this game... my heart has been melted i cant. like i cried so many times and had to get up often to jump around from cuteness overload. 😭😭 i love this game smm
I genuinely can't express my love for this enough. There are SO many amazing qualities about this that I could list off. I don't think I could've ever thought about getting so attached to a visual novel and wanting more out of it. I definitely want a sequel of this of either continuing the story from Step 4, or from Cove's POV. I'd even be happy with DLC that continues the story with more steps. You all made an amazing game, with beautiful writing, beautiful characters, beautiful art, beautiful music, just a perfect game overall. And I don't think I'll ever find any visual novel better than Our Life: Beginnings & Always.
the `long day` one was kind of disappointing, when i chose popsicle i was expected the main character to be smart and pick one of those double popsicles that can be split in half.... [image for reference]
I honestly don't know what to say , there are tears in my eyes as I write this.(/srs) This is definitely the best vn I have ever played , I had to take like 10 minutes after it ended to be able to do anything. I actually felt like the story was my life and this is the first time I have ever felt this way. I teared up SO MANY times it's actually ridiculous. I really hope there will be a Step 5 in the future because I'm not going to be able to get over this game for a year or more :( I KNOW THIS SOUNDS RIDICULOUS but I actually started contemplating life , and I'm pretty sure I'm not going to be able to find something like this ever again. The sounds track fits the games atmosphere too it gave me a lot of different emotions at once. I'm probably rambling but the positive things I can say about this game are too much. and the soundtrack playing probably influences me too. To the creator and everyone who worked on this , you did such a great job , this is exactly what I needed and I hope you keep putting out games <3
this was so sweet and beautiful. it literally took me to a sunny island with endless summers and days by the beach. I felt as though I was creating actual memories along cove and every other character! the perfect summer dating sim - I will always look back on it with fondness <3
I love this game so much, I miss it too. I haven't been able to stop thinking about it for the past year, every time I play a new game I find myself comparing it to Our Life. No game has ever come close to being as beautifully written as this one, it will always have a place in my heart; and I secretly hope that we'll get more content from it in the future, even though the game is already lengthy as it is, I just can't help it :( I'm looking forward to Our Life Now and Forever!
i just had to say. this game made me cry multiple times. I really resonate with cove and his family problems, and even the way he portrays them. and the way mc loves their moms so much and how supportive they are makes me bawl. this game is beautiful. i get so much comfort from this, thank you.
So quick question I've got some unwanted saves in the game how do i delete those because I assumed it was deleting the save files in the saves folder but that didn't work
Literally the best game I have ever played. It really captured the beauty of growing up and relationships, platonic or otherwise. I loved it and I'm currently about to replay it! <3
I wish there was a game like this ,but for straight guys,dont get me wrong,the game is awesome,but i couldnt really feel atracted to cove,if anyone knows a game as good as this,but with girls as partners,id be thankfull
Ps:i know about The other our life game,but its still a demo
definitely one of the better games on here - creations like these make me wish love like this really did exist and sends me in an unrealistic spiral which isn't normal for me lol. Touching, beautiful and worth downloading
I can't thank GB Patch enough for making this game. It truly deserves every single bit of praise that it receives. It has been months since I first picked up this game and yet the amount of love I have for it hasn't faltered in the slightest. Playing this visual novel feels like wrapping yourself up in a warm blanket, when I've felt low this game has been my go-to to help lift my spirits again.
The amount of love and care that was poured into this is so evident throughout the entire playthrough. It is a beautiful, fantastic visual novel. I truly can't put into words just how much fun I've had through my various playthroughs!
I'm sure I'll play many, many more playthroughs of this game, and I'm excited for the next instalment of the Our Life series (and any future projects) and will eagerly support their upcoming releases!
Hello! I absolutely adore this game. I was told about it when I was going through a rough time and it was my biggest source of comfort. I've played it and all the Cove DLCs multiple times both on Steam and on Mac, which allows me to bring my adventures in Sunset Bird everywhere. Our Life has probably been one of my favorite gaming experiences in general!
I tried to go back to it today on Mac OS, but when I downloaded version 1.7.1, my laptop refused to let the file launch as the developer couldn't be verified. I tried multiple fresh installs and I dove deeper into the comments here to try and find a fix (I tried one from a few years ago to try and force a verification through launching the scripts and while the game did boot, it crashed upon trying to load my local save history).
Is there a workaround for this? I had no issues downloading the previous version last year. I'd love to be able to play the game again whenever, I've been itching to replay it but haven't been able to dedicate time to it on my Windows PC.
