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

My favourite part about this game, aside from it having some very hot scenarios and really sexy characters, is the humour. It was really, really funny and the ending (with a legitimately good song) leaves you very satisfied with your experience.
I found the stepmom scenes kinda mid and I wish it was longer and had more scenes, especially with the stepsisters and Aiko, but I'm sure it already took a lot of effort to make everything there already is. Great game nevertheless.

I made the mistake of ignoring this game for years due to its somewhat cartoonish aesthetics, but I’m really glad I eventually gave it a chance!

The best way I can put it is this: would you rather play a soulless AAA release with shiny graphics, or a fun indie game that’s a bit rough around the edges?

The game is showing it's age a little bit but Caribdis has his talents on display here in abundance. I found the first half less interesting but things really improved in the second half. Lauren is hawt.

One of my personal favorites, one those games you genuinely like for the plot. comedy and character design, some might argue that the MC face is very close to the uncanney valley but it's so funny and well implemented I can look past it. Really good animations and routes.

The visual presentation, writing, and character development are all above average, but not stellar, particularly at the beginning. All these things do visibly improve over the course of the game, and it is cool to see the progression of Caribdis' skill at posing/animation, environment design, and framing, especially in the final act of the story.

It's worth noting that a) this was my second playthrough of the game, and b) I did play with a walkthrough mod, because I do not care to miss out on scenes with a character because I clicked the wrong dialogue option at some point. I'm primarily a VN player, I mostly just want to click and get a good story with sexy moments, and with the mod that's what I got.

I just played Eternum before starting this game, and I can't say that Once in a Lifetime belongs in the same echelon of quality, but on the grand scale of AVN games, it still earns an "excellent" from me. Where Eternum is a great story with sexy elements, Once in a Lifetime is more like a typical porn game that also has a solid story.

Perfection. Finished the game in one day (with the walkthrough; can't risk losing an entire girl and an ending just because I took the wrong choice at a random place.)
All the models are BEAUTIFUL. The game is FILLED with plenty, plenty of sex scenes, which are quite high quality (not the highest I've seen but still), some with multiple of them at once. Each girl is unique, has a good storyline, something special.
The main plotline is very very interesting as well, that is actually what kept me playing for so long. This game never bored me. Amazing, amazing game.

Oh and the Humor was Awesome!

Pretty good! Plot was serviceable and decently written. The humor probably missed more than it hit, but at least it wasn't overly cringe.

My one real complaint is that you are never really made aware in the narrative when you've strayed from a characters path, there's no conversation - they just silently fall by the wayside.

So I was more than halfway through the game when I remembered that the "paths" screen existed and had found I'd failed somehow with three of the girls. Felt a bit crap about it, but it ain't a deal breaker and the game still has my recommendation. But if you're dead set on getting all the gals you'll wanna pay more attention than I did.

Outstanding game.

Pros
Attractive characters
Interesting story
Wide variety of sex scenes
More interactive scenes as you progress
Great use of humor throughout
Very good dialog, no cringe

Cons
Sound effects during scenes were lacking or lower quality
MC looks horrendous...at least at first

The only game I will ever be able to give a review. Such a masterpiece from this dev. Seeing their next game, I can't disagree that I might leave the second review soon. The atmosphere is great, LORE IS DEEP, and I am in completely in love with how it turns out. RECOMMENDED

This game is such a great journey for me. I like the sense of humor of the developers, not too much but enough to enjoy every little moment. All the render are good and have no body, limbs problem.
The conversations between are really normal, i immersed myself in this game and it was such a wonderful time.
If you want a soft, gentle game, this should be one of them.

I don't typically write reviews, but I really enjoyed this VN. It didn't have the most complex or unique main story, but it didn't make it convoluted or try to do anything unnecessary with it. Additionally, the girls were all great, even if I feel like some should have gotten more attention than they did, but overall I enjoyed them all. The affection system could've used a bit more work, but that's a super small gripe and it didn't detract from my enjoyment of the game at all.

The character designs were all fantastic. Usually I dislike Ren'Py VNs due to the uncaniness of the models, but these ones were some of the best I've seen. I especially liked Jasmine's design, with her dark hair, tan skin, and golden eyes, plus her personality from start to finish all made her one of my favorites in the game. The main character definitely could've used more attention, but I doubt most people are playing this because they want to look at the MC, so I digress.

The sex scenes themselves were alright. A bit vanilla for a majority of the game (with the exception of the last sex scene), but it was nice.

Overall, a really good experience! All my complaints are small, so this is an easy 4 stars. Can't wait to try their other game, Eternum!

