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

I honestly didn't realize that I had never left a review for this game. Once in a Lifetime is literally the gold standard for HS games. The girls are attractive with well-developed, unique personalities. All the usual archetypes are here: the innocent "roommate", the bratty rich girl with daddy issues, the hot teacher -- yet Caribdis was somehow able to add a layer of depth to each girl with his prolific characterization skills.

The plot is interesting and really captures the player's attention, leading to incredibly fun theory-crafting (at least when the game was still in development). And finally, of course, the humor. It's incredibly difficult for an H-game to actually distract the player from the reason they're here (lewd horny escapism)... and yet Caribdis was somehow able to do that constantly throughout the VN. I'm sure there are loads and loads of comments and reviews about how funny Cari was able to make this game (the scenes, the reactions, the deadpans, the characters), so I won't go into it.

The only thing I'd say as a piece of advice is a request to allow the player to set names for the girls to call the MC during lewd scenes. Think it would take the lewd content up a notch, personally. Disappointed me when I romanced best girl Jasmine in OiaLT and wasn't able to get her to call me "daddy". I think I mentioned this on the game's discord once, so hope Cari is able to implement it!

I was quite disappointed that OiaLT had come to an end... but the previews for Eternum quickly changed my mind. The game looks like it will be a bit darker and add even more mystery, so I'm really looking forward to it. The preview pics look absolutely incredible (really loving Luna, Annie, and Penelope, the last being Cari's first blonde LI I think). In the meantime, I guess I'll play Ripples and Deviant Anomalies -- but Eternum will def make me a day 1 sub for Cari.

Excellent story, you will probably binge it, so set aside the proper amount of time. This is great to the end. It doesn't dissolve into a ridiculous fuck fest like some others. The MC isn't a rapist asshole. Lots of comedy and pop culture references. 5 stars

You can't go wrong with this one. Cool MC, memorable characters, funny (i genuinely laugh out loud at some scenes, it's hilarious) and it has Stabby Mike, the best character you could ask for on your side.
Definitely 10/10 for me.

Starts off a little janky, but develops into a pretty decent story after a little while, with some real laughs and scares. The various characters are fun and likeable, and the girls are pretty, though they are fairly similar visually due to the limitations of the model software. I used a walkthrough mod, and enjoyed it quite a bit.

I don't ever review games on here but I felt compelled to do so after completing Once in a Lifetime.

The story is honestly really compelling, and more importantly to me genuinely funny. No other game has made me laugh while playing as much as this one. All the characters both sexual and side are memorable.

Amazing game, would recommend. I look forward to any future works from this Dev.

I don't easily give 5/5 scores.

This one definitely is one of the best visual novels I have played. The story is engaging and funny, and very well paced. The visuals are top-notch with small details, especially the facial expressions, that makes it much more alive than your typical adult VN.

Biggest issue for me was the good ending. It's a bit obscure to get and left me hungry for more rather than satisfied, but I guess it is debatable if that's a good or a bad thing.

One of the best VN stories around, the characters the humor and plot are all excellent and engaging, Honestly there's nothing much else to say besides that.

Graphicly it's good but not great, there are some better looking games out there but as I said I was into it because of the great story.
The "comedic" graphical effects are fantastic though, plenty of moments when I had a good laugh because the Dev uses them effectively to bring a comedic situation up a notch(Turning someone's face into a "negetive" still for example)

"Fetish" wise it's pretty Vanilla so if you're looking for something more degenerate you won't find it in this one, scenes and characters are well animated though.

Excellent game, first of all. But where do I even begin with my review? I guess I was interested in VNs of any kind, this caught my eye like the others but I kinda judged it on the first images I saw. I thought it was going to be some dark, torture-themed VNs, which I'm not a stranger to, but not I wanted in the mean time. And I skimmed through the description and it involved cults and whatnot and that kinda reinforced my bad feeling about the theme of it.

But I got a new phone recently and I started looking for games to play and this was definitely in the top-recommended games and I just jumped into this game without knowing more of what it's about. I expected some routes to be all about love and maybe route might involve pain and torture, I don't know and I kinda kept my expectation to a minimum.

The art/characters are from HS it seems which is I'm familiar with and it didn't bother me at all, except for the male characters (but their design did add to the creepy/comedy effect). The girls, I like them, a lot. I expected some small-chested love interest but the girls are great and I wouldn't change anything about them.