I'm sorry for the trouble with that! There are workarounds but it depends on the exact type of Mac OS you have. Basically, you need find a way to allow third party apps to run. Some people can right click the launcher and choose an option that makes it open. Other people need to go through more hoops and change settings. You could try searching on google for your device and using third party apps on it. And hopefully we'll be able to get approved on Mac this year.
Thanks so much for the reply! I'll keep that in mind - I was able to get it working again, I don't know what exactly I did but the OS allowed it and is happy again so we take that as a win. I was able to start another playthrough after redownloading my DLC purchases and loving every minute of it as always!
Crossing my fingers for the Mac approval; I was really happy when I saw I could download it here. it's hard to get my favorite games on my laptop as a lot of them are locked to Windows, so having Our Life on it has been really amazing. Thank you for creating a Mac compatible version!
Hello, I once played this game a really long time ago and now I'm wanting to get all the DLC to play again. Is there a way I can buy all of them in one go, or do I need to go to a different platform or otherwise buy them all individually here on itch.io? Thank you for your time!
Thank you for wanting to get them! I'm afraid the DLCs do need to be purchased individually. There is a bundle on Steam with all the DLCs in a single bunch, but that also includes the soundtrack and artbook. If you only want the DLCs, you've gotta get them as their own things.
hey guy i have a question, what do the clothing types do? like is it what mc is wearing throughout each step and youre meant to imagine the fit or is it to specify the types of clothes they wear? I havent seen clothes be mentioned unless its going out but even then you sorta get to pick what you wear so like, what is it for?
The clothing type setting is mainly for your imagination, but there are a few occasions where it mentions clothing in a casual setting. The game will note you're in a dress or pants or skirt, depending on your choices.
Enjoying this game so far, but there's a small issue(?) that's been happening on all my playthroughs. The background keeps flickering and glitching out for some reason, it's honestly really hard on the eyes. Not sure if it's a problem with my GPU or something, but this flickering effect doesn't happen with the rest of your games.
Edit: It only seems to happen when characters are on the screen. I turned off animations and it stopped the flickering for the most part, and now it only flickers whenever you move on to the next text box.
I'm on my second playthrough, with DLCs for the first time, and I had nothing to say so far except I can't believe how good this game is. Slice of life isn't usually what I go for, but this game is so immersive and calming and as someone who sometimes wishes for more choices in visual novels, this is perfect. I admit I am typing this in a bit of a confused state because I just finished "Serendipity" in the Step 3 DLC and I found the (SPOILERS BELOW)
...
...
reaction to Shiloh pretending to forget who we were a pretty confusing. First because there was a brief period where my character was basically forced to side with Liz, when usually in the harder situations you can choose a wider range of how to feel and who you think is right. And I, the player, did not side with Liz at all. I sympathized with Shiloh immediately, thinking what he did was a little insensitive but there were a million potential good explanations and it was definitely not worth sending him home and never talking to him again over. I'm glad we got to make up, but I felt like the tone was still that we decided to stay friends with Shiloh in spite of him not deserving it. It just doesn't seem to fit the tone of the rest of the game? I feel like all the other characters who have been jerks or manipulative sometimes (younger Liz, Cove's dad) got much more compassion for their imperfect behavior.
Heyyo, just providing some much needed context for Shiloh because I totes felt the same way when I first played through Our Life! He's actually treated that way for a reason. Shiloh, objectively, is not a good person. He's actually a love interest from another game in this universe, XOXO Droplets. If you ever play through that, you'll find out a lot about him, Jeremy, and even Nate(dude that was hella rude to you and Liz when Shiloh pretended not to know you). Note: all of the love interests in XOXO Droplets are jerks, all of them. Part of the game's premise is the MC is also an insensitive jerk, too.
Thanks for the reply. I haven't played that game, but I have to say even if that's true, I assume the characters in OL don't know anything about Shiloh other than what we see of him in OL, and neither do I as a player. So even if he is actually revealed to be a bad person in another game, that shouldn't inform judgment about his actions in this one. It just makes it confusing and uncomfortable for me as someone who was unaware of his other game but understands and somewhat relates to the way he is in OL.
