VN - Ren'Py - Completed - Life with Mary [v1.0.2 Final] [LikesBlondes]

It's not a bad story. I'd even say it's quite good so long as you choose the obvious options. I admit that I will pick up a spoiler or walkthrough for most VN's for the sake of finding the one or more optimum end results.

The low rating however is for the fact that the choices given are simply for dialogue, and are pretty futile. I already know the "correct" choice with minimal effort, and even attempting to steer any sort of path has no real immediate effect. There is even an early moment when an NPC is warning you to not lead the girl on, and without any choice at all you begin massaging and then snuggling with her. Any more level response only serves to make the MC look like a douchbag as Mary first looks at you with disappointment, and then the two of you immediately start snogging.

I get it... the title is "Life With Mary". We all know what the end result is supposed to be, but the options given may as well simply be limited to one; the "correct" response. It would be better to give the player the option to be the aggressor or the defender - if the player tries to cool it down, you can still have Mary batter away at his defences so long as her relationship points are high enough, and still continue the story. Instead, I find a lot of moments where I would play cool and then start sucking Mary's face.

Aside from the lack of real control, the story isn't bad, and the characters aren't bad. The immersion only fails when you try to swim against the current and so long as you avoid that you should like this game... It's just a little tough to call it a game when there seems to be little real control.

Life with Stallion... I mean Mare... I mean Mary... get it?

What can I say, it's a nice romantic short game that delivers a vanilla experience that is quite enjoyable. It does not have all the flashy bits of other recent VNs. There are quite a few attractive characters in game that you can't pursue. It's a linear story that only allows certain characters to be romanceable. There are choices and you can screw things up but more or less it's not that complex.

1 point less cause a lot of scenes are quite dark to make out during naughty acts. Also the animations are not that great.

Overall it's a great game. Simone is hot.

Sweet is the word i'd use if asked to describe this game in one word.
It's not hardcore sex with every chick you see. The story revolves around your life with Mary as the title suggests. You get the option to bed a couple of other characters but with consequences. The pace is good and the ending is sweet but a bit short. Try it.

Like the characters and plot, this game is beautifully ordinary.

If you want a deep plot, fast action, some intrigue, crazy sex, a harem or any real kink, you will likely not enjoy this.

This is exactly as the title suggests. A story about a blossoming romance and the (early) life a middle aged man spends with a naïve, sweet teenager.

There are few decisions to make, and if you want to follow the obvious, romantic, vanilla trajectory of the novel, they are rather easy to "get right".


I probably haven't seen enough of what might be considered the best to judge the, er, graphics or animation of the sex scenes. The sex in this, like the whole plot, is cute. It is sometimes sexy, sometimes funny, sometimes sweet, but in this way it fits in seamlessly with the rest.

If you like to really get your pulse racing with racy stuff, this probably won't do it for you. If you like to feel good about sweet sex as a culmination of sweet moments, you will hopefully like the naughty bits as much as the rest.

I'm not sure if it is good or bad (or what it says about this humble reviewer...) but I often as not found myself smiling through the sex scenes rather than getting excited.

So this is definitely closer to rom com than racy porn. It made me happy to play it, so I didn't care or even really notice things like the appearance of the characters. They were all beautiful, but if they weren't rendered to top standard (again, I can't really judge) it hardly matters when you are enjoying their moments more than their movements.

But even if you really like the sugary sweetness of it all, as I did, there are a few criticisms.

Other reviewers have said the ending feels a bit rushed.

This is certainly true in that the plot more or less wanders aimlessly, outside of the gradual build up of the central romance. And then after one crucial decision, ends almost immediately.

But from another view, there are no real ups and downs, or crisis points, in the game. There are some minor moments of stress, but they are predictable, not that stressful, and resolved pretty easily. So an ending after any point would have felt abrupt, as there is no real build up or climax, as it were.

So the real critique of this is that viewers are likely to not enjoy an emotional or an actual climax...

The end did have a slight element of emotional anxiety and guilt that had been absent through the whole story if you previously played it safe, so it is not entirely a smooth ride. But even that was quickly overcome and then the obvious choices you make get suitably played out.

I did actually shed a little tear of happiness at the end, but I'm unusually emotional reading visual novels, plus one of my favourite break up songs was playing in the background...

But if you want to feel really passionately about characters, as you may in some rom coms, this also may not do it for you.

