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

Fun game, good graphics. The find the code parts need some polish, but the characters and how they interact with each other is quite enjoyable.

First time writing a review here, so there is evidently a minimum to it. Given the fact that this game already has over several hundred reviews and it's rated so highly can tell you more than me pointing out all the fun parts. There's even another game in development by the same person, so be sure to give it a look and support them!

Just finished the game, one of the best I've played so far and that's saying something, believe me.
Definetely on my top 3 list and the first game with a Harem ending to make it there. Both glad and sad at the end, glad for the happy ending, sad it is over. Hoping Eternum is at least as satisfying as this one, can't wait to play it when it's completed. 100% recomended. Stabby clan for life xD

This game is a joy from start to finish! The characters are well written and has great personalities, a great story with good twists and turns that manages to bring the right amount of intrigue and development to always keep you hooked and awesome animations!

Realy good game. I gone into this game with no expectations, but it turned out great. I thought the characters looks good thats the reason i played it and they look great but the Story is great too. The Jokes they do and the Reference made me laugh out loud witch is rare. Somthing i didnt like was how easily you can lose a path(the story line) of a Girl , one wong choice and you cant recover. I love the Animations and multiple endings. Overall i had a great time playing this game. Can only recomand.

The story is just really fun, with good cast of waifus, good sex sxenes and wholesome harem ending if you make the right choices. I really ended up liking every one of the girls.

But the best part is your knife loving friend <3

the story is soo bad the mc is fucking wimp endig was bad evry thing about this game whas fucked up just look at the mc's face 100% wimp
i don't know why the rating of this game is soo high i only played this game because of it's rating

I have basically nothing to add beyond what others have already said. Great plot, great characters and relationship development. The only issue I have with this game is that all the girls have the same body shape, apart from that it's absolutely top tier.

"This motherf*cker don't miss.
That motherf*cker don't miss, man.
In the heat of BATTLE he don't miss.
In the heat of CONTROVERSY he don't miss."

- Snoop Dogg about Caribdis, after experiencing the masterpiece that is Once in a Lifetime

I played through Eternum first (which isn't fully completed as of yet - current version is 0.5) and after seeing how many people suggested Caribdis' previous work OIALT, I just had to play it and oh boy; play it I did.

I started the game at like 12-1PM and fully finished it about an hour ago, if you don't count the little breaks inbetween I think I might've binged about 9-10 hours of playtime in one day and it isn't without good reason. This game is an absolute BANGER. Having experienced Eternum and knowing what Caribdis was capable of, I had my expectations set high from the get go and the game hit the nail on the head on every. single. one of them.

The story & the characters pull you right in with how immersive they are, you find yourself immediately wanting to progress with the story to see how it unravels and you want to experience more scenes with the characters once they're introduced. The dialogue between the characters themselves, not just their dialogue with the MC is written so intricately that it makes you feel like a part of a slice of life anime (definitely one of the things Caribdis does superbly.)

Although it may seem a little off-putting due to not looking very up-to-date, the artstyle is absolutely gorgeous and you get used to it as you play more. The animated scenes are very well done and you can tell how much effort was put into them by paying attention to the sound design & the different angles you can experience a scene with.

The humor. I cannot stress how big a part it plays in Caribdis' works, and it is executed flawlessly here. Nothing to me felt pushed or out of place and in many cases, I found myself making the same remarks/claims as the characters which led to me connecting with them more.

There are multiple endings you can get, personally I'm a fan of the "get all the girls and live happily ever after" type of ending if the game's setting is suitable for one so it goes without saying I was very happy to see that one of the endings were indeed to my liking. (The other ones were done very well as well, I suggest you take a look at all of them - you'd be doing yourself a favor.)

Overall, OIALT is a must-play for any VN fan out there and it completely deserves its place as one of the greatest lewd games of all time with how it approaches the characters, interactions, romance/sex scenes, story, worldbuilding, humor and so on.

Much thanks to Caribdis for giving us such a beautiful game and fingers crossed for the upcoming Eternum updates. <3

Funny, witty, interesting and mysterious.

This is the best game in dialogues, story and scenes, the only problem I have with it are the outdated graphics, so a remake with new models would make the perfect game IMO.

This game is fantastic good story, excellent characters and it doesnt makes the feeling that you need to say something different than the choices, the only issue for me would be the ending, it kinda feels lik rushed, but anyway deffinetly 5 stars. dont even think twice, download and play it!

One of the best games ive played, easily top 10. Girls are really hot, story is interesting and funny. Sex scenes are really well done and animated. Stabby Mike is the best character . Only issue is that it can be annoyingwhen you make the wrong choice as you might lose the path for the girl, but you can rollback os its not much of an issue.
9.3/10

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.