VN - Ren'Py - One Day at a Time [Ch. 16c] [Zoey Raven]

One Day at a Time is a good game, I won't question that at all. Especially story wise, it's obvious the creator not only knows this world but also has some mature storytelling skills that allow for a good story to develop. Problem is that, for me, realistic as it is, it's also a dark subject to touch upon and play through. Also, all choices have potencial consequences but very often, the different choices are worded in very similair fashion or award points in secret stats that are in no way related to the phrase or conversation, thus leading to the fact that you have to play it with a guide if you want to achieve a certain playstyle because you can't often judge consequences of certain choices from the choices themselves.

Character models are fine, but I must admit I didn't take much of a liking to any of them (graphic-wise, their personalities and so on are quite interesting). Sound barely has any presence and sex scene animations are short and not too detailed, lacking much interest. At least I found no bugs playing through it.

So, all in all, while I do recommend it and think it is a good game, the ambiguities in choices and the dark subject touched upon plus the relatively low interest in the sexual side made me eventually drop it.

The best game about addictions that I know. It deserves 5/5 for this sole reason and some additional, listed below.

The game is vastly different from the average porn game. When drugs are the main theme, it also touches on topics of other addictions and the attitude of the characters to their own and other addictions. I find characters' behaviors and thoughts both realistic and interesting. It even caused me to reevaluate my life and put playing games on hold to take care of … something.

The story is realistic and paced with lots of events. That's the game's strong point. Everything that is happening can happen to anybody. The only exceptions I can think of is ease in getting women in bed and a tolerant girlfriend, which is to be expected from porn game. However it’s also easy to fail any date and not get sex scene, so at least some level of challenge is present. Sex animations are present. Sadly a few times some moves look a little weird at times. Overall renders and animations are at least passable and are getting better later on. Music is good. Few times I found myself not playing and leaving music to play, while doing something else.

The game has an enormous amount of content.

Ofc game also has some drawbacks. Mainly lots of references, jokes and not needed text:

A lot of references.
Clearly too much. I needed to check quite a lot what it is about. I think that dev may not be 100 % aware that the game can be played by people from all over the world in all ages past 18 and not everybody knows what he knows. I eventually gave up on checking everything and classified everything that I didn’t understand as something that can be omitted (quite likely not intended by dev).

Jokes.
Few are good. Most are with a lot of references, so not for everybody. Some are clearly bad. It’s within the setting, as characters are usually stoned, but the player is not (at least I hope so), so that is not a pleasant experience when the player is reading bad jokes of stoned characters.

MC’s conversations with girlfriend
Mostly full of jokes with lots of references. Even good jokes can drown in an endless stream of joking and that is how most MC’s interactions with girlfriend look like. I find it highly irritating and not needed both for the story or entertainment. Few times I found myself skipping most of the text during it, almost missing some interesting bits of story. I allowed myself to get to know the story from other NPCs and MC’s interactions, which sometimes also have too much unnecessary text. Even more than my review

One of the best games on here. Not only hot sexual content but realistic depiction of people in active addiction and recovery. I used to work in treatment and saw how people went through it. Manipulation, trying to really recover or faking it. Those who really tried usually did, fakers usually failed.

I really, really wanted to like this more than I did. The premise is unique and interesting, the characters are well fleshed out, and the renders are decent...

So, why not higher?

Well, put simply, its WAY too wordy. I know I sound like a pleeb, but you need to have some events mixed in. Show, not tell. While there's a few thing that happen, often I found myself in conversations that just dragged on forever. If I can hold down skip for a solid 20 seconds, and the screen doesn't change that much because it's one base render with a few head turns, that tells me there needed to be some edits. I want to play-through and do a Junkie run, but I just can't bring myself to do it. It's disappointing, because there's so much potential there.

Overall: A good effort brought down by long deserts of dialogue.

I would highly recommend giving One Day at a Time a try, it is easily one of the most well written games out there. The story is obviously not all sunshine so be ready for that.