Overall though, since this is so pleasant, if that is your thing, you'll probably like this.

TLDR: A sweet romance, with reasonable graphics that take a back seat to the slow burn, nice character interactions. Perfect to feel happy if you need a stress free, drama free, romance novel. If you prefer something more passionate, action packed, or intriguing, look elsewhere.

The character models and the lighting are good, but where this visual novel truly shines is the novel part.

The characters have their own rich personalities therefore it's very easy to warm up to them, so much so that the end sequence of the story will cause genuine tears of joy! The progression never feels sluggish or uneventful, because frequently several days are passing by when nothing of significance is happening. This way the relationship is getting that additional sense of genuine, realistic pace, but that also means that whenever you get to play out a day, you already know that it will be a milestone in the relationship, which kind of, to some measure, kills the surprise. This little quid pro quo however does not diminish the fact, that this story is engaging and entertaining to the highest levels!

This is not the first visual novel I've enjoyed where the chemistry between the characters is believable, but the first one where that chemistry is built up believably from nothing. There is no love at first sight, no magic attraction that is just there from the first moments, we see two strangers getting closer and closer to each other who eventually develop romantic feelings for each other.

While at first I thought it would be welcome to see more passion in the game, because intimate scenes are few and far between, on a second thought, the scarcity of these only heightens the quality of the story. This is not a porn game, we see a relationship unfold in every detail, including the bedroom.

I certainly do not consider myself a visual novel veteran with only 18 games played so far, but as I am going through the F95 toplist one by one, this has been one of my personal favorites, definitely TOP5!

Graphics: 8/10
Dialogues: 5/10 (Yep need some work specially during H-scene)
Story: 6/10 (Not my cup of tea? or ist coffee? idk , I just don't like scenes where protoganists do self cucking choice, It's minor though. I think it's alright.)

A comforting romance, that's what this is. Its journey has its adversity because it has to give you something to overcome but it's generally very feel-good.

And that describes the character Mary best, as soon as you meet her she shows cute mannerisms and a sweet heart. If you dig the sentiment the genre offers then she will likely give you a content afterglow.

Dialogue you can believe in is important for a romance because of its focus on character. This one's written well, the personalities and motivations are believable. All in all it was pleasant.

The rushed ending really let this one down, but it was doing so well leading up to it! Well written and characters you began to genuinely care about, more backstory or interactions with some of the supporting cast may have helped balance the story.

Some parts of the story were contradicted later on, but overall it was a solid, slice of life and just nice game, no crazy incest, paranormal or scheming needed here. A nice change! Just wish the story could have gone on longer and the ending didn't feel like a rushed afterthought.

tl;dr: Excellent game with few flaws.

The images are above average. Animations are mostly fluid where present, though they sometimes have bad frames which lead to flashing. The writing is crisp overall with few mistakes.

I only have two real critiques. First, there's little overall conflict, so it's pretty standard slice-of-life, albeit with a much more interesting relationship than is typical in these projects. Second, the ending comes out of nowhere and is quite abrupt, as if the creator simply wanted to be done with it, though this may just be a byproduct of the previous critique.

Overall, it's a fun ride and worth your time if you enjoy slice-of-life and would like to see a fresher relationship setup, but don't expect too much story beyond that.

A lot of people who review these types of games say that they have a good story if their fetishes are included or they like one of the girls. This game is different. The standard porn tropes are replaced by actual characterization. While the premise is obscure, it is not so far fetched that I can't believe it happening. It is not a masterful piece of art, but it is far more realistic and wholesome than smut has any right to be. As a lonely Coomer, perhaps it is more satisfying to have a more real girl, than it is to have a harem.

This games was interesting for me due to the way the relation between the character and Mary build up over time. The intrigue that you can have with her friend is also interesting if cheating does not bother you.

The physiognomonie of the characters is well done, nothing being represented in a weird way.

What a good story i liked both mary and simon
Good render
Good animations
The story wasn't deep enough
The decisions not many
Stil good game for me but ofcourse not 5 stars

I like romance stories with no NTR

I really enjoyed this game. It had a compelling story and i cared about what happened with the characters. the animation was decent and the models were nice. I would recommend playing this game. Kudos

Fantastic writing, narrative was really well constructed.

Choices were sometimes not as well articulated as they could be, some of the renders and models could've been a little better. The ending felt a little rushed, and there were some plot threads left unattended.

