VN Ren'Py Our Life: Now & Forever [v1.4.4 Beta] [GBPatch]

[Orphanus]

This game looks like another one I played for a couple hours a few months ago.

I dropped it because it was gay, though. Like, either you were straight as a girl or you had to end up gay if you played as a guy.

So I figured it was a game for girls (and gays).

It has the same exact art style. Is this a sequel or something? Can you have straight relationships as a male or turn the LI into a girl this time?

It's very likely you played "Our Life: Beginnings and Always" which is from the same Devs. In that game there are no female Lovinterests indeed.

In this game here there is already 1 female romance option (Tamarac) and as far as I know there will be at least 1 more female Loveinterest later down the road.
You're probably aware, but just in case I wanna point out, too, that there won't be any explicit scenes for a long time, and if the game ever gets 1 it will be at the very end of the story.

 

[Orphanus]

Couldn't get into the first one with the lack of lesbian option but noooow, it's on.

Game has been amazing so far (haven't played today's update yet though), and if I'm not mistaken there will be at least 1 other female character to romance at some point. I'm inclined to already call this the best VN I ever played, despite basically being still in the prologue, and me being very picky.

 

[daddyCzapo]

I have created compressed version of the game
Tools used:
-YAC (https://f95zone.to/threads/yac-yet-another-cruncher-a-game-compactor-v3-3.55421/)
-Ren'Py SDK 7.5.3 (

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)
Compression preset: Medium
Original size: 678 MB
Compressed size: 242 MB

v1.2.1 beta

PC:

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MAC (untested):

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note: The mac version is a byproduct of compiling the game in Ren'Py SDK, as i have no way of testing this version download at your own risk

 

[AmerHST]

Game has been amazing so far (haven't played today's update yet though), and if I'm not mistaken there will be at least 1 other female character to romance at some point. I'm inclined to already call this the best VN I ever played, despite basically being still in the prologue, and me being very picky.

I also didn't get into the first one since there was no female Li.

I'm glad I tried this one, It truly is an amazing VN from art to story to characters, atmosphere, music...etc. I'm also a sucker for romance stories with childhood friends so that helps

 

[Orphanus]

I also didn't get into the first one since there was no female Li.

I'm glad I tried this one, It truly is an amazing VN from art to story to characters, atmosphere, music...etc. I'm also a sucker for romance stories with childhood friends so that helps

I played the first 1, but skipping the romance content certainly made it a lot less enjoyable than it could have been. It did give me a fairly good impression though of what the Devs are capable of.

So far this game here is just more advanced in every regard, aside from not being finished.

Personally I would like if the female loveinterests would be a bit more varied (not the biggest fan of the body positivity stuff with Tamarac, but that isn't really an ingame thing so far, just something I saw in the discussions on other sites, and that also was likely sparked by the attitude of some people complaining about T not being slender) cause it just feels a bit off to me to make an entire first game with more or less model sized male characters, then a 2nd one were the female characters aren't allowed to be pretty in a classic sense. And then there is also the fact 1 of the devs made an (in my opinion) horrible argument against making the 1 lesbian character romanceable along the lines of "you cant date her cause maybe you arent a lesbian yourself" (and therefore even if you are you can't) which I just found to be 1 of the absolute weirdest arguments for anything ever (given that we are talking about a game), but that's all "behind the scenes" stuff with, so far, no hampering effect on the game.

Edit: And so far no other romance option has been even revealed, so who know's what's there to come? I think there is a very high chance the entire discussion will turn out to be pointless, cause there will be at least 3 characters to pick from, each wildly different to the other. Just, personally, I think it's best to not politicize your game for no good reason other than being annoyed or trying to annoy people one doesn't like.

 

[Princess Groundhog]

These people pointing out they skipped OL1 because of the male love interest, I hope you know the MC is fully customizable so can be a girl, if you don’t enjoy gay romance.

 

[Orphanus]

These people pointing out they skipped OL1 because of the male love interest, I hope you know the MC is fully customizable so can be a girl, if you don’t enjoy gay romance.

Yeah, true, the MC is...but not the Loveinterest so if one wishes to romance a female character that is the 1 thing the original game doesn't exactly offer.

 

[Tunak23]

It is not small praise that with the last updates my in game lad is starting to feel real.

All the reactions and their impact on the story like how my MC absolutely dreaded moving away from his last home and leaving behind the life he had there which made getting used to a new school all the more difficult, when the game gave me that scene when Taramack and Qiu noticed this apprehension behind my character's masquerade of laugh and japes was just pure perfection.