The story, started out normal, as normal as any anime story goes (dad is missing, a bunch of girls surrounding the main character and I kinda skipped the MC's background story in my first run, I guess I just wanted to know where the game goes as fast as possible). Also, great inserts of pop-culture references, they went well with the dialogue, I say. Freaking hilarious. There were some school stuff, studying and quizzes which I flunked and made me miss a route [spoilers] in my first run. For me, the story went in high gear after using the key, and [spoilers] happened. I might get in trouble if I spoil things here. But when the cast expanded, a lot of shit happened. I love [spoilers] with his sunglasses and beard and [spoilers] with his stabbing personality. Also, I love going from high school life to scary/mysterious themed [spoilers]. Also, if I could mention, the girls' moments didn't seem to be forced at all, for me anyway. It was handled beautifully, I'll explain in next paragraph, and I just want to mention, I lost 2 nights of sleep over this. I didn't expect to be really into it, I was hooked, I needed to know how it ends, and I kinda rushed to end with some shitty decisions and getting a bad end. God I felt awful when I [spoilers] and the one love route I was going for had to show that she moved on. But even after that, I was excited to start all over again.

For the game/mechanics, I did not expect this 'harem' structure, which was well-implemented. My first run, I thought there might be a rule that won't allow me to get a harem and I kinda chose to end other relationships to avoid getting into trouble with Lauren. I kinda love Lauren. Anyway, I used a guide to get the happy ending and I'm just stunned to see a lot more moments I missed in my first run. After the second and third run, I gotta say, the fun experience I had with this was not once in a lifetime.

Just to close this review, I guess I wrote this just to reminisce about my first moments with the game (and the complete experience with the help of a guide). I love the girls, the guys, it had cliches but I like it, it's well-made/presented, it felt like a TV series, the comedy, slice of life, sex, action, horror, drama, holy hell, I loved every moment of it. Oh and the music was great, it added a lot to the emotions I felt while playing. Thank you for the spectacular experience!

Man what a game, i loved it to the end. I enjoyed almost every thing of this game, whether u talk about characters, whether u talk about story.
About characters- i loved all the characters in the game and for a surprise i didn't thought that it would be funny as well, specially if i talk about mike. Man what a nice character, i enjoyed him also, he was funny as hell and good at same time.
About story- story story story. What a good story this game has. I freaking love it. I was so into the story, and i think story is one of the best aspects of the game
Thats why if player loves the combo of good characters and good story to follow then his/her game experience would be very very good.
I dont know how to do the spoiler thingy so i wont even try it lol. I like to play the game which are completed and i finished the game like within 2 or 3 days. I have alot more to say about in the game things but idk that spoiler tag thingy lol.

First thing, the only one con i can find in this game, and it's not even much of a con: Of course, the models made, i think, with some version of Honey Select. Yet, even so, even with the native weirdness of HS's models, and MC looks extremely weird, the girls menage to be all cute and hot, so... Great job even with it!

The pros are just all there. This game has a dam solid and fun story. Well though, well written, well paced, with engaging characters. And it attempts to do commedy succesfully even with a solid drama at the base of the narrative.

Need i say more? This game is gold. I liked pretty much everything about it.

A big plus: I always go around this forum explaining how, IMHO, commitment on a route should happen late in the game, to give ample agency on a player, who, otherwise, has only appearent freedom of choices, because thier choices are forced to pursue the route, rather then to enjoy the game, even not following a walkthrough. And having to follow a monogamous route from the start, under such circumstances, can be very dull. Well, this game let you do exacly what i preach about. It lets you play your game and make choices near to the end.

I think an aspiring developer should really play this game before they start their own project.

Honestly this game was absolutely amazing. I kept wanting to know what happens next and it kept me playing. The story was super duper good and I loved the characters. The girls were all really beautiful and there was a lot of variety for them.

My only complaints would be for the body of the girls on the neck down the girls were all basically the same? I think they all used basically the same model from the neck down except maybe a few things like a tattoo here/there or skin color. Otherwise the bodies were the same and definitely needed more body variety.

I would also say the exploration was a not so great. Like when exploring the psyche-ward place it takes like 40+ decisions to finally reach lilith and so forth. So maybe a little to much exploration.

