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

There is a lot to like about this game. First of all, its an adult game. I don't mean a sex game although there is plenty of sex with some hot ladies. More on that later.

What I mean, is that these characters are adults. They are flawed, they have real issues and face some horrid things. You will likely feel sad or angry along with them. You might cry (it's okay if you do!) You'll have to make some hard choices, and those choices you make can really affect things.

You might learn some things about yourself, or those people around you.

It might seem like a dark game, and at times it is, but so far, depending on your choices, its still a game about hope as well. You can start to see good things happen to the characters around you, sometimes directly because of your choices.

In short, it's an amazing setting, and one of the handful of these types of games with some real emotional punch. It would be worth reading or playing without the sexy times, although that aspect is still well integrated into the story as well.

About the women and the sexual relationships: All of the women feel like distinct characters, each with their own personalities, struggles and flaws. Of course, many of them also share a major struggle due to the theme of the game, but its still treated differently. Some are shy, some of them are freaks in the sheets, some of them use sex as a tool. Probably the only major 'porn trope' that the game uses is that they all 'fall' for the MC pretty easily so it tends towards "harem-lite" at the moment, but that still serves to keep the game a little lighter in contrast to the darker emotional stuff. They don't serve the MC in the slightest, in fact all of them give him the shit all the time, but everyone is free and open with "love" and frankly it's very nice.

The game also balances the darkness with a lot humor and amusing situations. Its what keeps the game fun alongside the emotional weight that it carries along the way.

Technically, its very solid. The scenes in the game are great, the developer creates tons of unique locations and they all look fantastic and real. A dirt city alley looks like a dirty city alley, a pawn shop looks like a pawn shop.

They women are all hot and feel real. They aren't as beautiful as some of the models in other games, but it would feel weird if the game was full of heroin addicts who double as Victoria's Secret models during the day. They're still very sexy though, and the renders and animations combine with good writing to make the scenes very enjoyable. And there is a lot of variety in them as well.

There are things that could be better, sure, but the entire thing combines into one of the best ongoing games out there. Nobody is perfect, but as they say in the game, One Day at a Time is Perfectly Flawed.

Give it a try, you'll be glad you did!

One of the most well written games. Story is excellent, full with many interesting characters in a serious setting. The pacing is steady and there are many memorable moments. The game has a great developer and delivers many hours of enjoyment. Season 1 is complete and will continue in the near future.

This amazing VN has been on my list to review for quite some time. I generally wait until there is enough content to form a valid assessment of the developer’s work. At version 10.c it’s been ready for a review for quite some time.

This will not be my typical review, because One Day at a Time is not a typical VN. I’ve found it difficult to do justice to this excellent VN. For the record, dealing with the addictions of others was a part of my life for more than two decades, so I have real life insight into much of the material that is presented in this VN. The level of honesty and reality is impressive.

Creating an AVN within the background of dealing with addiction is far from a common story. The pitfalls that face an author are many and I could, but will not, point out several other attempts here on F95 to add addiction to the MC of a VN which either utterly failed or was burdensome throughout the story. Zoey masterfully weaves the addicts and recovering addicts into his story so that we see a window into the impact of their addiction without it overpowering the stories of the various characters. Their addiction is a part of their story, but we also see them cope with all the other aspects of relationships, life, past mistakes, loss and setbacks, and occasional triumphs. This is the modern equivalent of the stories told by movies like “The Days of Wine and Roses” were in their time. Exposing the story of addiction, without preaching, in the framework of a truly engaging cast of characters. Each with their own history, story, and personality. These are characters that have a lot of depth and are each uniquely their own. This VN is as excellent in its time as those movies were in theirs.

Leaving the unique challenges behind. How good is this VN on the typical criteria that we generally apply?

The VN is technically excellent, as we would expect from master modder like Zoey who has a complete command of the tools and technologies involved. There are LIs to draw almost any taste. I can’t think of any that I don’t find attractive, and more than a couple are, at least in my opinion damn hot. The dialog is sound and believable. Some folks find it a bit wordy or repetitive, but in real life couples tend to have lots of repetitive conversations. The banter is pretty good. Sometime excellent and, as in all communication not so much. Lewd scenes are good and plentiful enough that you won’t find the sex lacking. The motivations for them are very believable. Some of the relationships have been around a long time, and we see that in their interactions. So overall the writing floats between very good and excellent.