Your chosen character relationships are more noticeable than ever, how Tamarack says she loves any colours the MC likes(perphaps making the scene longer with Tamarack as the crush) supports the MC when he doesn't want to say directly who is going to pick him up and the teacher lass is going to scold him or how the mother speaks to the crush you select with more sweetness while teasing you on the side.

The introduction of Baxter and Darren was executed quite well, starting to believe that Baxter is easily going to be seen as "The rich boy that likes bragging about his background" easy to hate for my Mc on the superficial level for his wealth(perfect for the Jealous mechanic that was announced) and that Darren is going to hide behind that shyness of his that wrongly portrays him as a cold person for a long time(and well his change of gender on the future with all the problems related to that), Qiu defending Darren right at the introduction from Tamarack's inquiries about teachers having children and generally acting as the leader/mediator between the two was fascinating the lad's perception is incredible.

I wonder what characters out of the lads newly introduced will become side love interests if there are any plans for that? I know about Vianca(she liked only girls right?) and Serenity but I wonder if more female characters will be introduced having someone else as an alternative for my Tamarack love route would be appreciated.

Also hoping that the drama with the protagonist's parenthood comes up again which is a matter specially interesting if you choose a more confrontational angle,a breach on the relationship between mother and child,

Spoiler: drama

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[Tunak23]

These people pointing out they skipped OL1 because of the male love interest, I hope you know the MC is fully customizable so can be a girl, if you don’t enjoy gay romance.

Wouldn't make a difference for me anyways as playing female characters on dating sims is kind of a red line, only enjoy this exact type of visual novels with a female love interest for my male MC.

Games dedicated to growing up are amazing but without that sweet romance on my desired terms not gonna play the thing only to carve friendships with the cast it feels kinda incomplete.

 

[Senjue]

These people pointing out they skipped OL1 because of the male love interest, I hope you know the MC is fully customizable so can be a girl, if you don’t enjoy gay romance.

Besides, you can always play with your MC and other guys as just friends. It doesn't make the story worse in any way.

 

[YoukoKurama]

I don't care if that's the same Baxter as in the other game I need these two new characters to be love interests

 

[Machine_Messiah]

I don't care if that's the same Baxter as in the other game I need these two new characters to be love interests

Baxter has already been confirmed to not be a love interest in this game as for Ren that's up in the air and we will have to wait and see.

 

[YoukoKurama]

Baxter has already been confirmed to not be a love interest in this game as for Ren that's up in the air and we will have to wait and see.

Bruh this developer needs to stop making characters tied together in the same world I don't care I'm making a Baxter LI mod it's decided. Plus if I do make a mod for this I can always make Baxter have a thruple with both my MCs

 

[DipYourFingersOnMyAss]

Bruh this developer needs to stop making characters tied together in the same world I don't care I'm making a Baxter LI mod it's decided. Plus if I do make a mod for this I can always make Baxter have a thruple with both my MCs

You literally can date baxter soon in OL 1 and i rather gbpatch make another love interest dlc with cul-de-sac inhabitant(Ren's brother or that lovely curly haired lady)

 

[YoukoKurama]

You literally can date baxter soon in OL 1 and i rather gbpatch make another love interest dlc with cul-de-sac inhabitant(Ren's brother or that lovely curly haired lady)

Don't care I want this MC to be able to date Baxter, like in OL 1 I want that MC to be able to date Jeremy this is the problem with making all the characters interelated across games.

 

[DipYourFingersOnMyAss]

Don't care I want this MC to be able to date Baxter, like in OL 1 I want that MC to be able to date Jeremy this is the problem with making all the characters interelated across games.

Ah yes cant wait for your glorious Unofficialy Remastered Expanded + Enhanced Revamped with seamless character switching between protagonist and improved graphic unreal engine 5 giga mod
oh boy i sure hope our mc can suck baxter cock in D3D12 graphic

 

[Jiffie]

Ah yes cant wait for your glorious Unofficialy Remastered Expanded + Enhanced Revamped with seamless character switching between protagonist and improved graphic unreal engine 5 giga mod
oh boy i sure hope our mc can suck baxter cock in D3D12 graphic

Dayum, why you rinsing this person, let us simpers simp! *Hello, fellow kids*

Nah, I'm joking with both of you. But, no, I see YoukoKurama point, and can sort of agree; I get pretty possessive of my fandom, too, and I have that OTP feel when I play romance games (I self insert, too, so my characters are all the same, AU versions of me), and would hated if my husband from another game had to be my new character's friend/brother/god in another. It upset my inner yandere, and I feel like "What you doing in here rejecting me ass hat?! You're mine, you said you'd always love me in the other game!!!"

