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Regardless of how much I enjoyed it and the fact my wife is one of the heroines of the game, One is not an eroge I would simply recommend to everyone. Even if you're a Key fan I wouldn't say this game's for you. This is a game for galge fans who are looking for an added twist...
That added twist being the magical/paranormal factor that only happens by the end of each route. Like most galges, One focuses on the slice of life, the mundane everyday of the MC and the heroines' various personal conflicts and struggles...
And like in most Key works, here the magical "plot twist" is not the end but the mean by which each heroine faces her own problems and difficulties, finding a solution to them. I think the difference here is that the "magic" in One is less prominent than in other Maeda games...
There's no grandiose backstory like in Air, or a tale of miracles like in Kanon, or a tragic depiction of a family that finds hope at the end like in Clannad or Summer Pockets. It's just the story of a dude with who happens to fall in love with a bunch of somewhat insecure girls
The charm of the game is not on its plot but on each heroine's personality, backstory and different attitudes towards falling in love and the changes that implies on their lives. In other words, you can't expect a game with an interconnected plot, each story is its own game...
If you are able to look at the game through that perspective and not through the lens of a Key fan, then you'll find a really solid galge/bishoujo game with pretty well written and "human" characters that has aged pretty well (in my most personal opinion).
If anything of what I just rambled about made sense to you or sounded somewhat appealing, probably One ~kagayaku kisetsu e~ might be a game worth your time.
That is all for now, thank you very much for coming to my TED Talk.
That is all for now, thank you very much for coming to my TED Talk.