The characters are all unique and with very detailed personalities and flaws, so they feel like actual people and not just cookie cutter vn girls and mc.

As with all games the renders are a matter of taste, I personally do like them, and they have only gotten better over time.

Don't let the subject matter of the game turn you away it is definite must play if you enjoy story focused games.

Given the good reviews, I've wanted to play this for a while but the preview pics have always held me back. But with the current update (Ch. 13c), I thought I'd give it a try.

Unfortunately, it disappointed me nonetheless. First, we start with a girlfriend. I don't really understand why devs opt for this. Apparently, you already have a relationship with someone but for the player, this is a stranger. The beginning then almost always feels a bit awkward and odd, and it did with this game.

Continuing to play, I found that the dialogue captivated me less and less and I started to just skip it. Reasoning behind this could likely be the lack of thoughts in the converstations. Thoughts add another layer of depth to a story that can take mediocre dialogue to another level. The story felt kinda pointless and the dialogue was quite boring.

The characters were not bad looking but not very good or anything either. They didn't really turn me on personally and the sex animations were quite unnatural at times. As in, the movements were weird sometimes. This will probably get better over time and with practice. Then I stopped playing it.

Looking back the graphics and music were also decent, not outstanding but not bad either. All in all, this game was a mediocre experience so I couldn't give it more than 2 stars.

I have to say this game is in my top 10 favorite VN. This a not a quick meet and f@#$ type of VN. It's a beautiful, sad, funny and you see the struggle the MC goes thru. It's a journey, a touching story and a adventure with multiples ending (planned). Can't wait for the completion but i don't want it to end.

This game carries a reputation as one of the better-written/more gripping stories on here. While that certainly shone through at times due to the heaviness of the subject matter, it was really hard for me to get going through this story due to the fact that the models were firmly in the uncanny valley. The poses were very robotic and the facial expressions were extremely off-putting. I understand devs are limited by asset selection but like, none of these models look like they match their character description.

I'd probably read this as a book, but as an AVN, it just didn't do it for me.

My thoughts about this game:
Original and real story about a drug addict who wants to get back on the right track altho that is not the only topic. It covers also suicide, relationships, etc..

Story comes before lewd scenes which is a welcome surprise.
Sex scenes happen in a normal way and are not forced upon, which is nice.
Writing, dialogues and inner thoughts of characters are well written.

Several persons fighting their own inner demons, each girl has their own struggle it seems and is fighting to get back on the right track.

Renders are nice, models of the girls are real; I mean no übersized breasts or gigantic asses, just real models. Animations are ok.
Only thing I'm missing here are the bushes down there, trimmed or not. Most of the girls in ALL the games in here are hairless? Doesn't stroke with the reality.
And yes, you will have the possibility to bed all the girls, Your ingame girlfriend is really a remarkable and open-minded person, I think alot of people would love to have such a girl

Different locations can be found; lake, interior, caravan, car, outsides,..

One can see that the dev clearly put alot of work in this game.

I'm eagerly awaiting to see the next chapters.

Review on base of Version Ch. 12c:

This is my first review of an uncompleted game. Normally I only rates complete games. Don't ask why. But I have to made an exception from my own rule because this game is the real shit you have to play! Yes, I'm fangirling about it and I'm not ashamed about.

I don't use spoiler tags. If you don't want to get spoilered, stop reading right now, download this game, go to Patreon and support the dev! Seriously. You will not be disappointed and the dev deserved any support. If you can support you should do it.

BTW: you should play this game without a mod or walkthrough in your first play through. Let yourself surprise without knowing any consequenses of your choices.

The story is about MC who's full into drugs and his way out of the shit of addiction. Sounds simple and stupid like a "don't do drugs, kid"-campaign in a AVN. Well, it's not. It's more about life and struggles. It's about help and helpless. Zoey Raven created a game that don't lectures you. This game explains but it don't judge. At every moment you can see this game is written by someone who knows about addiction. I had a friend who lost against his disease. He was an absolutely normal dude. Like MC and his friends. As far I can appraise the life of my lost friend I can tell this game is accurate.