I'd be pretty upset if Cove was in this game, and it's a common way to feel amongst a fandom, which is why he isn't (at least, I think...?). However, since Baxter is a side character, I don't think they took into account just how many players actually loved him as equally as the others love Cove; I think they felt "we didn't give those other boys that much attention, we'll make up for it here!" and didn't take into account the fans who sees them as OTP. (I, for one, am not a Baxter/Derrick fan, Cove is my bottom bitch, so I don't care, either way).

I felt pretty weird about it too, YoukoKurama , we yanderesperfectly normal in a non-stalker way human people gotta fight against injustice!

 

[verlyone]

baxter was always going to be in this second game. as some people apparently hate it's a common thing with gbpatch to add characters from previous games to new games. (the previous character actually being Pran Taylor ) These two games were initially planned at the same time. the kickstarter for the first game raised money for this one as well. those are the funds being used to make this demo. case in point he's around here in the timeline that he is not in our life 1. people do have places they come from. I'm actually surprised that JB (the MC from xoxo droplets) isn't from golden grove. I know she's from Oregon it was mentioned in the game.

also I wanted to point out the reason that vianca cant be a romance is not just because she's a lesbian but but because all Lis have to be open to romance the MC. that's the way the Our Life games work.

for other examples people kept asking why Shiloh or Jeremey couldn't be a love interest for the first game (even though they were cameos) and it was for the same reason as vianca in this one except the answer is that those two boys are straight.

the thing that Cove, Qui, Tamarak, Derek and Baxter have in common is that they are available to any MC one makes. apparently it's looking as good news for Ren as well. so far gppatch as said that there is no guarantee there well be any additional Lis because this one is looking to be a lot of work. but if they can add one it will be Ren. as Ren is also the only kid that will have a sprite for all 4 ages. it hasn't been decided exactly what sexuality any of the characters from N&F are. only that what ever it is it will be one that is open to romance anyone's mc.

it was said from the beginning that Beginning and Always was for those that wanted to romance male Love interests. and that Now and Forever would feature women and NB romances.

 

[YoukoKurama]

Ah yes cant wait for your glorious Unofficialy Remastered Expanded + Enhanced Revamped with seamless character switching between protagonist and improved graphic unreal engine 5 giga mod
oh boy i sure hope our mc can suck baxter cock in D3D12 graphic

As if altering renpy wasn't as simple as using notepad++ on the scripts Wow so complex wow much effort oh no I had to use Unren because the scripts were archived Wow

I'd never said I'd create new visuals, but using the same visual cues in the Script are hardly anything but trivial even people with no programming experience could do it.

 

[YoukoKurama]

Dayum, why you rinsing this person, let us simpers simp! *Hello, fellow kids*

Nah, I'm joking with both of you. But, no, I see YoukoKurama point, and can sort of agree; I get pretty possessive of my fandom, too, and I have that OTP feel when I play romance games (I self insert, too, so my characters are all the same, AU versions of me), and would hated if my husband from another game had to be my new character's friend/brother/god in another. It upset my inner yandere, and I feel like "What you doing in here rejecting me ass hat?! You're mine, you said you'd always love me in the other game!!!"

I'd be pretty upset if Cove was in this game, and it's a common way to feel amongst a fandom, which is why he isn't (at least, I think...?). However, since Baxter is a side character, I don't think they took into account just how many players actually loved him as equally as the others love Cove; I think they felt "we didn't give those other boys that much attention, we'll make up for it here!" and didn't take into account the fans who sees them as OTP. (I, for one, am not a Baxter/Derrick fan, Cove is my bottom bitch, so I don't care, either way).

I felt pretty weird about it too, YoukoKurama , we yanderesperfectly normal in a non-stalker way human people gotta fight against injustice!

Also not even to mentiion it's just wasted potential for them having so little routes. Disregarding the fact that having a Western VN dev make legitimate games, on a frequent basis is a rarity, it's just wasted potential to create this world and reduce it/hinder it to one route, two routes, + half routes aka DLC routes. Even their previous game had more routes. "Oh but Kurama this is the style you just don't get it" no I get it, it's just wasted potential. More routes done in the same manner would take this game to a higher level, period I cannot fathom for the life of me why they would self impose such a restricition. The top VNs are more than 40+ hours to complete.