All in all pretty good, but definitely too short.

My thoughts:

-Nice, feel good story, at least for the MC. Other characters have some melodrama, but it's mostly smooth sailing for MC as long you don't make him a total scumbag.
-Main girl Mary is hot but in certain lighting/angles, she looks much older than she is stated. If you just looked at their faces, you would think she is older than her mother.
-Game sort of ends out of nowhere and it seemed like there were some ideas that didn't really go anywhere or that still had meat on the bone. Going to the movie with Vanessa and having Andi move in seemed like they might lead to potential sexy times but nope.
-I don't like to fret over tags but please don't go in expecting a harem game. You can have a little threesome but that's it.
-Animations don't seem to appear until pretty late, but they aren't bad once they show up.

Really good I especially liked that the romance felt genuine and wasn't jusy there as an excuse to have sex with the girl.
it felt less scummy and made me actually looking forward to ending up with the Mary and I also liked that the mc wasn't horny 24/7 like most and wanting to bang every girl I encounter felt like I was in more control

In the middle the romance did fall a little bit for me it was still great just felt a little less there in place of sex too me and the ending was a bit abrupt also they forgot about mike in my ending for whatever reason playboys die hard I guess.

All in all really good game and likable character I recommend of anyone cares.

It's really just a game about living with Mary who in itself is a boring character while scenery doesn't really change a lot. Meaningful interaction with other characters is minimal. Animation is pretty good. The character of the protagonist and especially Mary is build pretty well.

It is a girlfriend experience game. There are not so many route but characters and story are extremely working. Protagonist is a realy likeable and normal person not a creep. Score system is very simple there is not radical impact of choices in game. Usually I don't like games with just a few characters but that game is an exception. You can feel yourself in a real relationship with a long story and kind of romantic moments in a good not hollywood way.

The game starts out really well. It is a natural, slow-burn type game in which you get to like and appreciate the main characters as they begin to like and appreciate each other. The game is passionate and natural and it really is an achievement to manage that in a game.

The game starts to draw out especially towards the end which I suppose is a main plot point but I feel that skipping weeks ahead at a time comes off as lazy considering how fantastic the earlier parts were. Basically my issues begin at the ending, the characters lack the will to try and make things work and this is partially because the MC is by definition a boring dude. The only thing making him interesting is in fact Mary who ends up losing that drive towards the end.

Obviously there is a good ending with Mary but it feels rushed and honestly feels like the MC is holding Mary back. She stops going out and gets knocked up so young. I'm not sure the love and passion really comes through which is disappointing considering how perfect and sweet their relationship was at the start. The other endings are alright I suppose, the best ending probably is the exclusive one with Mary's best friend. I feel that both MC and her benefit from being together although it is sad to see Mary go.

So the game is great, but I can't help feel that it fell short. The game didn't try to do anything special or groundbreaking which is fine but it certainly pays by making the game a bit dull at the end. Definitely worth trying and in spite of my major gripe with the game it was a nice experience and I would recommend it.

I really enjoyed this game!
Here's why:

Story 8.5/10: Now, I know it's somewhat Ironic, but I really like romance in games like these. I feel that the game isn't just some alternative to PornHub. The story is set out well and makes sense. It explores different paths and avenues and is packed full of storytelling. The character development is also pretty good. 8.5/10 (Great Writing)

Renders 8/10: This is what we're all here for... the renders. In this game the renders are quite above average. They feel as if there has been time and effort put into them opposed to some quick MS paint trash that most devs produce. 8/10 (Well done)

Animations 8/10: I'm someone who finds it incredibly hard to get hard to still images. However, I'm also someone who will not except crappy animations. I'll be honest, the quality of the animations can really impact how I see the game. This game, thankfully I might add, produces some really well done animations! 8/10 (Easy to Nut to)

Models 9/10: I really like the models in this game (Despite seeing them elsewhere). Many games have really bad models or they have one really good one and then 2 abysmally looking ones. This game does not do this thank God! 9/10 (Other games take note!)

Thoughts:
Really well made game from the story to the scenes very very good. I'll be honest, I was a bit sad when I saw the completed tag for this game as it means I'd have one less good game to play and 20 more godawful ones. However, I hope the Dev starts a new project and if so I will be there in a flash!

Good luck on your future projects!

Final Verdict: 9/10 (One of the best!