A great story that draws us in and we find ourselves investing in the characters.

Without the challenge of incorporating addiction, this VN would on all other merits easily hit a five star rating. Given how smoothly and naturally this story flow, this VN is truly in a class by itself. But as I said it’s unique.

TL;DR
An excellent VN in all facets. It’s more than well worth your time to check out.

This is great VN so far. Engaging story and characters. Just a bit disappointed with this last chapter... I made 2 saves with a full sober choice and of course another full junkie one. That changes absolutely nothing... But once again, the story itself, quality of the writing makes the difference with 98% of the others todays VNs. Congrats !

This is a game that I rate 5* because it offers me a unique experience despite its (many) flaws. I am not a big fan of harem games, since I generally feel it makes the individual LIs less meaningful. This is not necessarily true in this game. For one, the MC feels like the type of person that could realistically exist in the real world, maybe not as excessive as in this game, but he surely is the easy going type that can have multiple girlfriends and get away with it. Since its believable it bothers me less. Secondly, the story is very long and puts emphasis on drug addiction, a topic I am not very familiar with. I am like a sponge for this type of foreign experiences, so him being in a harem scenario is not my main focus. Third, the LIs have a rich personality that keeps you attached despite basically being a man-whore. Sometimes I wish there were more fundamental conflicts between the protagonists. Lingering conflicts from early game seem to have found a resolution, which can make the progression feel like a slog at times. However, I am still very much invested and hopeful it won't be all easy-peasy as the story progresses.

Loving this game so far. what i love is the story and how well the characters are characterized.
Yes there could be a bit more sexual action and sometimes dialogue will be to long, but this game have a special place in my hearth and i'm looking forward to see how it ends.
Love Lidya...what a badass chick, she is!! would have a girl like her in my life.
thanks for this zoey

Premise is audacious, but the writing is too clumsy to make good on its promise. The characters don't feel like real people. They all seem to spend all their time discussing the same obscure films and authors. In short, they all share the interests of the author of the VN.

They have only superficial personalities of their own. They don't seem to have their own voice. If you ever want to know if a character is well fleshed out, try this-- describe the character without saying anything about either what they look like or what they do.

If I forbid myself from describing looks, job, or whether they are or are not a drug addict, there's basically nothing left to describe.

Scenes drag on and on for no real reason. Remember: brevity is the soul of wit.

I think it would be fantastic if a VN could be made with this premise that treats the subject matter respectfully (and with the seriousness that it deserves), and had well fleshed out characters.

From what I've seen so far I don't think we'll get that here. Hope I turn out wrong though.

This one is a nice game. Renders are decent story is interesting. A peek into the life of junkies. Dev really did a good thing for adding an interesting concept there. Models are usual models. Really wished there was some sound effects to give more ampience to the game. Like car sound etc. Characters are interesting on their own way. MC's girl friend is my fav character. She is good and I really enjoyed the date with her. Hoping dev will add more dates with her in the future. But I know in the life of junkies these things are rare.

Overall it's a good game worth playing. Keep up the good work dev, Looking forward to next updates

I first played this game around the first half of last year and honestly did not even like it at that time, and that was the moment when I just started playing Adult VNs and I honestly have lower expectations by that time due to playing fewer games where I enjoyed most of the games I would consider mediocre or trashy today.

Fast forward to the last week of January and at this point, I have played well over 200 different VNs, I am honestly quite a porn addict at this point as I know that porn has definitely affected my studies and even my personal relationships and schedule. I have come to a point where the things that I played and watched before are not even enough to get me aroused, and the things which I considered before to be too hardcore which I don't even want to watch became the only thing that I can get off from.

