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

Once in a lifetime is a fun VN, with the right mix of comedy, sex and plot. I always quote GTA Vice City and say keep the cameras pointed at the poontang, and Caribdis does not fail at this. The story never gets too serious, but the comedy factor doesn't take over either. Definately putting this in my complete games folder to revisit for the gallery!

As I understand it, this is Cardibis's first game. The art is really good, and the girls are pretty enjoyable. Two things that I have a slight problem with. As a couple people have mentioned already, I felt the cult thing is not really necessary. They feel seperate to each other. And at the beginning it seems none of the girls take it seriously. I think you could've used another better reason to make the two women sexually frustrated instead, and still added a mystery element; the men have seperate families for example, or maybe that they were in love with each other.

My second gripe is that the dialogue didn't flow very smoothly. I understand this is your first game that you're working on, but try to remember to add more dialogue to make the flow of conversation better in future projects. Especially in the sex scenes; (although they were really hot) they ended after like one or two taps. Even just a couple moans and non-important dialogue could make it better.

The male model was also a bit weird (mostly the eyes), so I hope that will improve as well.

Overall a very solid game. I loved it, and I hope to play more of your games in the future Cardibis

Since everyone else and their second cousin is filling up my notifications bin with reviews for this game, I'll toss in my fifty cents.

From an objective narrative standpoint, I felt like I was reading two well-written stories that had almost nothing to do with each other, yet were being forced to work together. And I cite this critique in the most constructive way possible, so that the dev might consider my opinion moving onto future projects.

At its core, Once in a Lifetime is a story about a young man who is getting it on with his sexually frustrated (not) mother, curious (not) sisters, one of his classmates, and his sexually neglected teacher. All of this could have easily been done without the backdrop of mysterious cults and magic.

Each part of a story should be indispensable. This is why critics hate Jar Jar Binks and Olaf the Snowman - because you can rewrite the whole story without them and accomplish the same thing, if not also do it better. So while I was playing this game, it felt like the fantasy narrative was not as meaningful to your character's relationships with the girls as I would have liked.
Yes, both father and the fiance had probable cause to be absent, giving their significant other's probable cause to feel neglected, but the cause of their absence could have been fulfilled with anything, be it cheating with a side piece, a second job, gambling problems, or any other sort of second life instead of a fantasy about grimoirs and gods. As it presenty is, it feels superficial, almost like creating the connection was a second thought.

Fantasy in general has its own set of problem. I really do enjoy fantasy stories, but I also hate it whenever magic is used as plot armor, or to get the MC to cheat a victory. To Caribdis's credit, there was not a great deal of this, but it did exist.

Once in a Lifetime was also made in such a way where you really only ever have to play the game once in your lifetime. Sorry, I couldn't resist the joke. What I mean is, you can see almost all of the content in a single play-through, if you want to. There are inherent good and bad aspects to this sort of game design that simply are not the dev's fault. Some people like and dislike only having to play a game once, some people like and dislike having to play a game more than once. You simply cannot please everyone. I only bring this up for readers to keep it in mind.
There is a secret ending if you follow no girls' paths, but I don't know what that ending consists of (yet). But this ending from what I can tell is the only ending you'd have to play the game a second time to be able to see.

Ignoring the taboo kinks, the sex options in this game are very vanilla. Oral, vag, and very little anal. It was actually refreshing, in my opinion, and it made sense for this story and the relationships being developed. Lots of other games are filled to the brim with every weird-AF fetish that puts rule 34 to shame, especially the Japanese games. Brownie points for keeping it simple.

In summary: Once in a Lifetime's worst flaw is it wasn't nearly as compelling as I think it could have been. But Caribdis did so well in every other aspect that I cannot bring myself to knock off more than one star. I think everything else has already been said 200 times, at the very least, by all the previous reviewers. This game is definitely above the average, and I am curious to see what else Caribdis makes in the future.

I can't describe with words how much i love this game, starting from beautiful characters (Carla and Jasmine are the best for me) to interesting story with humor which isn't cringe and actually makes me laugh. Tribute to you Caribdis for making it, and i can't wait to play your next game.

