VN - Ren'Py - Where It All Began [S1 Ch.4 Fix 1 Steam] [Oceanlab]

Half a decade in development and you count on one hand the amount of lewd scenes there are.

The writing feels like someone who wrote riverdale but way worse as if riverdale wasn't cringe enough.

Renders are really good but nothing is going anywhere in fact half the people who play this probably can't describe the plot to you coherently. On top of that dev is also doing summer's gone at the same time. I just don't see how this is even anything close to 4 stars.

If this is your first VN then I think you'll be blown away. If not you get to see pass alot of the fluff and and realize how mediocre this game is.

I played this after playing Summers's gone, what a great masterpiece by Ocean, great story, great renders, this is amazing honestly, just a few VN had this feel of immersion. Cant wait for the next update

Almost everything about this avn is incredible, but there is one important aspect that irks me and deflates my enthusiasm..
The girls are all too massive chested / thick... sigh. There's only 1 nice sized girl the story that I can remember.
Not everyone likes huge tits and ass you know. Most guys prefer lean healthy girls with C/D cups. anything bigger or smaller is unnatural/fat or malnourished and not desirable at all to me. All these good looking girls ruined by gross proportions.
I understand that some guys like it, and I can deal with some thick girls, but ALL of them? Narrowing down your audience there. Maybe it's where the money is at. Major shame.

(Review of Ch. 3 Full)

Another excellent game from the developer of Summer's Gone, though here there's actually some sex And boy, those animations are something else. Very sexy and even original, which must be a first after playing who knows how many AVNs before. Very story driven, with awesome visuals and writing, though not everything is perfect.

For starters, there's maybe too many women around with huge knockers, though at least they are mostly proportional to their body frame. But then, all LIs are also so beautiful they could be modelling; this makes the introduction of Lucas (a perfectly normal guy, just a bit on the chubby side) totally hilarious as he looks so ugly next to everyone sitting around him.

Secondly, Helen is said to be Leia's mother, yet they both look the same age. Aaand, the MC is Geralt of Rivia literally on steroids. Someone went too far if you ask me.

Before starting the game you can decide whether NTR is on or off, but either I was very lucky with my choices or the story hasn't yet reached the point where this makes a difference.

nice stories, i thought it was just some adult scenes, but i was wrong, the stories is better than i expected, im hoping for much more updates coming up so i can get to know more about these nice stories and also the adult scenes

Extremely high-quality game... with no content. Dip your toes in, see if you like the water, just understand that currently, these waters are quite gentle and despite having a cast full of bombastic babes, only one of them is fuckable at the moment. The slow pace isn't a detriment, as the writing is solid and the characters are all likable. Buyer beware, however, until the author proves they know what they're doing I'd hesitate about going all in. Don't want to end up in another AWaAM situation. Despite all the caveats, I still gave it a 5-star rating because the quality really is that high. However, if there's been no real progress to speak of a year from now I'll probably drop this rating down to a 3.

Ah, here we go again. I started playing this VN not initially realizing who the dev was, and partway through this update the awkward pacing started to alert my spidey senses. Once the characters started referring to each other as "bibi", I knew something was wrong but couldn't exactly put my finger on what. Once I reached the end of this version and realized this was made by the Summer's Gone dev, everything made sense.

First, the positives:

• Similar to Summer's Gone, this game looks very, very good. Oceanlab is a very skilled visual artist. All of the girls are gorgeous, and the visual aspect of this VN is stunning.
• The characters are all very strong and likeable. The MC of this game isn't nearly as much of a chode as the one in Summer's Gone, and Miru in particular is adorable.
• I think the story is intriguing so far. It's tough to say for sure, because it hasn't been fleshed out very much as of v0.3, but I think it could go some interesting places.
• Unlike Summer's Gone, there is actually some decent lewd scenes. Not much at all, especially considering the dev time, but at least it's something.