I downloaded this game again due to having fewer and fewer VNs to play and was honestly not expecting much from it due to having a much higher standard when it comes to VNs than a year ago. I know that porn addiction and substance addiction are two very different things but playing this now in my current condition makes me appreciate the game a lot more.

With my board exams coming up in 3 months and me needing more time to allocate to my studies, stopping from playing VNs and watching porn is something I definitely have to do at some point. Although playing this game did not immediately help me stop my porn addiction, it definitely helped me put a lot of things in perspective.

Thank you for the game, Zoey. This is definitely one of the best games I have ever played.

This is a great VN/Game.

OK -- full disclosure. I'm an addict/alcoholic who's been in recovery for almost 40 years, so I have some strong ties to the characters.

Having said that -- I still contend this is one of the best things I've seen on this site.

The story is strong; the characters are well developed; the dialogue is well written; the artwork is great and; the animations are first rate.

If I have any question about this VN, it's that the characters seem awful good looking and physically well off for junkies. But, then, there is "artistic license" to be considered. I doubt the vision of saggy titted, toothless, pock marked slags would be enticing to the broader community.

Realism has it's limits, which is one of the reasons "artistic license" exists in the first place!

Beyond that, the whole package is just stunning. A real story and not something one can just skim over. There's plenty of sex but it all has a point and adds to the story. The recovery parts are dead on and will speak to anyone who's been in the program and to many who have not. Trust me, I've been in recovery for a very long time and this is solid A.A. It's real, folks.

In short, this is quality work and deserves the full five stars.

Zoey nailed it.

My first review of a game on this site, and I'm glad I didn't review some other games yet because if I gave some of them five stars, then I should give this game more.

This VN totally engrossed me, I just had to play it every chance I got. The renders are great, the story is very addictive and enlightening. I enjoy the characters in the game, believable for the most part. (This is a porn game). Animations are fine, always room for improvement there. I don't play with my speakers on, so I hardly have heard the music, so no comment there.

I also wish I could identify some of the movie quotes and television quotes that are mentioned throughout the game, with a number of them that I do recognize showing that the characters like entertainment that came out for people twice their age.

Finally, I find the Dev is good with communication, interacts with people in the forum and is a pleasure to talk to.

Check the game out, I don't think you will be disappointed.

Really awesome story. Well balanced between lewd and story content. Very nice presentation of people in recovery and the people who never give up on them. The art is well done and there is plenty to like. Give yourself a pat on the back Zoey you deserve it.

I'll keep it brief. Initially, I had high hopes for this game due to the abundance of positive reviews that piqued my interest. However, upon completing it, my disappointment was profound.

Firstly, the female models in this game are repulsive and vomit-inducing. They are an absolute abomination, resembling lifeless dolls rather than realistic human beings. And the story? It starts off with promise, but quickly becomes a repetitive snoozefest with never-ending conversations. Additionally, the choices offered are lackluster. Most of them have little to no impact, except for a couple that pretend to matter like Audrey Love/Corruption or Junkie/Sober. The rest are just smoke and mirrors, fooling you into thinking you have control.

And the animations, oh boy. It took me two frustrating downloads to even get them working, and when they did, they were shoddy, boring and rarely used. It's like they were an afterthought in the game's development.

This game is nothing but empty hype, devoid of any substance. Save yourself the disappointment and find something better to play.

I really love this game, although I'm not for the loose screwing that seems to be all too easy to get from all the women in the game, I am for getting clean with Lydia and hopefully marrying her in the end, with the others being only friends
But it's a great game and I appreciate it not having any NTR as well

Amazing Game. Greatly enjoying this game so far. 1/3 of the way through. Great story. First time I'm actually playing a porn game for the plot.

Excited to finish the game and see what else it has in store.

This game is a hidden gem on the forums. It is a semi-realistic look at a lifestyle that most people aren't ever going to experience.

Two Biggest Pros:
- The characters are great. This is one of the games where you choosing who to be with at the end won't be an easy task. They each have their own charm. *but Lydia best girl*
- The stories semi realism. I think that going full on realism in a story like this would just be depressing. So choosing a middle ground while still showing the negatives of this lifestyle is a good choice.

