Only You - Re Cross -

T''his article is for the 2001 remake. For the 1996 original, see Only You: Decadent Juliets''

About
Only You - Re Cross - is a remake of the 1996 game Only You - The Decadent Juliets that was created in response to the surprise popularity of the original game, which was available only through a limited mail order offer for members of the Alicesoft user club. As the original version of the game heavily borrowed character designs and aesthetics from pre-existing properties, Alicesoft was hesitant to give it a full retail release out of fear of violating copyright laws. As a result, it was decided that the game would heavily redesigned for its wide release. While retaining the same central themes of "Love, battle and manhood", several aspects of the Recross' story were drastically altered from the original, making it closer to an entirely different game than a straight remake.

Gameplay is largely similar to that of the original, being a hybrid of adventure-style and RPG gameplay. The player is able to perform various tasks such as training, shopping, or spending time with other characters for a set amount of time, culminating in a battle against an enemy once the time limit has been reached. All battles are fought one-on-one in a turn-based style, and rely on the player combining their skill set in creative ways in order to unlock new and more cinematic and spectacular techniques.

As with the original game, an emphasis is placed on achieving "pure love" with one of the eight possible heroines, as the player is unable to progress beyond a certain point unless they have reached a high level of affection with one of the heroines. After reaching this point, all other heroines beyond the selected one will become unavailable for the remainder of the game. Every heroine has both a good and bad ending that is dependent on how honest and loyal the player acted towards them throughout the story.

One year following its initial release, an all-ages port of the game was made for the Sony Playstation 2 console. While the Playstation 2 version removes all of the erotic content from the game, it greatly expands other aspects of it, adding full voice acting, several animated cutscenes and many more additional sprites for the characters. Additionally, a secret ninth ending focusing primarily on the background of the character Ragou Karasuma that can only be obtained after certain conditions are met was added to this version.

Differences From The Original

 * With the exception of Tiger Joe, the entire cast of the game is drastically redesigned in order to remove their resemblances to copyrighted characters.
 * Yuuichi Magami, whose disappearance is an important plot point in the original version, now appears from the very beginning of the story and serves as an extremely major character throughout it.
 * Rin Reiran, who was deceased in the original version, is added as one of the eight main heroines.
 * Matsumi Kagamimori has been completely removed from the story and replaced by a new character known as Moegi Kagamimori. As a result, the route centering around the character has been completely changed.
 * Misaki Nitou's father Ryouma Nitou, who was merely sickly in the original, is deceased from the beginning of the story, substantially altering Misaki's route in the process.
 * Narumi Karuizawa, who was considered to be a secret heroine in the original, appears earlier in the story and has her personality altered slightly in order to be established more definitively as a main heroine.
 * Simone White has been renamed Simone Kyoko White, and has been made the advisor of the Phoenix Academy Martial Arts Club, making her role throughout the majority of the game much different.
 * The Mark of Ruin appears on Yuuji Magami's right hand rather than on his forehead.
 * The player is able to enter in battle commands for their next three turns in battle, rather than only for their very next one.
 * Many more techniques have been added to the game, and the effects and properties of the pre-existing ones were heavily altered in order to diversify them.
 * The order in which certain plot-important techniques are learned has been altered, causing certain scenes to play out slightly differently.

Story
Yuuji Magami is the captain of the Martial Arts Club at Phoenix Academy. Five years ago, his older brother Yuuichi Magami won the world fighting championship, only to mysteriously disappear immediately afterwards. In hopes of one day reuniting with his brother, Yuuji trains everyday to become strong enough to qualify for the championship, supported by his friends and adoring younger sister Megumi Magami all along the way.

Yuuji's daily life is interrupted by the sudden reappearance of Yuuichi, who returns home without an explanation of where he was or what he was doing during his long absence. Yuuji's joy at their reunion is short-lived, however, when a mysterious man with a strange cross-shaped mark on his left hand known as Ragou Karasuma appears at the Martial Arts Club dojo one day in order to challenge him to a battle. Utilizing an obscene level of martial arts skill, Karasuma easily overpowers Yuuji and causes a mark identical to his own to appear on Yuuji's right hand. The fight is then interrupted by Yuuichi, who demands that Karasuma fight him instead. The two martial artists exit the dojo to fight in a more suitable area, leaving a shaken Yuuji to walk home by himself.

Upon returning home, Yuuji finds his house destroyed and his parents murdered by a strange assassin. The assassin informs him that he has been targeted by an assassination group composed of the world's most powerful warriors due to the mark that has appeared on his hand, which he claims holds the secret to destroying the planet. Barely able to fight off the assassin, Yuuji is pushed even further into the depths of despair when he sees the corpse of his younger sister Megumi in the bloodied hands of his beloved older brother Yuuichi, who reveals himself to be in league with the assassination organization before promptly disappearing.

In his darkest hour, Yuuji's feelings of grief and sadness transform into feelings of anger and vengeance, causing him to turn his back on his friends in pursuit of the power necessary to have his revenge. At this very moment, a mysterious masked man known as Tiger Joe appears before Yuuji and, after effortlessly beating him into submission with unbelievable martial arts skill, instructs him to not allow his soul to be consumed by anger. Tiger Joe then tells Yuuji that the true secret to obtaining the strength necessary to overcome any obstacle is by harnessing his desire to protect his loved ones, and orders him to find someone in his life worth protecting.

After receiving Tiger Joe's advice, eight very special women soon begin to appear before Yuuji. In order to obtain the strength to fight off the strongest warriors in the world, Yuuji must come to recognize one of them as his one and only true love. The path of love is not an easy one, however, and Yuuji will only face even greater hardships as he steadily learns what it truly means to protect the ones you care for.

Trivia

 * Tiger Joe has made many appearances in Alicesoft's media such as Widenyo, Alicesoft's 4koma mini-manga series, and more.