VN - Ren'Py - Completed - Once in a Lifetime [v1.0] [Caribdis]

I decided to come back and play this game from scratch after the latest release of Eternum (the devs newer game) and you could really tell that this dev was something special. As a honey select hater, this dev made me a believer. He converted me into actually trying out more honey select games, sadly I still haven't played many as good as this.

If you're a honey select hater like me, I get it, but I must tell you.. You will miss out if you don't try this game.

It truly is a once in a life time experience.

Also check out Eternum if you haven't, it's even better.

Lauren best girl, but Penelope from Eternum clears, I'm sorry.

Overall - 8/10
Felt like a watered down version of Eternum, but it hits the right notes. From the similar looking women to the Hscenes.
The emptyness of BGM in most of the game was the main different from this and Eternum, suspense and immersion. But the fact that this game can be compared to Eternum tells you how good this VN is.
Story - 8/10
Solving a dark secret with your step sisters. Mysterious, dark themes thought out.
Sound - 5/10
BGM is there when its needed, but it is lacking during a lot of the play through
Animation - 8/10
Hscenes amazing
Playability - 7/10
Many girls you can prioritize for their path, but main story is with the step sisters.
Amount of Content - 7/10
10 Chapters quite lengthy, do recommend a guide do to some tediousness for puzzles etc.

fantastic game, meaningful choices and LI. Lauren best girl. Stabby Mike best boy. The dev made characters that you can actually develop and attachment to . I do hope that this game gets a sequel down the line once Eternum is done

Everything about this game was amazing. From the animations, to the storyline, hits the spot. Its a game where it feels like you are literally reading a fantasy novel straight out of a book, a good one where you just get the feeling of wanting to read more and more.

A really good if not the BEST AVN I've ever played in my life period
PROS
1. good animation, fluid and truly enjoyable
2. Story goes very well for you who like the best outcome for an ending, a good pace for 1-2 hours playtime a day, or in one sitting
3. The humor, the reference by good it's feels likes I'm being stabbed multiple times by it *iykyk
4. The characters, even if not voiced feels alive with their own quirkiness not just there to be blankly stared at you
5. The writing is easy to understand even for non first English

CONS:
1. You'll feels weird the first time you play if you used to play AVN with Blender 3D renders, it feels like playing a Japanese game but its not
2. A quite noticable awkward movement in animation especially in early storyline, but it just happened 1 or 2 times

Last but not least,
You whoever read this review must play it least once in a lifetime

I think the best part of this game is that it doesn't overstay its welcome. It sets out to tell a story, does that really well, and doesn't bloat the story at all to milk any patreon money.

All the renders are top notch, all the characters are interesting and different. Though some are invested in way more than others. The sex scenes are great with the sisters getting the most of the bunch. They are all well done.

The story was funny, interesting, and had a lot of fun easter eggs. Sucks there wasn't any content for all the girls at the same but the epilogue was still amazing.

This game is one of I saw and who was in my backlog for a time but wow, I didn't know what I was missing!

The game has the perfect amount of everything, the random laughs at the perfect moments is really a plus. I loved the characters and the story since the beginning, but it takes another direction when Stabby Mike is introduced and it's just a fucking perfect side character that I actually was thinking about the fact that we need more characters like him in AVN with a lot of humor.

Of course, I completed the game when that was already completed for a time and I'm really glad I did because it's one of the rare games I wanted to play from start to finish without even pause it. I don't imagine how it was when we needed to wait for updates.

The only downside is the harem epilogue, I think having dialog to know how everyone was after the last fight. I wish a little more depth with mom and Rebecca was added after that, but it's only a minor downside for me.

If you like at least two of these three genres; harem, horror and humour with random moments, you should totally try it because this game is really top tier!

Many things have happened in 2024
Kendrick vs drake beef ,Jojo Siwa fallout ,dreams fall etc
But best thing happened is me discovering this game

Story 9/10 not sss tier but ss tier for sure

Humor 10/10 funny as fuck especially prison scene..........

Writing 10/10 great writing that makes you get attached to characters

Art 9/10 great,I love honey select ,

Ending 10/10 great ending ,God bless
This miracle

Now I wish I could forget it and play again

Will be in my memory forever

Thanks and can't wait for eternum v 0.8

Cheers

Sorry, English is not my native language. But I will give a review as best I can.

I honestly really like this game, I've played Eternum 0.7 and I tried playing this. Turns out, oh it turns out, another masterpiece created by Caribdis.

