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

You know, I kept with this game from time to time early in its development, then i think the last update i followed was around the hospital, now i spend the whole night playing from zero (pressing skip here and there i will admit) and oh boy this must be one of the games that has left me the most satisfied in a while (in all senses of the word).

Where to start? Okay, lets start easy. The COMEDY IS FUCKING GOLD. If I had to pin down what is the most hilarious thing here it would be hard to say which made me laught the most but i guess the closest one to first place would be the whole prison segment which leads to my next statement: MIKE IS THE FUCKING BOSS.

The animation is really good and fluid, didn't imagine you could get these kind of results with Honey Select.

The sounds effect and soundtrack really nice.

The game isn't grindy and the minigames and puzzles are quite enjoyable and fun to do.

The plot is quite solid with some little nice twists here and there (even if some of them were telegraphed miles away). An enyojable story, straightforward but with a steady and nice flow that makes it enjoyable and easy to follow along and even feel invested in.

The characters are quite enjoyable from the possible LI to the secondary cast, everyone oozes personality, even the ones that appear in only one scene. This is also the biggest lack in the game, concerning the potential love interests. None is badly writen, maybe it feels they should have needed some more fleshing out, maybe its my simple desire to see more of them despite the story doing a fine job of characterizing them, I would certainly have loved to see more of Jasmine, Iris and Aiko, they arent main girls material, I get it, them lacking affection points and so, but still, would ahve loved to see more from them.

Carla coincidentially feels like the more cliché of the bunch and the most lacking in personality (even if some of her scenes where amongst the hottest ones), only feeling like she had a great characterization by the final act of the story. I wish Rebeccas's relationship didn't feel only mostly sexual.

That's another thing, the mix between being horny and having the feels wasn't that well balanced in the game with some of the romantic interests (Carla and Iris feeling at times specially like nymphos and nothing else, Rebecca could be included in this category too but at least she has the whole 'im in a relationship im not sure i still want' going for her, Jasmine certainly started as full on pure sexual thing but it was clear things were ramping up for more, but again, by this time, we were too close to the end of events). By contrast, the bonds with the two vet main girls (Judie and Lauren) and Aiko, despite how little there was of her, felt very genuine and the sex was a part of the relation, NOT the relation.

Another thing lacking or that would have been nice to see was characters interacting beyond our MC, sure we are the protagonist, the story revolves around us, but that doesn't mean the world does, i for one feel Iris interactions with Judie made a lot to flesh her out beyond 'girl that thirst for her best friends brother', would be nice to see more mother-daughter moments, or between Lauren and Aiko or Rebecca and one of the girls, there where moments here and there, just, some more of them.

Anyway, despite these, I actually feel them like personal peevs of mine that are also too insignificant to put a noticable dent in the overall quality of the game. And hopefully the DLCs will solve several of my complains about the game.

Once in a Lifetime is a masterpiece in terms of storytelling. I genuinely enjoyed the game, and appreciated all the characters. Plus, the humour is just amazing! (Will to live -37, psych!)

The earlier sex scenes are a bit lacking for me, due to a lack of audio, but the actual animations are still top notch, and audio is instituted into some of the later ones. The dialogue, writing, investment into the characters, story progression and design are definitely enough to push Once in a Lifetime into my top tier of storyline-based adult visual novels.

Regardless, if you're looking for a VN that will give you a great storyline, as well as get your rocks off, I highly recommend this one. I'll be watching the developer's future work with some interest.

Oh, also, it has some of the most awesome supporting NPCs I've ever seen.

S. Mike for president. 2023. I'm just saying.

Oh man, what a game. Definitely one of the best, if not the best, VN I've played here. The girls are gorgeous (especially the sisters), the story is great and the humor and random references had me laughing out loud. The choices you make matter and can end the romance (or path, as the game calls it) with any of the girls. Those choices are usually straight forward so you probably won't find yourself reloading except to see the (often hilarious) consequences of picking the other options.

Pros:
+ Great renders, beautiful girls
+ Animated sex scenes
+ Well written story
+ Great humor and references
+ Harem ending possible
+ Wincest mod
+ Gallery mod
+ Stabby Mike

Cons:
- Game is too quiet at times, especially in some sex scenes.