The cons:

• Also similar to Summer's Gone, the pacing is absolutely fucked. This game is allegedly six years in development, but as of this latest version the story has gone absolutely NOWHERE. They just keep introducing more and more characters to the mix without actually advancing things at all.
• The writing can be quite cringe at parts. Not as bad as Summer's Gone, but for crying out loud can the dev please stop trying to make "bibi" happen? And why does Miru keep calling the MC's dick "wormy"? That shit is so weird bro, nobody talks like that in real life.
• The MC is such an obvious fantasy self-insert it's honestly hilarious. Like it might be worth playing this game just to laugh at how funny of a character this guy is. Similar to Summer's Gone, this MC is a "bad boy" with an attitude problem that all the girls find irresistable - except this time he's a bodybuilder or something? I shit you not, at one point the MC goes to the gym and gets swarmed by other dudes who are desperate to learn his secrets to getting swole. I actually have a theory that the reason the story goes nowhere in these games is because the dev can't stop jerking off to the MCs.
• The UI and general interface are broken. The gallery in particular doesn't show all of the lewd content, and trying to navigate it is a mess.

But by far the biggest problem here, is that this game will never be finished. Consider the following:

1. This game has been in development for over half a decade and we're still being introduced to new characters and have barely even scraped the surface of the plot
2. This dev is simultaneously working on Summer's Gone, which is an even bigger pacing and plot progression clusterfuck

For that reason, I can't give this VN a score beyond two stars. I hope someone can prove me wrong, but I don't ever see this game being completed in a meaningful way.

Great game, has Oceans trademark gorgeous renders paired with some of the most breathtaking girls out there, not much is out yet but I really like where the story is heading, more fleshing out and this could truly be great, short and sweet but worth your time

Reworking this game is the best decision Ocean did.
The game features beautiful Renders and good looking Characters.
I see this game being in the same category of the greats of this genre, and I hope for more content to arrive.

After ch4:

The story makes no sense anymore.

This one's kind of a toss up for me between a 3 and 4.. on one hand, all the characters look absolutely fantastic, as do the animations and most scenes. However, for a game labeled as ntr and which seemingly tries to give you options on how you want your playthrough to be focused, it has almost no impact on what you will be able to see or do. No matter what you choose, there is only 1 girl you will be able to do more than simply flirt with or barely even touch for 5 seconds.

That being said, the 1 girl you do get to actually have sex with is pretty incredible, so I can't fault that. But, the lack of any actual choice beyond when you do or don't have sex with the 1 girl just brings my overall enjoyment of the game to near non-existent. Hopefully in the future this could get updated? Not sure if the dev is still active on it however so who knows.

There are very good renders here
Animation is smooth and natural

The problem is in writing and general direction of the story

It's classical example of the story where dev throws in your face a couple of sex scenes at the beginning to keep you in game for some time. After that you will have reading, reading and reading. I'm OK to read a captivating story, some detective or maybe sci-fi, but all this novel feels like a big prolog to the actual story

The other problem here that I can't assossiate myself with MC. He is crying on the screen with a sad music, but I feel nothing, just a boredom. Why is he crying? There are so much loopholes in narrating that I can't even understand

The character appearance is completely unrelated to their age. You sister looks older than you mother and your father looks like your slightly older friend

Unfortunately I can't recommend this VN to play, it's boring and inconsistent

[Ch. 3]

Really excellent art, very attractive models, loving the atmosphere and story. Some of the English is imperfect, but it's otherwise intelligent enough to look past that. It's definitely a slow burn. It's pretty light on actual sex scenes, but there's a good amount of eroticism in between them. I'd like more frequent scenes, but that's not a big deal.

I'd like to first start off with the good.

1) The renders are really really good.
2) There is some variety in the girls. My gawd Dana is scrumptious, really love the thickness. Thank you for throwing in some bigger girls without being obese.
3) The animations are well done.
4) The story/writing is both a positive and a negative. The positive here is that the English is decent and the author tries to be witty and funny, succeeding at moments (which is better than most).

Some negatives:

1) I get this is a slow burner, but ultimately I'm here for the erotica and sex. Unfortunately, there isn't much sexual content yet and the pacing is way off that you have to go through a lot of reading before getting to anything sexually exciting.
2) When sex happens, it just happens. It's like you get a choice, Do you want to have sex? It's very abrupt and there is very little build up, anticipation, or erotica that slowly turns the heat up with each new render. It's more like an on/off switch.
3) I really appreciate the milfs in this however, all the LIs have the faces of 25 year old cosmetic models. It's just too artificial. Especially with age, there needs to be more blemishes, lines, and not so 'tight' bodies. It just breaks immersion. It's probably too late to do anything about it now, but it would be an improvement in future endeavors.