Other then that this game is absolutely amazing and the story will definitely pull you in.

In a single word the game was amazing. I literally got hooked to the story. The story have humors, jokes and both the dark and bright side. The story was one of the best I have seen. The graphics was also good. There are multiple endings to choose from. I highly recommend this game. The developer did a awesome job. Can not wait for another games like this one.

Congratz Caribdis on completing this great game.

I found it witty, bug free, fun and very hot

Lauren is probably my favorite with Judie very close behind. that last scene with both of them was fantastic.

A little minor nitpick but Lauren should have been older than MC not younger
being younger doesn't add much or broaden the fetish list since you have 2 younger sisters.

Another thing while the models are hot most of their eyes look very similar.

Wish there was a threesome or foursome with Carla and her daughters.

now as for my issue with game was
Good luck with your next project.

The girls are pretty and there are some genuinely funny scenes here and there. I would have rated the game 5 stars if it had a proper harem scene towards the end. Nevertheless it is a pretty fun game, I would highly recommend playing it.

Pretty good, but one negative thing to note is that the dev couldn't let go of their favorite body type so all girls have the same big boobs, slim waists and thicc hips so there is barely any body type variety.

I'm finished this game and I'm crying. I want more of this wonderful game. I don't know an adult game can have this impact of a story. Wow, the comedic timings are so good, kept me rolling. Awaiting for the next part. 5/5.

An absolute treat of a game with a compelling story, legit horror, and some amazing humor throughout. Wonderful characters with interesting and diverging arcs along with some excellent scenes. The supernatural stuff was a mixture of scary and hilarity with genuine laughs out loud.

I've played about ~250 games from this site and this is *by far* the best!
The story kept me playing, the girls are lovable and erotic and fortunately not the submissive stereotype often seen.The mc is acting responsible, funny and not awkward. I also liked the background scenes like Tom hiding his victim in the bushes.
The Tom and "Fat Jack" stories are funny anyway.
HS1 models are almost always a bit lewd and at the same time innocent regarding their face expressions what works excellent here.
Normally I'm not into milfs but here Carla and Rebecca were just adorable and sexy.
And even though I find vanilla sex scenes often quite boring in most games I have to admit that these were some of the most erotic scenes I encountered in a game. Maybe because of all the parts were just fitting so well together?!
And Aiko and Jasmine were the very welcomed extra spice.
This is certainly also one of the very few games I would recommend to people never played an adult game before.
It never feels embarrassing or awkward.
The writing is good - never too less, never too many.
What else can I add? Masterpiece!

I had my doubts about this game, thinking it will just be a shallow ecchi game with too "Japanised" models and a cringe-inducing story but man am I glad to be wrong!!

The story is as fluid as can be; the funny bits, the sexy bits fuse really well with the background and the story progression. The pop culture references, the over-dramatized facial expressions, the cliche encounters; everything that I feared might be a turn off, actually made the game that much more fun.

Story: 5/5
Renders: 5/5
Animations: 5/5

I just finished the game, I'm a bit of loss for words right now. This game really does deserve to be looked at as one of the best games on this site.

For me there are 3 things which I look for most in VN games, the visuals, the story and the characters. While I'm not a massive fan of the honey select style in game, all the characters look great, the animations are well done, and subtle things like raised eyebrows or eye movements are done really well and bring life to the scenes.

The characters are all unique and likeable. The relationships grow over time and feel for the most part natural. Its really hard not to like any of the main characters in the game. The MC is also likeable, which is very important as you're playing as him!

The story just blew me away. It was interesting until the end, but it also made you really care about the characters in the end. No spoilers here, but there were a few times I'm not ashamed to admit I teared up a little at times during the last few scenes and the ending. The ending felt natural, not rushed, well paced, which I find is a big problem with a lot of the games on here, they're not sure how to end. This game's story flowed perfectly in that regard.

The writing was very good, and quite funny, with lots of humorous lines and renders. The overall presentation was great. The music and sound effects definitely added a lot to the overall experience and are very well done.

A great story is something that can invoke an emotional response in the viewer or reader, making a connection with the characters and their journey. Once in a Lifetime does that beautifully. I can't really say any more. One of my top rated games for sure. If you haven't played it, please do!