Final verdict: 5/5 - Stabby Mike for President.

Excellent game, with a captivating story and beautiful lewd scenes. I couldn't choose one girl as all of them were beautiful, so I think the harem path for this game fits well, as depending on the play style, all the girls had meaningful interactions and scenes with mc. Though I will say that in the harem path, all the girls seemed open to this idea without at least some pushback. Still, I would recommend anyone to play the game if you want to have a good time, and I can't wait to play dev's next game; after the epilogue concludes, this game.

I cant say anything that hasnt been said yet about this game.

But I still want to cred it as one of the very best Harem games and stories in this entire website, all the girls are loveable and the fact that you can have all of them without any real stress/drama or pain associated is awesome.

It should speak volumes about the game the fact that I kinda felt emotional seeing the girls' pregnant bellies in the epilogue (kinda wished we could see everyone's bellies, not just Jasmine and Aiko).

Reviewing the v1.0 release (with Completed Tag)!

This is one of the best games I've ever played, the plot and content are so amazing! The writing was very good, and quite funny, with lots of humorous lines and renders.

Overall the pacing, the funny moments, the serious moments, the sexy moments, everything was great. Totally worth playing it.

Loved this game. The story, the looks, the characters, the humor, the music, everything was fantastic. One heck of an emotional rollercoaster. Some moments really cracked me up whereas others were quite hard-hitting. The spooky moments did not disappoint too. Certainly the best VN and among the very best of the games I have played so far.

I found this game a while ago when it was still in a early stage of its development, and as it looked promising, I decided that i'll play it again when it's finished.

And DAMN it really turned out to be insane ! I could see the improvements in the animated scenes as the game goes by. Congratz on that point.
I was also amused more than a few times, may it be caused by some dumb dialogues or funny situations.
Can I mention that I nearly shat my pants in the hospital and the mansion ? Better if I don't i guess...

To talk about the game itself, the story is captivating, the visuals are way ore than enough to be acceptable, great job on the shading and lights, some times colored and somes others way darker.
The characters are well written, expect for a few who could have been a bit more deepened like Aiko for exemple, as she is not that present in the story.
The various choices in the game made me feel like i was really the actor of the story, not just a spectator whit fakes choices. To me, it's a pretty big deal to have slightly different dialogues in a same scene if you made two different
choices.
And finally, I like what you did with the several ending, especially the secret one. As for the Harem one, it put a smile on my face, even if I was expecting a prologue or something like that, but it's probably better that way.

Everyone needs a Stabby Mike in their life !

4.5/5stars

Great game, MC wasn't a complete douche like other games, girls didn't follow the classic tropes and in general character attachment grew as you continued playing. The relationship between the characters and their personalities was amazing and truly enjoyable. The characters, CG and H scenes were beautiful.

It felt as if you were actually playing a game, there was the perfect balance between humour, drama, eroticism and enjoyment when playing the game. You could go from fapping to being fully immersed in the resident evil aspect of the story. The creator did splendid with the sound effects and you could clearly see as the you enter the later patches the progression the game made itself. Unforgettable game, loved the characters, wished for more Clara unfortunately.

Ps best waifu Stabby mike

Reviewing v1.0; this is a pretty incredible game. Others have mentioned many of the reasons, but I wanted to give my own shout-out and thanks to Caribdis for putting in the time to make this.

First and foremost, the characters are amazing. I was growing increasingly attached to each of them. I could go into detail, but I'd be here all day. In particular, I enjoyed the fact that the protagonist (don't remember his default name, if he had one), felt like a real character and not an empty void to insert myself into.
Caribdis also nailed the balance of drama, humor, and sexy fun-times. It never felt like a slog to get to the H-scenes once they started, and it kept me engaged the whole way. for the most part, the story doesn't take itself to seriously; the humor is the focus, and it is top-notch, whether it be full scenes of outrageous spectacle like the game show, or constant quiet bits of humor in the character's reactions and dialogue. Despite that, when it needs to get serious or creepy, it does that, and does that well, without letting the humor get in the way.
There's so much more to say, but, again, I could probably be here a while. Thanks, again, Caribdis, for making this.

