VN - Ren'Py - Completed - Once in a Lifetime [v1.0] [Caribdis]

This was the first completed AVN I played after getting back into adult gaming in 2021. It was a truly hot, humorous, ridiculous (in all the right ways), and heartfelt adventure back then and it's still easily one of my favorites.

There's not a lot to be said that hasn't already been said better by others but I wanted to add my praise to mix. There's also not much to complain about (rare for me) but if really pressed for some elements to be critical of:
-The looks of the MC at the beginning of the game I guess, which was pretty standard for HS.
-Some of the aspects of the occult stuff, which is usually a draw for me, may have gotten a bit iffy at points (it's been too long and I don't remember the details so this is just a feeling I remember).
-Zack Snyder's Justice League? Are you kidding? Shrek should have been the only legitimate good choice with those options.

Much thanks to the author for the joy his games have given others.

I downloaded this game,
I played this game,
I even jerked with this game,
But most of all;
I really loved this game!
10/10, 5 star I really recommend this game!

Charcters uhh what should say?
Every of them have a personality. To me this is important in game, even if it's a porn game.

Animations
Awesome, quick, elegant.

Story
Great,funny,loveable

Again 5 of 5.

An absolute Gem.

The writing is excellent. The plot is very good, the story line flows nicely. The Dev does a great job conveying thoughts and feelings with just facial expressions or a shifting of the eyes, no words needed.

The characters are varied and done well, the humor is good without being over done. Stabby Mike, Oliver, and Jasmine's passive aggressive insults all well written. Seriously, how can you not love Judie, though all the girls are great.

There is a patch for this available but this is one where I liked playing it better without. The story flows more naturally.

To be honest I'm usually not a big fan of HS but Caribdis definitely makes the most out of it.

Once in a Lifetime could be used as a tutorial on how to make an excellent VN.

Well, thanks for making me lose a whole WEEKEND to this game, Caribdis!
You just had to go and make a compelling story about cute slice-of-life bogus and then drip-feed me some damn good plot hooks until we're playing a friggin' horror game and a supernatural investigation!
Entire weekend! Gone!
And I ain't even mad about it and that makes it even better!

Gosh golly jeez whatever.
4.9 Graphics since we get clipping every now and then.
5.0 literally everything else.
Freaking great story and characters and music and interesting use of RenPy functions no one else remembers exists and wholesome-ass story and having the balls to let you ruin your own ending with the path system.

Why you gotta make a game this good?!

Screw you guys, I want my weekend back, so I can play this game for the first time, all over again!
Jerks! I love you, no homo..

Excellent game both in concept and execution. Some of the best humor I've ever come across in a VN. Disappointed at the relative lack of pregnancy content (only one character has any interactions regarding it aside from literally 2 still images in the ending).

one of the best vn game i have played..keep up the good work man..u should write a short novel or something with your stories..eternum is great too and i really love how there are no unusual sex scenes which is really good for the flow of the story.. cant wait for the 0.6 v..

A great game, so nice experience. I wanted to play this VN before the next of the author and I'm glad to see how well this aged. I will put here what I liked most and least:

+ Characters (boys and girls)
+ Sex scenes average quality
+ Entertaining and interesting story
+ How the story developes and you unlocks scenes (no need replay to get all of them)
+ Humour (very funny jokes)
- Too serious story for a H-VN imo (has jumpscares, creepy zones...)
- Not too many options in sex scenes. Most of them are like videos
- No too sound effects

An ambitious wish-fulfillment adventure that's more quantity than quality.

This is a story-heavy occult adventure game. The tone is pretty light, consisting mostly of comedy and corny romance. There are a few darker moments but they're hard to take seriously. There's few significant choices to make; mostly you're just picking dialog options at random, hoping they don't permanently lock you off from a girl's route (a lot of the "bad" choices are arbitrary). The game does let you see which routes you're still following, but this just encourages you to choose at random, spamming undo until you find the one choice which doesn't end in rejection.

The writing is, in a word, juvenile. As in, it feels like it was written by a 15-year-old. The main character is a bland highschool loser who somehow effortlessly gets all the chicks, fights like a badass kung-fu master, dresses in "cool" edgy fashion, and inexplicably becomes the leader of a team of vastly more competent and qualified people. This isn't necessarily bad; some people enjoy this brand of moronic. But it's certainly not for everyone. If you don't enjoy incredibly shallow, simplistic, and convenient characters and scenarios, be prepared to press Skip a lot.

Credit where it's due, the developers clearly put a lot of effort into the game. There's heaps of content, and the game's not afraid to put in the extra effort needed for unique locations, props, or even one-off gags. However, this results in the game feeling very rough and stretched thin; like they grabbed every random art asset they could find online and just chucked them all in, consistency be damned.