Negative:
- The only thing I can think of is the animations. They aren't great. They seem to be improving in the newer updates though.

Overall, this one is really good, and it deserves way more attention than it gets. It isn't full of tv show for teens melodrama, and it doesn't try to manipulate you in an unfair way. If you like story first games, then give it a try. It's worth your time.

The game touches a rarely (correctly) explored topic, almost no media (movies/series) realistically depict the life and struggle of an addict and therefore all those close to them.

This game tackles it head on in a very real sense, a lot of these situations are what addicts and their close ones have to suffer through when supstances are in question, specially in regards to heroin, addiction in general is sickness for life no cure no magical recovery, a mind addicted needs to fight to stay clean

So in regard to the game, it takes itself just serious enough, yet still its a game and has a nice side to it with small comic reliefs, some references, an again it is an adult VN so a lot of pretty ladies most of us want to see !

The story telling and emotional connections can feel really meaningful and thats what always gets me in a game, a good story and good meaningful interactions make it worthwhile, I am really looking forward to more updates to this, if you havent you should really give this game a try!

Ch. 8c

A VN from the perspective of a drug addict. I think the story is decent and it serves as a great lesson in empathy, showing you how someone thinks and rationalizes and approaches situations when they're addicted to drugs. The writing's a little clunky but not bad. The renders are a bit rough sometimes. Decent use of music and sound. I think it's worth checking out.

One of the best games in this site. Don't sleep on this.

It's so hard to find a good balance when writing about recovery, and drugs. And I always thought that Hollywood and other media usually handles that pretty poorly.

But, in this game, that part of story is done with so much care and quality, it's insane. If you're looking for a great game to play, give this one a try.

One Day at a Time is a unique and wonderful VN experience. First of all, this game excels in both its story and especially character growth, and to vicariously experience, in game form, what it is like to have a different life. Lots of games try to do this, but what makes One Day at a Time unique among nearly all VNs here, in that that life has many challenges, along with its positive aspects.

You play as a heroin addict, with your girlfriend, Lydia, who is also an addict. While Lydia and the MC's addiction is mostly in the background for at least part of their day, every day they have to figure out where they are going to get their next fix. This gets more and more difficult as time goes on due to various reasons.

Several more characters from your past enter the picture. There is Mary, your long time childhood friend that you reconnect with, who is also an addict, though not as deep into the lifestyle as Lydia and the MC. Audrey, your bookish friend from high school, who is clean and hopes the MC can turn his life around, and Barb, an ex-girlfriend who used to be deep in the drug-life with the MC, but has turned her life around and gotten clean. There is also a sexy nurse that helps you get some pills from time to time, and a hot waitress/gas station attendant who both have difficulties in their life they are trying to navigate.

One Day at a Time does focus heavily on drug addiction, and to a lesser extent alcohol addiction, with another character. However, it is not the depressing experience it could have been. There is much love and enjoyment between all the characters each day, despite their addiction, and, while I don't want to give away too much of the plot, there is real positive character growth for all the characters.

Some parts of the game are difficult to watch, but that just deepens the experience as a player. The interaction between the MC and Lydia is so much fun to see. Their dialog, while loving, is filled with snarky comments, but it is expressed with so much humor and affection, that it brings a smile to my face to see it. Lydia has to be one of the all-time great LIs I've seen. She is very cute, of course, but her personality is really a lot of fun. Despite her exterior attitude, you know that she would go to hell and back for the MC.

Once I started the game, whenever I wasn't playing it, as I went about my day, I was thinking in my mind what was happening with Lydia, Mary, Audrey, and the rest. It really touched me, and I am not ashamed to admit I teared up a few times throughout the game.

Each of the main characters is written to seem like a completely real person, with their own unique and memorable personality, more than practically any VN I've played here. The dev really has a gift with dialog.

One Day at a Time has meant a lot to me playing it, I really love it. It is a more full and emotionally deep experience than practically any other of the top rated VNs here. Lots of other VNs have great renders, and sexy themes, but very, very, few have anywhere near the depth of story and characters that you see here. One Day at a Time is really something special.