The humor is so entertaining that my stomach hurts from laughing, and the story is really fun to follow, I really enjoyed playing this, it's really good.

I want to thank the developer, for making a game that entertains me in times of sadness and chaotic life circumstances, I am really grateful because I am very entertained!

Hilarious. i fucking love this game. The Humor in this game is just the best. the characters make it so funny. Jack, tom and Stabby. these guys are just the best. I cant stop laughing. the girls are def unique as well. The dark elements of the story make this game really engaging.

Well as a weighted rating completed game on f95, it deserve that tilte. Good humor, good main storyline, beautiful girl, and not like Telltale, your choice have weight into it. I my most recommend game for everyone.

I'm not really a harem kind of guy, I prefer games with single paths and single LI that you choose. I played this game blindly first time and I chose one of the girls and rejected the other ones, and the game was really unsatisfying, I CTRLd through it and it was kind of meh.

I gave this game a second chance, read about it more, read every single word in this game, accepted every single girl and opportunity and by playing like this - this game became really good. Humour is great, girls are great, story is kind of average for me in terms of main plot, but writing and dialogues are superb and that's what I'm looking for in games really. So, playing 2nd time, I had a blast, even though core game elements are not really my thing, but the game is so fun in itself that it nulifies bad stuff, you just have to play it properly.

I have to mention few things I didn't like:
1. MC's look - it took me a long time to accept it, had a really hard time playing this dude as "me"
2. HS - it's not really mu cup of tea, I don't like and don't play games based on HS,

But these are small things, overally - amazing game, around top10-20 games I played

One of the best AVNs I have ever played.

The story, while not particularly unpredictable is super enjoyable and fun. There is an outstanding pace between silly and serious that makes sure that neither aspect of the game gets old or tiring.

The choices that are made, while important, don't feel so heavy to the point where you're almost too anxious to make a choice. And the inclusion of the walkthrough is very much appreciated. I hope there will be a complete walkthrough for Eternum as well.

My only real complaint is that I found the MC to be a bit creepy looking to the point where I needed a bit of time to get used to his looks.

Aside from that, I loved every bit of the game to the point that I completed in in a few days.

Excellent work all around.

Wow. What an experience. What an adventure. Absolutely brilliant.

Stabby Mike for president. All girls best girls. Caribdis had a vision. I can't recommend this game enough.

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The writing was great. Some spelling mistakes and mild awkwardness here and there, but what he tried to convey was good. Humor was on point and the story was suspensful and interesting to see unfold. Classic ecchi progression.

Renders were fine. Character designs were nice. Overall, characters were memorable.

The sound design was good.

Gameplay aspects were a bit of a mess. Wasn't a fan of having to click for different H-scene perspectives. Could have just shown the different perspectives during the H scenes without the need to click extra buttons. Would have fit better if there were a multitude of positions to choose from. Still, not really detrimental to the experience.

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Overall one of the best games on this site, I'd say. Especially since it's complete and does not try to bite off more than it could chew. Would recommend!

This one is my comfort food. I always come back to it when I just want to relax and enjoy the lighthearted fun with the cuties. Sure it can't compete with the newest HS2 bling, but I don't care. Love it.

One of the best game I've ever played
The humour was perfect, it didn't feel forced and made the game more interesting
The characters were so much Loveable
The renders were perfect and the story line started fun and ended with a serious tone
It was like watch a fantasy movie
The teacher character is my favourite and the body was designed perfectly

A outstanding AVN.
Top notch story, great humor, likeable characters, good sounds/musics, beautiful renders, right amount of sex scenes, different choices that really matters and the possibillity of differents endings.

Stabby Mike 4 President

pros:
-great story
-great humor (maybe the best)
-good and fun characters
-eazy to understand the dialogs
-lewd scenes are good
-music is good enough
-choices are good too

this game is one of the bests in my opinion

This is definitely one of the best completed AVNs available right now despite it's age showing visually next to newly releasing games. The dev clearly put a lot of effort into getting what they could out of what they had at the time with character models and scenes and it pays off.

The story is quite comedy focused and over the top but it fully embraces it and kept me interested throughout.

People will make comparisons to Eternum naturally as it's the same developer and whilst I do think Eternum is likely going to beat this at the end of its development I have to say that Once in a Lifetime holds up very well against it. The fact that it's actually finished is a huge bonus in a world where very few of the top choices are close to completion.