At least the main cast's character models are all good looking (except the nightmarish MC). Each girl gets tons of unique poses, expressions, and animations. The sex scenes with them are hot, plentiful, and unique. Though given the size of the cast, there's not a lot of variety; it's all pretty vanilla, and the writing rarely adds much.

Overall, if you want a series of mindless, cheesy adventures, and vapid women shoving their tits at you every 5 minutes, it does a fair job. But don't expect anything more.

There are a lot of good reviews, consider reading them. Just for the statistics - it's not for me!.. Unnecessary long story with no moments where I could literally care about anything. And almost no porn content. Or maybe there are some "true ways" on how to play it, maybe some choices mattered more than I thought about them. However I played it, didn't really like it, had some hopes for the ending... and there's nothing. Not terrible. Just poor. Time wasted.

I like the story a lot. A bunch of comedic elements but not overdone. Really one of the funniest has to be the public bath scene in JAPAN and it plays Yi Jian Mei which is CHINESE hahaha. Gotta love it. Scenes were nicely done, Lauren was my fave but all in all STABBY BEST GIRL

Character designs aren't exactly my personal favourite ( I'm into thicc chicks and the ones in this game are...well...skinny to say the least. ) the writing / humor / story is top notch though, absolutely worth every minute. Highly recommended.

Amazing VN with really interesting characters with.
The characters are beautiful, the story is really nice, with some tense moments, some jokes...
You can see the dedication of Caribdis, one of the bests.

Quite an enjoyable experience. The story is good. Humor is well placed and flows organically with the most part of the story. It has a bit less sex scenes compared to some other games on this site but the scenes which are there fit nicely. But would've loved a bit more story and sex scenes with the teacher and mother. Another thing which could've been fleshed out is the Harem ending. As it stands right now, it's just a slideshow of different events. Overall this is a well made game and people who like these genres and give it a try will not be disappointed.
I will surely remember the characters for a while. Thanks dev for bestowing this game on us. Looking forward to Eternum.

Probably the best porn game I've played so far. And I've played loads of porn games.
Really funny with very endearing characters. With an interesting plot that does not take control over the relationship between the characters. This game has no flaws.
After finishing it, I really couldn't stop thinking about this game for at least 2 weeks, day and night. The only way to think about anything else was to play the other Caribdis game. Thanks for making great games!

Not much more to say that hasn't already been said in the hundreds of reviews, an unforgettable experience and a well-built harem game, among the best here, only surpassed by eternum from the same creator. It is very noticeable how this same game is in very similar aspects, but elevated and polished on a higher scale. give it a try and go all the way is no time wasted.

A damn good game. 5/5.
It's hot as hell, surprisingly sweet, and occasionally poignant. There's some pretty good humor, too. As far as the gameplay goes, it's pretty standard VN fare, with a decent selection of choices. The animations and models are great, though there were a couple of points where I was pretty sure I saw sets I'd seen elsewhere, which gave me a bit of a laugh. Definitely worth your time, and if I had more cash to spare I'd throw some at Caribdis to support Eternum's development, because it's shaping up to be just as good. (Also in some degree of continuity with this game, or so it seems.)

This is without a doubt my favorite VN on F95. It's funny. It's sexy. It's got drama. It's got the power of friendship. You really can't go wrong with this one. I could go on and on about its merits, but really you should just jump in and try it out for yourself.

Well, the best describe of this game is "I was looking for copper and found gold".
Visual style is pretty good, all characters looking nicely. Maybe not everyone like that kind of style, but i love it. Sex scenes is awesome - animations is smooth and very hot.
I don't know about story uniqueness but that plot presentation is something. There is all: a horror, a comedy, a drama and of course porn. Playing this game one-handed is impossible - you just laughing (I was laughing like a fn seagull sometimes) , thrilling or sadding - and it's all while you have a boner.
Musical accompaniment (where it is) is worthy and also fits to style of game. Maybe there should be more of it, but whatever.
As a result - it's 10/10. I just can't pass through without recommending this.

Great game, I really enjoyed it. Wish we had more scenes with the side chars Jasmine, Aiko & co. The story while being nothing special was decent, the recurring side characters were pretty funny. The renders were okay, bit too same-facey girls and the clipping of legs through skirts was noticeable.
Sounds and music was sparsely used but decent.

I generally dislike Western Erotic Games, but this one surprised me (in a good way). Not only was the story enjoyable, but you could connect to the characters and the sexual situations were a breath of fresh air. I also particularly liked the fact that not every girl was required to be 'acquired' for the Harem, as I am not the biggest fan of having intercourse with your mother, but that is my personal taste. The other characters were interesting and full of life. In Summary, a great game for people who want an interesting story strewn with enjoyable sex scenes with various fleshed out characters.