From now on with minor spoilers about gameplay. I highly recommend you to play this game without be spoilered. You won't regret it. I think you can take the minor spoilers but you shouldn't read the major spoilers if you hadn't played the game.

Sure, this story is speeded up. MC and his friends are doing steps in days which needed weeks, months and for many poor souls years. But it's okay. It has to be. No one would play a game where you can't see any advancement. Don't misunderstood my pointer about the speed. If you play the AVN you will get it.

What this novel made something special to me is that it would work without any lewd scenes. These scenes made it a way better of course. It's an AVN after all. But it's not needed. You'll empathize with all the characters in the game in their own way. So it feels natural to made love with them. Yes, I wrote made love and not made sex. You will see the soul in the chars. Promised. It's very well written and I give the storytelling a 10/10.

From now on with major spoilers. I highly recommend you to play this game without be spoilered.

Even though there's some not so reality things like a therapist who bonds with her client on a very personal way. But you have to give that. It's okay because it fits to the way an AVN works and without getting weird or absurd.

There's this moment in game where MC lost his sponsor. To honour the truth I could see this from thousand miles away. It was logical from the way his story goes from a point of. But the story is so well written you won't believe it and you hope that you misread all the hints until this moment has come.

What I really love in this game is the well dosed usage of side stories about all the characters. There's officer Barb with her background as a junkie and ex of MC. You have Mary and her obviously addicted mom. Brenda with her very own problems with lonelyness. Samantha's weakness when it comes to stay sober and her low self confidence under the facade of a strong woman. And there's many more. It don't feels like Zoey Raven beats those background and side stories in your head if you want or not. Many other Novels does this and I hate it. No, this dev tells these stories on the way. It's part of MC's life. Either he's part of these stories or it's part of the chats between the friends. There's so many chit-chat in this game who never feels as a filler and gives a really immersive story. Even the parts of the chats who aren't needed for the story or background are important. These parts give you a feeling about the characters and it's freshened.

But god, the cherry on top of the cream cake are those incredible easter eggs and all those things you'll only notice at a second, third or fourth playthrough. This bank in the park with the plate of Emily. (You should find out for yourself which Emily is meant.) The references of Mary and MC about other AVN. (BTW: thank you Zoey Raven! You hinted some nice novels I didn't recognized before.) The Holly path...

I didn't mentioned the humor in this game. What should I say? I love it. It's not concatenation of dad jokes or a conglomeration of gentleman jokes. Just a bunch of people living their live with their very own problems and their very own ways to handle them. There is no compelled slapstick. As an example: Lydia has her very own way to tell this people she cares about them and to bond with. It's not funny because she's doing or saying dumb or naive things like other chars in other stories where a dev want humor in the game. No, she don't do this. It's funny because she's a straight forward girl with a big heart but have a wicked tongue. In a very lovely way. You have to smile if she had her moments. You will realize it when it comes to these moments. And Lydia is only one factor in the game which delivers humor.

Every story has to come to an end. I know this. But I really hope this becomes a neverending serialized novel. Okay, that won't be happen but in case of this AVN let me dream about.

Please support the dev if you can. He deserves it.

Hard to describe this game as it shows us some dark places of being human.
The game is all about addiction and, hopefully, become clean in an unknown future.
Storywise it is exeptionelly good written, and it has been a story, the dev has ome of his own experience in.
Most of the characters in the game are addicted to various things (heroine, alcohol, coke and many more)
The Renders are very good, not exeptional, the animations are ok. not more.

This game is for readers and not for someone that is looking for a fuckfest.
There is plenty of sex but this game is about telling a story.
And in that regard it is one of the best.

