Mystery Chronicle: One Way Heroics

About

Mystery Chronicle: One Way Heroics is a roguelike RPG that overhauls the gameplay and graphics of One Way Heroics, adding in characters from Danganronpa and Shiren the Wanderer. With over 20 different classes, players must constantly move right to evade the Shine Raid and battle the Fallen Angel, Alma. The game features procedurally generated worlds for infinite exploration and epic battles with companions.

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Mystery Chronicle: One Way Heroics screenshot

64%

Audience ScoreBased on 223 reviews

gameplay15 positive mentions

music5 negative mentions

The game offers a lot of new content compared to the original, including more classes, items, and NPCs.
The graphics and overall visual presentation have been significantly improved, making the game more appealing.
The gameplay retains the core mechanics of the original while introducing new features like traps and a PvP mode.

The game suffers from performance issues, including a 30 FPS lock and noticeable stuttering during gameplay.
The new trap mechanics can lead to frustrating and unfair deaths, as they are often invisible and can end runs unexpectedly.
The user interface and control scheme are clunky and less intuitive than the original, making navigation and item management cumbersome.

gameplay
67 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
22%
73%
4%
The gameplay of the game retains much of the original's mechanics, offering a familiar experience with added content such as new classes and companions. However, players have expressed concerns about the introduction of a trap mechanic that can abruptly end runs, as well as technical issues like lag and a complex hotkey system that detracts from the overall experience. While some appreciate the depth and replayability, many feel that the gameplay does not hold up to its predecessor, citing a mix of nostalgia and frustration with the new elements.
- “There's more classes, more companions, more mechanics, and overall more content.”
- “The roguelike gameplay is put together well.”
- “The main bits that made me like One Way Heroics (especially Plus) are still there: high replay value turn-based action RPG with fun itemization and good (now improved) graphics--except now there's even more content: new classes, biomes, enemies, items, etc. so, if you liked the gameplay of One Way Heroics, but want more, this is worth the $8.09 it currently is.”
- “The biggest problem is probably the new trap mechanic, which can just suddenly end a run by knocking your character into the lava after 500 km.”
- “In terms of gameplay, the new trap mechanics completely screw up the entire thing as any run is now subject to the mercy of RNG, and it's more dangerous to carry bombs than ever before.”
- “Unfortunately, there are some gameplay concerns that cause this entry to fall just short of being as good as its predecessor.”
story
46 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
15%
78%
7%
The game's story is generally well-received, featuring a rewarding narrative with multiple endings and character-driven plots that enhance the experience. While some players appreciate the expanded lore and character interactions, others feel the main storyline lacks depth and coherence compared to the original. Overall, the game offers a mix of engaging quests and optional story elements, though technical issues and gameplay mechanics may detract from the overall narrative experience.
- “It's honestly a pretty well put together story and quite rewarding to overcome with all the unlocks.”
- “The companion stories are elaborated a bit further in this game, which is a definitive bonus as it's always felt like one of this game's major appeals was figuring out 'the hidden story' that isn't otherwise thrown in your face.”
- “There are multitudes of different endings in this game -- some involve making friends along the journey, fighting the light itself, and difficulty changes, even some side quests would unlock a different ending to read through.”
- “It just spawns random NPCs with unique text, and you don't get the full picture of what you're gathering because the story is edited out in the form of a fade out.”
- “Even the one way hero quest meant as a reference to the original game has just cursory appearances of the old characters, with nothing interesting about them or the setting added.”
- “Now granted, the main story here takes a back seat to those characters, and frankly, could have used a little more development.”
music
34 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
12%
74%
15%
The music in the game has received mixed reviews, with many players noting a significant reduction in the number of tracks compared to the original, leading to a more generic and bland overall experience. While some appreciate the unique background music, others feel it lacks the adventurous spirit of the previous titles and recommend using mods to restore the original soundtrack. Overall, the music is described as decent but not particularly memorable, with some tracks being hit or miss.
- “The music is less adventurous and more dramatic compared to the previous titles, but that does not mean it is bad.”
- “The soundtrack is as kickin' as ever.”
- “While the music is consistently decent, I have yet to hear a track that really drew me in.”
- “I recommend installing the original music mod to replace the new music.”
- “They've switched a 16-bit-styled music, gloriously styled like in the SNES Final Fantasy series, for bland orchestral tunes that would fit just about any RPG-ish Japanese experience.”
- “The biggest downfall is the music.”
graphics
34 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
9%
82%
9%
The graphics of the game receive mixed reviews, with some players appreciating the updated character art and overall aesthetic improvements, while others criticize the inconsistent art style and performance issues, such as low frame rates and crashes. While the graphics are deemed better than the original, many feel that they do not compensate for gameplay shortcomings and that the character designs lean too heavily into typical JRPG tropes. Overall, the visual enhancements are seen as a positive addition, but they come with notable drawbacks that affect the gaming experience.
- “The art style, once you get in the game, is really good for the character art.”
- “Played for about five hours tonight, and it's exactly what I hoped it was - just like the original game, but with more stuff added, and prettier graphics.”
