It’s not fair to benchmark OIALT with Eternum, but since I had the “misfortune” of playing the latter first, I couldn’t help but compare one against the other. All I can say is Eternum is a big improvement in all aspects compared to OIALT, but make no mistake - on its own this game can still garner a 4.6+ stars as well.
Story
The story is relatively straight forward i.e. MC and his two step sisters will be investigating an evil cult and of course at the same time have lots of “fun” along the way with other LIs. The story itself might not be much, but Caribdis’s top notch skill in script writing that amalgamates adventure, humour, tension and emotions is on full display here.
The developer is also very good at making use of cut scenes to make a point or maximize humor impact. I will always remember the rapid alternate close ups between Oliver, fat girl and the elephant statue at the pool. OMG, that was scary and funny at the same time.
Game Mechanics
AVN with choices - most of the choices affect your points / scenes with a LI although there are a couple of them towards the end that will affect the ending.
Background / Character Renders
You can trace the developer’s improvements in graphic rendering along with the game. Initially most of the background and character models were very Honey Select default, as the story progressed they improved significantly and some of backgrounds in the hospital and mansion were actually very detailed and carried the horror mood well.
Character Development
This is a light hearted harem story so naturally you ain’t gonna see much in terms of character development. However I would say that OIALT has managed to craft each of the LIs to be lovable in their own way - Lauren is sporty & cute, Judie shy & smart and of course other minor LIs who are adorable in their own ways.
Other non-LI characters like Tom, Jack, Stubby Mike, Oliver also add a lot of fun into the story. Not many AVNs bother to spend much time developing other male characters, so kudos to Caribdis for making the effort.
Sex Scenes
Similar to the graphics, players witness the improvements along the way. The initial few lewd scenes were bleh… typical plain Honey Select animations. By the time you reach the last quarter of them, the developer has injected his own unique style and many of the threesome scenes were steamy hot!
BGM and Sound Effects
One of the sad missing areas is the lack of BGM during much of the game. While there is some minor background noise and sound effect, you will be playing the game mostly in silence.
Thankfully things start to pick up during the second half with BGMs and sound effects becoming more pronounced. The scene where MC got trapped in the bath with other males with that strange Chinese song was goddam hilarious and has stuck with me ever since.
Conclusion
OIALT is Caribdis’s first game and it shows - the initial graphics and music were bland and did not stick out from the competition. Thankfully the quirky dialogues and funny cut scenes provided initial entertainment for players to grind on and by the time the second half came by things have improved tremendously to the point the game can stand in the first tier on its own.
Story
The story is relatively straight forward i.e. MC and his two step sisters will be investigating an evil cult and of course at the same time have lots of “fun” along the way with other LIs. The story itself might not be much, but Caribdis’s top notch skill in script writing that amalgamates adventure, humour, tension and emotions is on full display here.
The developer is also very good at making use of cut scenes to make a point or maximize humor impact. I will always remember the rapid alternate close ups between Oliver, fat girl and the elephant statue at the pool. OMG, that was scary and funny at the same time.
Game Mechanics
AVN with choices - most of the choices affect your points / scenes with a LI although there are a couple of them towards the end that will affect the ending.
Background / Character Renders
You can trace the developer’s improvements in graphic rendering along with the game. Initially most of the background and character models were very Honey Select default, as the story progressed they improved significantly and some of backgrounds in the hospital and mansion were actually very detailed and carried the horror mood well.
Character Development
This is a light hearted harem story so naturally you ain’t gonna see much in terms of character development. However I would say that OIALT has managed to craft each of the LIs to be lovable in their own way - Lauren is sporty & cute, Judie shy & smart and of course other minor LIs who are adorable in their own ways.
Other non-LI characters like Tom, Jack, Stubby Mike, Oliver also add a lot of fun into the story. Not many AVNs bother to spend much time developing other male characters, so kudos to Caribdis for making the effort.
Sex Scenes
Similar to the graphics, players witness the improvements along the way. The initial few lewd scenes were bleh… typical plain Honey Select animations. By the time you reach the last quarter of them, the developer has injected his own unique style and many of the threesome scenes were steamy hot!
BGM and Sound Effects
One of the sad missing areas is the lack of BGM during much of the game. While there is some minor background noise and sound effect, you will be playing the game mostly in silence.
Thankfully things start to pick up during the second half with BGMs and sound effects becoming more pronounced. The scene where MC got trapped in the bath with other males with that strange Chinese song was goddam hilarious and has stuck with me ever since.
Conclusion
OIALT is Caribdis’s first game and it shows - the initial graphics and music were bland and did not stick out from the competition. Thankfully the quirky dialogues and funny cut scenes provided initial entertainment for players to grind on and by the time the second half came by things have improved tremendously to the point the game can stand in the first tier on its own.
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