Something different, a strong fleshed out cast of characters, a more natural and fun banter style of dialogue that shows off the chemistry between the girls and the mc.

It might not be for everyone given the subject material and themes but if you're looking for something fresh give this a shot. If the themes of drugs, and struggling with addiction sound like too much give it a pass.

Models are sexy and different from each other, a good variety there, and finally there's been solid progress and momentum for the plot and people every update which is always a plus.

There aren't a lot of good story-focused games on this website. This is one of them. Sex scenes are just a bonus. While playing it's hard for me to close the game until the end of the episode because I'm constantly waiting to find out what happens next. Great job Zoey and keep up the good work!

This is a truely inspiring game, until now i had never considered attending any type of meeting, now i do and i thank you for that.
The dialogue is amazing and so well crafted, i have found very few games of this type that i actually find any real connection with the characters but this just sucked me in. I only found the game recently and played from the start to the end almost compulsively, to be honest it is one of the few games i have only stopped playing because i couldnt keep my eyes open anymore. But id be right back to it as soon as i had the chance.
Thankyou for what you have done so far i look forward to what the future holds.

A very nice game. Character well defined, captivating story with a good balance between funny moments and sad ones, sometimes quite dark but given the type of story that was to be expected. The erotic scenes are not lacking and are inserted in a convincing and contextualized way. In the end, a game not to be missed.

Reviewing Ch.12

I've had a bit of a roller-coaster with this one. And I don't mean an emotional one.
When it started I was looking forward to where it'd be going. Then I found myself bored and marking the thread as ignored so I didn't waste my time anymore. And then I came back as the so called "Season 2" started, to see where it was.
I'm going to keep ignoring and won't come back this time.

The story is all about drugs and going through it with your girlfriend Lydia. Lydia is great: Nice face, nice body, nice personality.
Then there is a girl with some corruption mechanic (Audrey) and another with a dom/sub mechanic (Barb). However I haven't found those affecting much, other than small text variations.
Another girl comes later and is my second favorite (Samantha). It does however take a very long time until you can get with her. And there is a scene where you can have both Lydia & Sam together. After several hours of play...
(there are other girls but they aren't very interesting)

This is the main issue with this game. The sex scenes are sparse and unfortunately bad too. The story is the star here, which means a lot of text. And the sex scenes never feel anything more than industrial and boring. They always end abruptly with a fade to black too. Even that threesome scene that should have made me happy was lame. You'd expect at least two cumshots with two girls? But no. Just one, then fade to black.

If the story was concentrated on the couple only, i.e Lydia, and maybe one more girl, I think it'd be okay. But as it is, it fails to scratch any itch in the end and feels like a huge waste of time. I guess the story didn't grab me as it might others.

That being said, that's from a point of view of expecting a porn game with some story to carry it.
If you want mainly a complex story around drugs that makes War & Peace feel like an OG tweet, with a sprinkle of sex, then you might be very happy here.

I'll keep the review short but the visuals are very unimpressive and the story certainly doesn't make up for it. All the characters are cookie cutter with the exact same personality. The story drags and the dialogue is exhausting due to the above mentioned issue with all the characters feeling the same. You'll switch from girlfriend A to girlfriend Z and feel like its the same conversation.

Did you know the author is a movie fanatic? Because guess what! Every single character shares the same obscure taste in movies too! it doesn't strike me as a very interesting slice of life novel either because it doesn't really portray addiction all that well - maybe just the authors specific experience.

Free housing, family to give you a car after accidents, friends to give you a good paying job, strong social support network, friends to bail you out of legal trouble? Understanding parole officer? Either recovers first time without relapses or on druggy route? Recovery is a roller coaster and 90% of the patients I see don't have the resources MC does. The alcoholic nurse seems like she has a more interesting story than the MC does.