Hey, hey!! I just wanted to let ya'll know that i LOVE this game so much! I literally cried once I saw the credits after step 3 (and almost got a heart attack thinking the game is already finished lol). I spent 25 hours playing this game and it was SO SO worth it. I am currently playing this game second round cause I wanted to get the CG's I didn't get in my first playthrough 2 days ago (ex. the cg where cove gets all flustered in step 2). I'm desperate for someone to lend me some money so that I can buy the Wedding DLC lol. Words cannot describe the feelings I felt throughout this game. Each step, I just fell more inlove with Cove. I cried after seeing "THE END" after step 4. This game left me with a mark in my heart. I'll always remember the line "And then... summer ended", everytime I think of it, it makes me cry (and im currently crying while typing this lmao) Anddd that's all I have to say! <33
Hi! How are you? I hope u ar doing right. I am using Google Translate, I understand English but I am too lazy to write in this language. That said, I made an account just to say this: I swallow every poison-filled word I could have said about gringo creators (I know you'll understand me if I say American, I don't agree with the term but it's beside the point). A true work of art is this work. I just don't have enough words to define in a single comment the emotional charge that each part of this immeasurable result of human ingenuity possesses. Look, I spoke shit about the gringos, but they shut my mouth in a way that I can only applaud. Love u ^v^. Good luck in life. Bye.
-I made an account only to write this comment- With all my heart and all my commitment, I want you to download this game! As a human being with a heart I can't let you miss the chance of discovering such a masterpiece that will make you cry of joy and let shivers of felicity run through your body and your heart while you're giggling in a silly way. In short, I've clearly (and still) loved this game and the only negative feeling that it brougth me was disappointment towards myself for not having taking enougth precious time to enjoy this game for it's true value and for not being as adorably sweet as the characters of our life! If I had money, I would without hesitations donate it to the wonderful developers. But unfortunately, I am poor and a minor without gig job ಠ_ಠ
I hope you will have a great day/nigth/afteernoon/week/month/life, and treat Cove well please, he's such a cutie patootie ( like you, my darling ) <3
Things i've realized after playing the whole thing 5 times and my opnion about the game.
1st - You can choose to tell Cove the truth about his dad offering you money to be his friend in step 1 or 2, they will both give you an image, if you say it in step 1, while you're still lil kids the image will be his dad comforting him about it, if you choose to say it in step 2 the image will be the whole family in an embrace. I feel like Cove understands it more in step 2, maybe since he's already grow up, yet he stills runs from his room and confront his dad. In step 2 you'll get this option when you have a dinner with Cove's family and you go to his room, in step 1, i believe it was either when the summer ended or in one of the five special moments, also, you'll only get one image, either choose to reveal it earlier or later, i think you can also get it by revealing it in step 1, then go to a save before you revealed it and let to say it in step 2.
2nd - In step 2, when Elizabeth asks about her biological parents and you gain the option to ask about yours too, if you do ask about it, either if you go to your room or go outside searching for Cove to comfort you, he'll appear, if you go to your room later he'll jump in by the window saying that you moms didn't let him come in and he felt worried about you, FR such a baby boy... also, if you choose to make a show with Lee earlier, either singing, playing an instrument or both, when you walk back down to the living room after talking with Lizzie you'll get an option to finally make your show, with your family and Cove as your audience, or watch a movie if you didn't.
3rd - Still in step 2, IMPORTANT, at the trip with both your families in the RV you will want to talk more with Cove, despite him being a little uncomfortable, if you insist at the talk with him on the couch he'll end up saying he likes anklets(REMEMBER THIS) and if you ask what he thinks looks good on someone he'll kind of flirt with you, i mean, he says he likes people with (your eye color) eyes, which is really cute.
> If he did talked with you about the anklets when the summer end you can use one or lots on them before he comes over to your room, which will get a cute reaction from him.
4th - Still in the trip, IMPORTANT, if you do ask him to get in the loft with you, you can try and kiss him, which will go wrong as the poor boy will smack his head in the roof of the RV, his dad will alert the whole family and he'll get all embarrassed. BUT if you do try to kiss him later you'll wake up to his mom scolding him and she'll give you the sassy milf look, AND, when the summer end HE will talk about the kiss and you can offer to try it again, which will end up with him confessing his feelings for you. You'll get the image of him all embarrassed after you kissed.
> If you didn't kiss him, which i doubt you didn't, in the end of the summer you will get the option to confess your feelings either by talking about them or kissing him. You'll get the image of him all embarrassed after you kissed.
5th - Still in the step 2... When you go and eat with him and his mom you will get the option to choose a drink, fr, don't think it's just a silly lil option, IT MATTERS A LOT, later in step 3, in the farmer's market moment, the gift he buys you will be according to your choosed drink in step 2, first time i played i choosed water with lemon and later in step 3 he gave me the same thing, but fancy, second time i played i went for a coffe, later in step 3, he gave me fancy coffe. FR i love these details.
