5 Morality Score - 47%
Violence - 3.5/10
Language - 0/10
Sexual Content - 3/10
Occult/Supernatural - 7/10
Cultural/Moral/Ethical - 10/10

While the lack of voice acting didn’t bother me, some people may be put off by it not being there. Given the crude language, I’m okay with being able to play the game without my kids hearing it. Pretty much every word in the book is used and the Lord’s name is used in vain as well. The background music is pleasant though it sometimes doesn’t match up with the story sequence. For example, there’s a scene where a girl is playing a guitar and when she stops playing, the guitar background music still continues.

Overall my three-hour journey in No One But You has been a pleasant one and I’m happy with the endings I have seen. There is plenty of re-playability with getting to know the other girls and the only male, Ryo, as well. *Spoiler alert* there is an option to get the guy in the end instead of a girl */spoiler*

If you enjoy high school/harem visual novels with sexual innuendos and salty language, then you may enjoy No One But You. Be prepared for many story twists and having your heart strings pulled. Although many gamers have been brought to tears by some of the endings, I must admit I wasn't one of them. Then again I haven't seen all of the endings yet. The asking price is a reasonable $9.99 and there is a demo available if you want to try it before buying it.