Setting out on a journey fills a person with anticipation of what highs and lows will be experienced on the way to the destination. Most people think of working on a ship as being glamourous, especially if it is a cruise ship, with multiple swimming pools, restaurants, and thousands of passengers. Life in One-Way Ticket is entirely the opposite. You found yourself taking on a fishing job despite having zero experience. The integrity of the captain and crew is indicated by the lack of background checks on the obviously young worker, who soon finds danger lurks in every cabin, with conspiracy and mutiny being plotted in every whisper in this horror-themed visual novel. From the outset it is not a novel suitable to the squeamish.
The dark and twisted aspects of the plot create great intrigue: every character has a secret that may or may not get revealed depending on the choices the one makes. Visual novels generally tend to have choices, but it feels that every single one in One-Way Ticket has great importance. There are several endings, and a lot of them have some gory scenes of murder and torture.
There is barely a sane person on board the ship, which from the game's title is made clear that death may happen. It happened several times during the review playthrough, resulting in loading saved files and praying the next choice would at least keep the main character alive long enough to figure out the motive of certain character's insane actions.
Later on in the story it is clear that the captain, the captain's closest staff member, and many more, are absolutely bonkers. All they want is revenge and to cover up their crimes. Death doesn't always come swiftly when it does come, and the scenes are rather harrowing… and yet captivating in how awful they are. There is nothing typical about the stowaways discovered on the ship, or what the captain wants to do with them.
Their fate, along with every single character is uncertain. Paranoia soon reigns supreme, and figuring out who to trust, and who to betray, is nail-bitingly hard. Whatever the choices made, someone will be beaten up or worse, putting the player between a rock and a hard place in terms of decision making. The guilt once certain decisions are reached is palpable for anyone with a conscience.