Very good game. Plot, graphics, characters and lot's of humor. This is a one of the best game in this type around here.
Pretty long playtrough if you read all the story of course, no bugs for me . A huge 5 stars game period.

This game deserves accolades. If there were an annual awards program, this would sweep the show. The writing is excellent, with a unique blend of pseudo-action sequences, adventure, creepy-but-not-quite-scary horror, actually legitimately funny moments, and cute/sexy times. The story is a globe-trotting adventure with diverse set pieces, but still manages a cohesive whole. The overarching plot is relatively engaging, and the characters are exceedingly well written, even if they're frequently 2-dimensional.

If I had nits to pick, I think it would be the latter point. While the writing is great, the characters are a bit flat and fill their role/fetish. I get that it's a porn game and that the words "character development" are usually used to describe a character's chest size, but as I said I'm nitpicking here.

Caribdis has managed to write a fun adventure story that will tickle your brain in all the best ways. You'll need to actually pay attention, and to know some basic history/geography, but the writing is so well done that even if you get a few wrong it won't impact the story and may even add to the fun!

The animation is excellent, the desirables are very desirable, and even background characters get care and attention to a level that is uncommon in this genre.

Overall 5/5 and the honor of actually taking my time to review.

The game's writing really elevates it from others the comedy it has is great, the horror actually felt creepy and while not all characters get equal screen time their interaction were consistently good, combined with good sex scenes make it one of the best adult games i've seen and hope to see the dev make more projects in the future

I am reviewing the 1.0 update.
This game is excellent, the story and characters felt really well written, it has excellent comedic moments and serious moments.
The game itself looks good, it really uses the assets really well to create some of the most hot and wonderful girl characters.
The music is great, the developer really picked good songs to portrait each moment of the game, the sound effects as well were excellent.
This is a top game, I recommend it to anyone looking for a nice harem/romance story with some horror aspects.

The game was excellent, loved the scary moments and loved the girls! I got jumpscared a few times lol! Stabby Mike was one of my favorite characters in this game along with the tour guide!

The music wasn't overbearing and sounded good, so good on that! And the sex sounds were good too(I have to mute the sound on some games because of how obnoxious the moans are).

The animations weren't choppy and the image aren't grainy, so also good!

The girls haven't annoyed me at all which is another plus!

As I've mentioned, the side characters are hilarious and actually serve a purpose so another plus! All in all, if you are on the fence wondering whether or not to play it, then don't! Check it out, you'll like it!

Can't wait for your next game eternum carbdis!

Fun, sexy game with enjoyable characters. The story is inane and rather hard to follow, but I enjoyed the interactions among the characters and there was a lot of humor.

The character models are very similar. For example, the only difference between the MC's sisters was their boob size and hair color. Otherwise, their faces were identical. The cousin and popular girl from school also looked very similar. The males, meanwhile, were all very ugly and Japanese looking. But this was my only real criticism.

I will certainly continue to check out work from this developer.

By far one of the best VN of his genre here, in my opinion, there's a lot of work done on the story (The story's interesting, it keeps you on your toes) and on the scenes & models (Girls are really well made, there's real work on the lighting...). Oh, and there's also real work on the atmosphere, with good musics & sound, be it for serious, happy or "horror" scene, it's really well done.
Some may complaint about the "lack" of variety with Honey Select, but I don't think that's a problem since I find it really well handled in this game, be it by the changes of situations or scenes ^^
A really great game!

Not usually do reviews but my god does this game deserve it. Great sense of humor with a perfect comedic timing, great characters, good renders and sex scenes, and an original and interesting plot. Furthermore, the dev was soncstant with his updates and never failed to deliver on the promised deadlines cant wait to play more games from the dev

ahh man i played it slow so that i dont miss any part of the game man i played one of the best game out there the dialogues the music the scenes and the best part humour i was literally rolling on my bed because of the humour .......... and the ending man just one thing for dev thanku so so so very much

I could get into the quality of the writing, the compelling nature of the story, full of humor and drama, twists and turns, mystery and intrigue, the lovable cast of characters, the amazing dialogue, the insane quality of the visuals and the audio design (it has Anything Goes in it, ffs), but honestly, it wouldn't do it justice.

