VN - Ren'Py - One Day at a Time [S2 Ch.19 P2] [Zoey Raven]

I finally bit the bullet and decided to see why this game was so highly rated. I've always glanced over it , but the previews always looked really bad to me, so I'd put off giving it a chance. Well, I decided to give it a chance and I'm really unimpressed. I should have just went with my gut feeling on this one.

I'm convinced this game suffers from a deep confirmation bias simply because of what it's about. It's the equivalent of saying: "I'm so sorry this happened to you, here's all my sympathy and support that I wouldn't normally give someone else, for some other game, were it not for the subject matter in question. You're so brave." I think this game is grossly overrated. It's essentially a participation trophy. Here's why:

• Sex scenes and animations are short, and hilariously bad. I audibly laughed seeing the MC dislocate his legs and hips as he used the force to glide his entire body forwards and backwards in place. Same thing with the girls. Really poor animation all-around. All of the scenes (and there's hardly any here) are very manufactured and feel like they were only really added to put the "adult" in this adult novel. This is a text dump disguised as an adult game. It's like they knew that if no sex scenes were added, nobody would be interested in the game, so they sprinkled a few here in there to meet the quota.
  
  
• Renders aren't great. Lighting is always off and it feels like your typical cookie cutter Daz asset dump where most of the girls look the same with different hair and/or sets of makeup. Stiff looking models with glazed over eyes that stare lifelessly into space like they're just dolls or props. Personally I don't find them to be all that attractive either. Very run of the mill.
  
  
• The characters. It feels like the entire function of the MC isn't really as the main character. He's just there as a placeholder to agree with the vapid, annoying, and bland girls. The girls are the main characters here because all there is in this game is their constant, stupid conversations about nothing. Over, and over, and over again. Nobody calls out anyone on their bullshit, and accountability simply doesn't exist in this universe. It's basically Lydia, then a bunch of off-brand Lydias with different vices. It's actually hard to describe them separately if you don't mention their job, living situation, or looks. They're all essentially the same character.
  
  
• Outside one specific junkie route, the choices are entirely useless and are there only to give you 3 ways to say the same thing, or 3 ways to simp for the girls.
  
  
• Do you like movies? The author REALLY likes movies. And so does every character in the game. Equally. They all somehow like the same movies. Be prepared for tons of dated references that never truly feel like they belong.
  
  
• The story... ugh, the story. It's awful. None of it makes sense. Where do I even start? They have FREE housing and living quarters? Family is there to support you? Large network of people you know that are also wealthy? No problem getting out of trouble with the authorities because you're somehow friends with talented legal aides? Parole officer who cares about you? Doctor "friend" that hooks you up? Access to easy travel and the means to go out, do whatever you want, and enjoy yourself? And don't even get me started on how "easy" the recovery is going for these people. It's a joke how simple it all is. I was seriously expecting some grit here. Some realism. Some tragedy and struggle. It doesn't have to be edgy, it just shouldn't be this stupid. But nope, just walls upon walls of text about nothing. You probably think I'm exaggerating with the whole "text dump" commentary. Trust me, I'm being extremely diplomatic. Of all the games I've played in nearly a decade on this site, none are as ridiculously verbose, convoluted, and just all around "please shut the fuck up" as this one is. Apathy set in real quick.

I could go on, but honestly this is long enough. Whereas other games will have you hopelessly grind a sandbox, this game has you grind vapid, entirely banal conversations between the girls just to get to anything of substance. And let's talk about "substance" here for a second. If this game were about any other topic, and no personal backstories of the author themselves were attached to this game, I'm very confident it wouldn't be nearly as well received. Put aside the sympathy points being milked here for the topic used and you quickly notice just how woefully lackluster it is on its own. Nothing here feels realistic, and instead of a good story about the ups and downs of true addiction, the lifestyle and hopelessness of street life, I'm greeted with an easymode mickey mouse version you'd expect to see some spoiled privileged kid who had a falling out with their parents go through, with almost all the means and resources they need to breeze on by, with little to no hardship. It's almost offensive in its portrayal.

I don't think this game is worth your time unless all of that sounded positive to you. Perhaps, if you go in with the expectation of this game being a junkie power fantasy, with sparse sexual content, and don't mind reading walls upon walls of vapid, monolithic text dumps, this may be for you. It certainly wasn't for me.

Rating: ★★★★★
an incredibly compelling game that delves into the dark and gripping world of addiction
Its immersive story hooks players from the start
exploring the harrowing journey of a protagonist and the girls
consumed by the depths of substance addiction
devastating narrative consequences, broken relationships, and personal turmoil And you feel that each character has its own story and personality With remarkable depth and authenticity
It sheds light on the complexities of addiction and the power of redemption. Serves as a powerful reminder of the resilience of the human spirit and the transformative potential of recovery, making it an unforgettable gaming experience.
the chemistry between the characters you will not find it in any other game
The only possible game that you do not need Skip button

There's a lot I love about this game. The story is about a very real and serious subject matter, but told in a delicate and even witty manner. It never holds you down with how heavy the topic is, but definitely hits you in the feels when it needs to. I grew up in an abusive environment as a kid, with alcoholism and violence at the forefront, so I relate to this story so much. I even had my own battle with alcohol abuse, so I understand how hard it is.