This game is honestly so good. The renders are great once you get used to the models, the dialogues are hilarious. The game itself does have some tricky choices near the end, but still beatable to the harem route especially with a bit of guide help. Very enjoyable ride from start to end

Once in a Lifetime [v1.0]

Pros:
+ Does a good job of building up the world and environment
+ Interesting story
+ Humorous at times
+ Characters are diverse with unique-feeling personalities
+ Good animations and variety of adult scenes and situations
+ Well done harem ending

Cons:
- Story pace can feel a little slow at times
- Some characters feel a little too stereotypical or shallow
- Not very emotionally engaging, for the most part (but good for lighthearted fun)

This is one of the better completed adult visual novels out there for sure, and one of my favorites. The story is interesting, humorous at times, and it's the first game where a harem ending didn't feel forced, but actually good. I usually don't like harem endings at all, but this one was the first game I've played where it felt like the it was the best possible ending, especially with how the characters interact with each other and develop throughout.
Check out Caribdis's other game, Eternum (ongoing) and support the dev!

Overall Rating: 9/10

Great for people new to Carib's games and the HS2 art style. I think this is a better introduction to HS2 than games such as Pale Carnations and sets a good expectation for people looking forward to playing or have already played Eternum looking for more of Carib's work.

Really fun and interesting story,really good animations and very beautiful girls with interesting and diverse personalities. Can't recommend this enough.


Also, a bit of a spoiler but, Stabby Mike, what a legend!

This is an awesome game with delightful characters. That said, you can really see the progression the creator made between this and Eternum when you play them one after the other. Can't wait to see what else this creator comes out with as time goes on and their skills progress!

There's a reason why this is one of the highest rated visual novels on this website. If you've never played this game while on this website, please do yourself a favor and try this game out!

Overall tone is light-hearted and comedic slice-of-life mixed in with some pretty interesting occult mystery in the background. The pacing along with the frequency of sex scenes is also well-balanced. Enough story and mystery to keep things fresh and interesting, but also enough spicy scenes interloped in between them. I personally think it hits the perfect balance. The animations and character models are simple, nothing super flashy or high-def. However they hold up very well even today, as long as you like the honeyselect style. And it's complete as well, so no need to wait another two three months just for a snippet of story/sex scenes.

So, what are you waiting for? Go download the game and try it out if you haven't already!

10/10 MUST-PLAY

One of the best visual novels I have ever played, calling it just a porn game is a insult. The sex scenes are good but the story is greater, some times I just stopped beating the meat because I was too involved, the girls feel like actual beings and not some random human husk of pleasure, and the humor is top notch too, it made me laugh out loud lots of times.

Though I don't recommend playing this game if you are entering the adult game world, it would set the bar of quality too high, and it would be hard to find good games like this.

Simply incredible, I've already played it three times and I still love it. The story and characters are incredible. I was sad when it ended but I'm happy with the ending. I hope to be able to play upcoming projects and I look forward to the Eternum update.

Worth reading. A clean and simple narrative that goes in somewhat unexpected directions, with a relatively straight-forward mystery plot. Entertaining, arousing and well done. Not perfect, but solid enough to warrant the 5 stars.

Heroines are well-proportioned, attractive and sufficiently memorable, though there isn't much if any character development to be done. The MC is okay, though much like many porn MCs we just have a massive dick and give "the best sex ever" [direct quote] despite nobody liking us to begin with, and soon enough all the girls are falling for us easily. Some of the side characters stand out and are very memorable. H themes are very clean and that is appreciated.

The writing is fine, though it is horribly dated by certain pop culture references. At times it becomes completely asinine, but this is outweighed by the funny moments, which even had me laughing out a few times. The attempt to set the game in England is hilariously cute, though the writing forgets that on occasion. I've never seen a fire escape in England, for one, nor do the english drink budweiser, eat american pancakes for breakfast, use dollars, or sometimes speak in a very american way, but I won't hold that against the dev or the VN. It added to the fun for me.

The plot goes off the rails with a mystery cult, but the mystery is well introduced and despite a strange appearance of a "japan trip" arc out of nowhere, the story is delivered competently. The ending feels a little rushed and heroines often brush aside very logical concerns in order to get on our cock and things tend to just "work out". This lack of complexity isn't a bad thing and I found it very refreshing and enjoyable. I must admit I fell for the red herring. There is a reveal near the end and clues were in place from the very start, but I fell instead for the simple explanation suggested near the middle of the story and so the reveal caught me off-guard.

Decent amount of H content. Facial expressions sometimes leave a lot to be desired and the early H scenes are pretty simplistic, but the quality improves as you make progress. Later H scenes are well done from a narrative and animation perspective and there's a number of threesomes down the harem route, all good points. Unfortunately the epilogue lacks any dedicated scenes aside from a few suggestive stills. A few more harem scenes would be the perfect end of the story, but it is good nonetheless.