This VN falls into a rare club of games that absolutely must be played and experienced. If you happen to be on the fence about this one, don't be. You won't regret it.

Tl;dr - this is how you do an adult visual novel. 10/10. I wish Caribdis all the best in their future projects. If you are looking for a dev to support, you could do way worse than this one.

One of the best and fulfiling Visual Novels i have ever played. it has good enough story to keep it going and everything else was so superb and well paced. Loved every characters and their interactions (especially Carla <3) can't wait for future updates and/or games from Caribdis.
gotta give it 5/5

Tl'dr of this review: "An amazing game, worth it for the story as well as the sex content. "

Story: The plot is well executed, Caribdis managed to get the pacing just right, managing to organize scenes and sequels in a manner that keeps the player glued to the screen and yearning for more when each update is over.
This dev managed to make all his cast interesting and makes the player want to know more about them, which is something few manage to accomplish.

Sex scenes: Those are great, maybe some of you who read this don't like the visual engine used but, at least for me, it's more about the whole package when it comes to them. If you like the engine those are easy a ten out of ten. The female models are pretty unique across all the games using the engine I played so far.

In conclusion, that's it, storytelling is great, sex scenes are great, the dev is awesome, so, expect great titles coming from Caribdis.

And to end the review, he did what a lot of aspiring devs didn't manage to do in this community, which is, completing a game.

“In the Kamigata area, they have a sort of tiered lunchbox they use for a single day when flower viewing. Upon returning, they throw them away, trampling them underfoot. The end is important in all things.” - Yamamoto Tsunetomo

Congratulations, Caribdis.

This is one of the best honey select VNs ive played, light hearted tone, funny but not cringe, all LI are attractive not one is ugly, choices that affect which path you end up, wholesome tags, dramatic at times.

The only criticism i can think of its that it would have been nice if he expanded a lil bit more in the girls solo endings.

As the time im writting this, Once in a life time is the peak of the HS devs and im looking foward to whatever new project he decides to make.
100% recommended.

This is one of the few games that really got me hooked, so hooked in fact that I finished the previous version (v0.9) 5 times in anticipation to the various endings in this version (v1.0).

The story, obviously in my opinion, is awesome and the characters are well written. I don't believe I've ever seen a scene where I thought to myself: "Well that doesn't make sense" or "Well that was dumb"

As a plus the humorous scenes hit pretty well and aren't long or obnoxious.

There are a decent amount of lewd sounds and the characters go from good looking to gorgeous by v1.0. Same goes for environments.

Now, this is not a game where you go in and bang everyone in the first minute.
It's an experience that'll take you hours to finish if you want to immerse yourself in the world and that is why I loved it and recommend it.

This is my first review after playing literally over a hundred gamesfrom this site.
Probably my favorite VN the humor is absolutely tailored to my tastes.
The katana scene with the younger sister and the facial expressions I think about way too often in real life.

The fat Jack -> horse cock Jack -> fit Jack.
The ultimate wingman/best buddy GOAT Stabby Mike!
The antagonist to unwitting "best friend".
The wannabe pretty boy antagonist gone mental from rejection(so good).

I only played and will not play anything but the harem ending because I got invested in all of the LI's but especially could not bare to separate from Judy or Lauren and Carla is also close.
Also not into incest personally but the characters are so great I don't care.

Models/scenes no problem for me, I don't actually care too much about the visuals compared to the story and personally more stylized compared to realistic don't set off uncanny valley vibes.

I think the ending was absolutely appropriate, adding more scenes after the climax would have lessened the experience.

My only criticism was that the harem went too easily, if Carla(plus helped by Aiko, Iris and Jasmine) could have been a harem facilitator a few releases earlier that would have made it better IMO. Still really great though.

Have to say this is probably the best adult game i have ever played. The characters are interesting, the models are quite nice, sex scenes are awesome and the story is actually pretty interesting. Well done.