I honestly didn't realize that I had never left a review for this game. Once in a Lifetime is literally the gold standard for HS games. The girls are attractive with well-developed, unique personalities. All the usual archetypes are here: the innocent "roommate", the bratty rich girl with daddy issues, the hot teacher -- yet Caribdis was somehow able to add a layer of depth to each girl with his prolific characterization skills.

The plot is interesting and really captures the player's attention, leading to incredibly fun theory-crafting (at least when the game was still in development). And finally, of course, the humor. It's incredibly difficult for an H-game to actually distract the player from the reason they're here (lewd horny escapism)... and yet Caribdis was somehow able to do that constantly throughout the VN. I'm sure there are loads and loads of comments and reviews about how funny Cari was able to make this game (the scenes, the reactions, the deadpans, the characters), so I won't go into it.

The only thing I'd say as a piece of advice is a request to allow the player to set names for the girls to call the MC during lewd scenes. Think it would take the lewd content up a notch, personally. Disappointed me when I romanced best girl Jasmine in OiaLT and wasn't able to get her to call me "daddy". I think I mentioned this on the game's discord once, so hope Cari is able to implement it!

I was quite disappointed that OiaLT had come to an end... but the previews for Eternum quickly changed my mind. The game looks like it will be a bit darker and add even more mystery, so I'm really looking forward to it. The preview pics look absolutely incredible (really loving Luna, Annie, and Penelope, the last being Cari's first blonde LI I think). In the meantime, I guess I'll play Ripples and Deviant Anomalies -- but Eternum will def make me a day 1 sub for Cari.

Excellent story, you will probably binge it, so set aside the proper amount of time. This is great to the end. It doesn't dissolve into a ridiculous fuck fest like some others. The MC isn't a rapist asshole. Lots of comedy and pop culture references. 5 stars

You can't go wrong with this one. Cool MC, memorable characters, funny (i genuinely laugh out loud at some scenes, it's hilarious) and it has Stabby Mike, the best character you could ask for on your side.
Definitely 10/10 for me.

Starts off a little janky, but develops into a pretty decent story after a little while, with some real laughs and scares. The various characters are fun and likeable, and the girls are pretty, though they are fairly similar visually due to the limitations of the model software. I used a walkthrough mod, and enjoyed it quite a bit.

I don't ever review games on here but I felt compelled to do so after completing Once in a Lifetime.

The story is honestly really compelling, and more importantly to me genuinely funny. No other game has made me laugh while playing as much as this one. All the characters both sexual and side are memorable.

Amazing game, would recommend. I look forward to any future works from this Dev.

I don't easily give 5/5 scores.

This one definitely is one of the best visual novels I have played. The story is engaging and funny, and very well paced. The visuals are top-notch with small details, especially the facial expressions, that makes it much more alive than your typical adult VN.

Biggest issue for me was the good ending. It's a bit obscure to get and left me hungry for more rather than satisfied, but I guess it is debatable if that's a good or a bad thing.

One of the best VN stories around, the characters the humor and plot are all excellent and engaging, Honestly there's nothing much else to say besides that.

Graphicly it's good but not great, there are some better looking games out there but as I said I was into it because of the great story.
The "comedic" graphical effects are fantastic though, plenty of moments when I had a good laugh because the Dev uses them effectively to bring a comedic situation up a notch(Turning someone's face into a "negetive" still for example)

"Fetish" wise it's pretty Vanilla so if you're looking for something more degenerate you won't find it in this one, scenes and characters are well animated though.

Excellent game, first of all. But where do I even begin with my review? I guess I was interested in VNs of any kind, this caught my eye like the others but I kinda judged it on the first images I saw. I thought it was going to be some dark, torture-themed VNs, which I'm not a stranger to, but not I wanted in the mean time. And I skimmed through the description and it involved cults and whatnot and that kinda reinforced my bad feeling about the theme of it.