Over all this is a 3 star game. Good quality, it just misses on pacing, the anticipation of erotica, and build up for the sexual scenes. I do hope that the game improves and the dev improves their craft. Some games start off very clunky and after halfway through the dev gets a lot more experience and vastly improves all of those things during the second half of the game.

The renders are definitely the highlight of this VN; extremely detailed and lively backgrounds give life to nearly every scene. Characters (especially the women) are insanely well done and the guys (other than MC) are not a waste of space that women trip over in order to get to you.

The story gets you engrossed in not just the main mystery of who-dun-it to your mother (which is barely explicitly mentioned, you wouldn't even know the blood relationships if you don't pay attention to the dialogue, it seems somehow too vague on purpose for whatever reason) but also most other, 'side' characters you meet with agendas of their own.

There is an NTR question at the start of the game, however, as of 0.3 content update, there is still none whatsoever implemented into the actual game. Some dialogue hints at the fringe possibility down the line, but it remains unclear if this is an eventuality; or a remnant of the pre-rework version. NTR haters, Proceed with caution!

Why 3/5? Because this game has been developing for around 6 years now. And I personally consider that timeline more than enough for a finished product - which this is certainly not. Keep in mind that the developer has two games running concurrently, so do be careful if you want to support the developer thinking that it will speed up the process. Sometimes, throwing money at a problem won't achieve anything at all.

This is one of the best VN's i've read in the past year
The story sucked me in like nothing else could for the past few months and i am more then hyped to see whats coming next
11/10, this is just amazing

Music and model very good in this game.

But little bit uncomfortable with MC body too much steroid, He looks really like HULK, made by combination of concrete and steel. Maybe in real life little bit like Arnold Schwarzenegger when hunting in jungle Predator Movie.

But still this game really good besides all slow burn story and slow update cyle.

Despite loving Summer is Gone which is OceanLabs other game, i was really mixed on Where It All Began.

One of the strongpoints about Summer Is Gone is the writing and this game just didnot click with me. There are so many fucking characters and they are all in your face consistantly that i had trouble remembering who was who. Summer is gone has this same issue but i think it works because your character is going to school and thats a social environment. But in WIAB every character is suppost to be personally connected to you and there are so many people that it feels fucking insane.

Plot is also pretty weird and feels very disconnected emotionally from what most of the game is conveying. Its a mystery involving some pretty harsh stuff your mom is literally mute because of the stuff that happened and the game consistently has things happen that are serious in tone. But then you in summer is gone fashion do rediuclus and over the top things that are very funny. These two types of tones dont work together and i just got bored of the overserious plot points over and over again to the point where i just dropped it.

Main character looks ridiculous and is really unattractive.

Models and Renders are of course top tier. Sex scenes are good and animated well. Oceanlab does a great job with fashion and making sure every single girl looks unique. I really wanted to love this game because of these parts and i really hate myself for not liking it.

Great game, with every update I'm convinced of it, the only problem, as with all VN developers - it's a very long development!
But it's really easy to read, super cool renders, animations are great, and the characters, it's something on another level, each of them is interesting, and every time Ocean leaves some mysteries, which makes it even more interesting to watch the continuation.
Mira is something else, a great character with humor and her divine appearance. Helen - just silent, but her look, mmm, gosh....
There is not much music at the moment, but it keeps the atmosphere very well.
I will actively follow every update, I'm already preparing two saves for different paths)

Good writting, nice POV making the reader unaware of everything. Very nice good idea to have a character like Miru that feel like an anchor when we don't know what is happening. Good scenes. Good work.

the game itself with the gameplay is cool, the plot is interesting and lamp-like, beautiful and high-quality characters, it seemed to me that the sexual content was very sensitive, cute, but I saw the animation of sex very cool and well done, sometimes I find Bella and Naomi in two personages of this game so the game is cool and done super like the second cool done!