I'll play a text based game or read a story on CHYOA if it's good enough I don't need visual stimuli or lots of sex but up to chp 11 this story has neither. It doesn't titulate and it's not interesting meeting a new girl in chp 11 when shes the same as the girls you meet in chp 1 and the second MC decides to enter recovery that story stops being interesting (due to poor storytelling or what not sure)

Wow, I'm not sure were to start with this one. It hit me in the feels so many times. I like the fact the developer is able to keep the game balanced between the darker realities of addiction and the love and friendship these characters have for each other.

The story in this game is top notch. Easily one of the best on this site. Every moment of it has kept me engaged.

The visuals in the beginning of the game are not quite as good as what comes later, so it's clear the developer has improved in that area. This also goes for the animations.

I've been a patreon supporter of Zoey for a long time due to their mod content. I wasn't even going to try this game when I saw it had drugs in it, but don't let that stop you, and don't let it make you wait like I did to play this. It's not your standard druggy game. This game shows them getting better, and also having struggles.

I've not seen this topic addressed in the manner it is in the game, with the accuracy it's done with. I've had addicts in my life before and this game is spot on, the reason I hesitated at first is because I've rarely seen anything get it right, but this game does.

One last thing that needs to be mentioned. You will care for the characters in this game, they are not hollow throw away shells like a lot of your standard games. They have true depth and are very well fleshed out.

I would highly recommend this game to anyone who enjoys a wide range of emotions. Because it has all of them.

I can't wait for the next update, it's obvious this game comes from the heart.

Congratulations on being able to stay sober for so long Zoey.

My personal opinion of this story is just that.

The story certainly shows a more accurate depiction of drug addiction and the damage it will do to people, you cant just 'love them' better, its a horrible sickness that a person has to want to fight themself.
The game has a couple of pretty hot chararacters too so thats a bonus. (my personal favourites are Audrey - Lovely but not the diabetes inducing tooth rot vaiety.
Barb is pretty, kinda badass and actually has a pretty interesting character development arc.)


That said the story can feel incredibly slow. It adds to realism if that's your cup of tea. (I believe it is referred to as slice of life), but i guess makes the story telling a chore to read through if you're less keen (perhaps a few well implemented time skips might have been beneficial, in my opinion).

If you like one specific girl (who isnt the starting girlfriend) and wanna chase that? This game will be an even bigger crawl. And I mean that purely because there are quite a few different women here to consider, and sometimes it can be quite a gap between even seeing them. In the mean time you must eat your peas and wait.
(yes, there are plenty of litle wobble your toggle scenes in the VN buuuut only if you are so inclined by all the characters (specific ones will be few and far apart in my experience).

I kept playing this (all the way to the end of the update) because I wanted to give it a fair shot since it is so highly rated (One of my favourite VN's had an awful intro and without another review urging me on I would've ditched it)... But it just never seemed to have that click moment for me where I was truly invested.

Again all personal opinion. But I wouldn't recommend this VN unless you have A LOT of time on your hands, really enjoy looong text heavy stories, and/or want to learn a little more about substance abuse without the sugar coating of traditional media.

Like I said in the thread, I'm obsessed with this VN, I think the main reason why is because I can relate to a lot of the characters, I myself am not an addict but since birth I've been surrounded by alcoholics and often drug addicts growing up (and still to this day there's a few that can't stop self destructing themselves) and the way this is written is 100% accurate, you don't want to see it happen or be around it but you also want to help the people get right because you care about them, this is very unique on f95zone because the writing is mature and not a trope that gets released weekly

The characters are all just great, there's not a whole lot I can say other than you become obsessed in wanting to learn more about them and see where their story's are going to lead (I'm a big fan of Audrey,barb and Samantha and I'm curious as to how they'll fit in by the end I hope none of the current or future LI are considered side girls and have a part in the end)

Things I hope to see by the end
All of the Li happy together with the MC, all of them off drugs and alcohol and planning their futures together, maybe a pregnancy or 2 if it suits the Li storywise, for the mc to be successful

(At day 14 for my review)