But I got a new phone recently and I started looking for games to play and this was definitely in the top-recommended games and I just jumped into this game without knowing more of what it's about. I expected some routes to be all about love and maybe route might involve pain and torture, I don't know and I kinda kept my expectation to a minimum.

The art/characters are from HS it seems which is I'm familiar with and it didn't bother me at all, except for the male characters (but their design did add to the creepy/comedy effect). The girls, I like them, a lot. I expected some small-chested love interest but the girls are great and I wouldn't change anything about them.

The story, started out normal, as normal as any anime story goes (dad is missing, a bunch of girls surrounding the main character and I kinda skipped the MC's background story in my first run, I guess I just wanted to know where the game goes as fast as possible). Also, great inserts of pop-culture references, they went well with the dialogue, I say. Freaking hilarious. There were some school stuff, studying and quizzes which I flunked and made me miss a route [spoilers] in my first run. For me, the story went in high gear after using the key, and [spoilers] happened. I might get in trouble if I spoil things here. But when the cast expanded, a lot of shit happened. I love [spoilers] with his sunglasses and beard and [spoilers] with his stabbing personality. Also, I love going from high school life to scary/mysterious themed [spoilers]. Also, if I could mention, the girls' moments didn't seem to be forced at all, for me anyway. It was handled beautifully, I'll explain in next paragraph, and I just want to mention, I lost 2 nights of sleep over this. I didn't expect to be really into it, I was hooked, I needed to know how it ends, and I kinda rushed to end with some shitty decisions and getting a bad end. God I felt awful when I [spoilers] and the one love route I was going for had to show that she moved on. But even after that, I was excited to start all over again.

For the game/mechanics, I did not expect this 'harem' structure, which was well-implemented. My first run, I thought there might be a rule that won't allow me to get a harem and I kinda chose to end other relationships to avoid getting into trouble with Lauren. I kinda love Lauren. Anyway, I used a guide to get the happy ending and I'm just stunned to see a lot more moments I missed in my first run. After the second and third run, I gotta say, the fun experience I had with this was not once in a lifetime.

Just to close this review, I guess I wrote this just to reminisce about my first moments with the game (and the complete experience with the help of a guide). I love the girls, the guys, it had cliches but I like it, it's well-made/presented, it felt like a TV series, the comedy, slice of life, sex, action, horror, drama, holy hell, I loved every moment of it. Oh and the music was great, it added a lot to the emotions I felt while playing. Thank you for the spectacular experience!

Man what a game, i loved it to the end. I enjoyed almost every thing of this game, whether u talk about characters, whether u talk about story.
About characters- i loved all the characters in the game and for a surprise i didn't thought that it would be funny as well, specially if i talk about mike. Man what a nice character, i enjoyed him also, he was funny as hell and good at same time.
About story- story story story. What a good story this game has. I freaking love it. I was so into the story, and i think story is one of the best aspects of the game
Thats why if player loves the combo of good characters and good story to follow then his/her game experience would be very very good.
I dont know how to do the spoiler thingy so i wont even try it lol. I like to play the game which are completed and i finished the game like within 2 or 3 days. I have alot more to say about in the game things but idk that spoiler tag thingy lol.

First thing, the only one con i can find in this game, and it's not even much of a con: Of course, the models made, i think, with some version of Honey Select. Yet, even so, even with the native weirdness of HS's models, and MC looks extremely weird, the girls menage to be all cute and hot, so... Great job even with it!

The pros are just all there. This game has a dam solid and fun story. Well though, well written, well paced, with engaging characters. And it attempts to do commedy succesfully even with a solid drama at the base of the narrative.

Need i say more? This game is gold. I liked pretty much everything about it.

A big plus: I always go around this forum explaining how, IMHO, commitment on a route should happen late in the game, to give ample agency on a player, who, otherwise, has only appearent freedom of choices, because thier choices are forced to pursue the route, rather then to enjoy the game, even not following a walkthrough. And having to follow a monogamous route from the start, under such circumstances, can be very dull. Well, this game let you do exacly what i preach about. It lets you play your game and make choices near to the end.

I think an aspiring developer should really play this game before they start their own project.