- “Overall, I like the updates this game has received graphically and enjoy the new features I missed out on by not buying the original game's expansion.”
- “The absolutely eye-bleeding 30 fps is awful, and most importantly, it's a bizarre step backwards from Shiren the Wanderer in that it only has the vile Xbox button graphics.”
- “The game has an overall worse art style than the predecessor, and so is the gameplay.”
- “Graphics are ugly and over-detailed.”
optimization
30 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
10%
60%
30%
The optimization of the PC port has been widely criticized, with many users reporting a frustrating 30fps lock, frequent stuttering, and choppy animations that detract from gameplay. While some players have not experienced performance issues, the consensus indicates significant optimization problems, particularly with monster movement calculations causing delays and overall sluggishness. Despite the game's appealing visuals and mechanics, the performance issues have led many to prefer the original version.
- “I think my main gripe with the game is that it could be much better optimized when it comes to calculating monster movement, because it can really slog the game down as there is about a 1 second delay every time you move.”
- “The game does have performance issues, such as instantaneous-like movement 60% of the time when you dash; it isn't too annoying but it needs to be brought up.”
- “Performance issues aside, this remastering is a nice new coat of paint on an already good roguelike game.”
- “This PC port is unoptimized, runs at 30fps!!”
- “Game also has poor performance, choppy animation, and is locked at 30fps from a hard-coded design... which doesn't even work properly at 30fps in the PC port.”
- “This game is loaded with performance issues, the most significant being regular stuttering with each movement, an issue the devs claim is due to needing to wait for enemies to act with each of your turns and so don't intend to fix, despite that the original game worked the same way and didn't suffer from constant stutter.”
replayability
10 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
20%
30%
The game boasts high replayability due to its ever-changing adventure maps, diverse quests, and a wealth of new content, including classes and items. Players appreciate the depth and fun of the gameplay, making it a title that encourages repeated playthroughs. Overall, it is highly recommended for fans of roguelikes and those seeking a game with significant replay value.
- “The adventure map changes each time you play, which gives this game a high replayability value.”
- “It has amazing replay value and is something you can sink hours into.”
- “One Way Heroics is a fun RPG with great replay value and surprising depth.”
- “And that's the big draw of this game: replayability, and playing over and over again.”
- “Thrives on huge amounts of replay value and improves upon the original one way heroics.”
- “There's a surprising amount of content here for the asking price, so definitely give this a try if you're a fan of roguelikes, the mystery dungeon series or just games with lots of replay value.”
humor
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game is a standout feature, particularly in versus mode, where players find it especially entertaining when battling friends. While the comedic elements and storyline may not resonate with everyone, many appreciate that the game retains the original's humor without dilution.
- “The versus mode is hilarious when you're fighting friends.”
- “While the humor and story may not work for everyone, it really worked for me.”
- “It keeps the same feel and humor from the original; Chunsoft didn't neuter anything about it.”
stability
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game has notable stability issues, including persistent glitches and performance problems, particularly on certain Intel drivers that can reduce frame rates to 1 fps. While the PS4 version has received updates to address these issues, the PC version remains largely unpatched.
- “It's got some glitches and problems that they still haven't fixed, yet the PS4 version received updates to address them.”
- “One of the really bad glitches I've encountered is that with some Intel drivers, you'll experience outright 1 FPS.”
grinding
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players express frustration with the grinding aspect of the game, noting limited save slots and a reliance on grinding due to ineffective helper characters and lackluster rewards. Additionally, the slow dialog skipping contributes to a tedious gameplay experience, further exacerbating the grind.
- “For some reason, there are only three save slots, and in general, everything is designed to force you into grinding. Items can't be repaired in the vault anymore, helper characters (especially the two encountered at the beginning) are mediocre and take forever to become useful, and most rewards (both in-game and optional stuff like sketches or ending cinematics) after completing missions/worlds are mediocre or useless as well.”
- “I already mentioned this as a caveat to the new voices, but skipping dialogue takes forever and makes the game incredibly tedious to play.”
monetization
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
300%
Reviewers express optimism about the monetization strategy, noting that the ads for the game appear promising and hinting at potential exciting developments for an old title, particularly in the context of RPG storytelling.
- “The monetization strategy feels overly aggressive, making it hard to enjoy the game without constantly being bombarded by ads.”
- “It's frustrating that the game locks essential features behind a paywall, forcing players to spend money to fully experience what it has to offer.”
- “The in-game purchases are overpriced and often feel necessary to progress, which detracts from the overall enjoyment of the game.”
character development
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
300%
Reviewers highlight that the game features new character designs and artwork for all characters, enhancing their visual appeal and contributing to a fresh experience in character development.
- “The new character designs and art for everyone are truly impressive!”
- “The depth of character development in this game allows players to form genuine connections with each character.”
- “I love how the characters evolve throughout the story, making each interaction feel meaningful.”