The character diversity and depth in which they are fleshed out, is done extremely well. Each one has their own unique background, look, and motivations to set them apart. They also drastically change as the story is told, which I feel like a lot of VNs out there don't do enough. My favorite character in the entire story is Lydia. I have loved watching her transformation from when she was a bit more aggressive and abusing drugs, to now being more loving and sober. Her wit and banter with the MC also reminds me of my best friend's parents, where they bust each other's balls, but you can tell there's a deep love there.

I felt like the story dragged a bit in some places, despite how well the rest of the story was told. Like I remember in the beginning after Mary shows up there was a pretty long scene that I wished would have sped along, and there was one towards the end of the story so far that did as well. One thing that really bothered me when I first started playing, was how Lydia kept calling the MC gay, like it was an insult. If it happens once or twice, it's not ideal, but it kept occurring which made me start to hate to hear the banter between the two. That and the back and forth was so heavy handed at the beginning, it started to become grating . Once the MC and Lydia become sober though, the banter really cut down with how heavy handed it was and I really enjoyed it. Now I can feel the love and respect the MC and Lydia have for each other, even when they are jabbing at each other.

One thing I hope to see in the future, is a way to end all these other relationships the MC is in. I understand that this one is a personal preference, but I would like to see the MC become serious about his relationship to Lydia now that he is above just giving in to his wants and whims. I understand pretty much being forced into these relationships, when he was using, he was used to doing whatever made him feel good. However, now that he is starting to rise above giving in to his urges, I would like to be given the option to try and amicably end these relationships. I felt like the story is leading to this path, and if it is you can disregard this entirely. I just hope we get to see him get serious with whoever the player chooses, or continue the harem thing, if the player so wishes.

Overall, this is a serious story told in a delicate and witty way and I can't wait to see where the story goes from here.

Give it a chance

I wont lie this game was difficult for me to rate... The storyline is relatable to RL (albeit with a lot more LIs - it is a porn game afterall ha). It wont be for everyone however.

It actually took me 2 restarts before i got into this game. I am glad i peservered tho as the more you play the more you get hooked in and invested in the characters.

I rarely rate games 5 star as i always think they can be improved. however This is definately one of the top tier games on this site. Engaging Story, unique models, MC is lets say "realistically proportioned" which is a rarety in itself for these games ha, and... lots of lewd content.

As i say the story will not suit everyone, but its a very good game.

A very well done game. Well worth reading through the story which is unusual for a lot of games posted here. The characters are believable, and extremely well done. It gives the sense of investment in the characters which is great. Not to mention, there is a lot of adult content that goes with it. A very rare combination indeed, and certainly well worth playing.

This game was the opposite of the Deluca Family for me. With the Deluca Family, I had 0 expectations and came out blown away. I still think that Luna's backstory is hands down the best-written scene of any adult visual novel and frankly most other novels I have ever read.

One day at a time, I had the opposite expectation. I came in "knowing" that this game would blow me away since it has such a high score and was let down. Now I will give the author the credit that many others have given. It's abundantly clear that they know about addiction and the care they put into that specific subject matter is commendable. It's the reason I refuse to rate this lower than 3 stars even though part of me really wants to.

I also really like Lydia's character, however, unfortunately, part of her character (sassy, quippy, cheeky) gets taken and spliced into other characters which lowers her appeal. I hate Mary. Everyone calls her "sweet" but she's a bitch who refuses to take accountability for her actions. Yeah she apologizes for making mistakes like a normal person, but she also calls the MC a dick if he explains to her what she did wrong. The only way she doesn't do that, is if he goes, "ohhh don't worry, it's the other guy's fault, not yours, blah blah blah".

Audrey is another character I didn't hate but was annoying. She comes across as entitled and arrogant, which I guess is fitting considering her age range, but no one calls her out for it. In fact, none of the negative traits that the girls have is called out, only the MC who will simp his ass off for these girls.

The doctor woman was interesting because she acknowledges what she's doing is bad, although speaking as someone who used to work in the medical field, her excuse that "I'm giving these people pain pills because the gov't cracked down" is dumb. The laws used to be abused and were too loose. So many people died because they were abusing pain pills and people STILL try to take them too early. We call that non-compliant. These aren't Tylenols...

The sex scenes... made me laugh out loud. I'm dead serious. The MC's pelvis inverted and I burst out laughing. All in all, I commend the author for what they've made, but this wasn't my cup of tea. You may want to try it a bit but if you start to think you don't like it, don't be afraid to drop it.

Probably one of the best-written NSFW games I've ever played. Honestly, it's probably one of the best VN's I've played. The game makes the characters feel more real by dealing with an issue that is rarely touched on, let alone actually done well: drug addiction.
This allows the story to go in a direction rarely if at all trekked, making the story engaging and the interactions fun but down-to-earth. The characters are all likeable and feel real, you don't feel like you're just waiting for cutscenes to get your rocks off.
The sex scenes are alright, but the models are great, and overall it's an enjoyable package and I'd encourage anyone who can to subscribe to Raven's Patreon. The only issue I can see for people is that you might sit for a bit to get from scene to scene, so as a NSFW game it may be more beneficial to increase the number of sex scenes, but I'd argue if you're more of a 'romantic' that can make the scenes themselves more satisfying. I've played plenty of games where the writing is lengthy and atrociously written, so you either skip it all or force yourself to try and read absolute drivel, but the story is so engaging that it doesn't matter nearly as much.

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!