6st - In step 3, after the Orca event i myself always choose to sneak into his room, which is super cute as we end up sleeping there and getting discovered by Cliff, later when he remembers about this moment in step 4, despite you choosing to be the one sneaking into his room, he'll remember that he was the one sneaking in your room, which i believe to be a lil mistake, but it doesn't change anything at all, just something i wanted to talk about. 7st - Later when you reach adulthood, choose Cove to still be your boyfriend, don't jump right to be his fianceé, there's great changes which each one.
> If you choose to be his fianceé right away, in the dinner of your mom's aniversary the'll make a silly comment about your future marriage, which is all i really payed attention to.
> If you choose him to still be only your boyfriend, despite not getting any comment later in your mom's aniversary, later near the end of the game you'll go to the hills and he'll remember events from the past, such as you ding donging the mean grandparents(if you did), you protecting him from Jeremy(that stupid lil shit), etc, lots of thigns that i won't totally spoil to you, if case you still didn't played, then he asks you to marry him, which is one of the scenes that most made me cry, it's just so charming....
After all you won't want to leave the game after it ends, which for me, who still don't have the DLCs, cost about 13 hours when i first played, started 1p.m and ended it about 2a.m, i fr cried loudly 'cause it just went by so fast, i couldn't bring myself to stop playing it and i literally spent my whole vacation this year playing it over and over again, i never get tired of it, only seeing more details in the game and falling in love with Cove over and over again...
Now talking about the DLCs, unfortunately i don't have any, probably one day i'll manage to, but lets talk about them.
First the DLCs that give you more moments trought the roleplay, all have the same price, buying the childhood one will give you acess to 5 more moments and the teenage years and early adulthood will give you 10 moments each.
> Despite being less moments, childhood moments will give you one more image and teenage years too, despite having more moments, early adulthood is the only one that gives you two more images. Buying all gives you a total of 4 new images, with more details...
A total of 3 free images in your chilhood, 4 with the DLC one.
A total of 6 free images in your teenage years, 8 with the DLC one.
A total of 4 free images in your early adulthood, 6 with the DLC ones.
Maybe the five moments in your childhood are longer to compensate being less, unfortunately i'll have to ask one of you with the DLCs to answer it, but even if they aren't, it doesn't make these moments less special.
If you're short of money or don't really have any(like me), i would say you could first enjoy the game as it is, after all it's still an amazing play trougth, a game that engages you and surprisely doesn't look like a free game at all, the total of attention and details the game and characters gave is amazing, feels like a reality you really live in. After all, you don't need the DLCs to still enjoy the game, it is already amazing as it is, yet indeed, having the DLCs is a dream come true, and if you do have money to buy them, do it, enjoy these extra moments with Cove or whoever your love interest is, also supporting the amazing creators of Our Life, who really deserve it and more.
Moving on to buying the DLCs, as a great observer, if you aren't able to buy all of them, choose which one suits you better first, i myself will go for teenage years, as i find it the most charming moment in the game, but we can also judge it by what you want to do most.
> If you want to interact more romantically with Cove, i would go for the DLC of early adulthood, as we are already old enough to engage in more romantic touching, etc, besides the fact that is the moment you ''start'' dating Cove, it makes more sense, as even in the free moments, the only steps you have more intimate choises is step 3(early adulthood) and 4.
> If you're going for a platonic relationship, I would go for any of them, in step 1, it's when your friendship start, as kids, in step 2, it develops, you can do more things, in step 3, you have even more friends to join you in these moments. Yet i do am more inclined to the DLC of step 1(childhood), as i think it would be great to have more moments in the start of your friendship, making it more solid.
I myself am going to buy the DLC from step 2(teenage years) first when i have the money to, looking trought the moments and their proposals, i just find myself enamored especially with the thought of the escapade... besides the fuzzy feelings in my chest everytime there's tension between us and Cove, also 'cause no matter if you choose crush or love in the beginning of step 3, you'll be dating Cove, only choosing if it started recently or not, probably if you stayed fond and choose crush only on the step 3 you woudn't be dating, idk, i still didn't played with those options, despite playing it 5 times already, it seems like i can't help myself but always choose crush in step 1 or 2, next time i'll hold myself back and come back to confirm if my thoughts are right or not... Now talking about other DLCs, the wedding one is a yes, there's no need to explain why, it explains itself as it is, especially if you love interest is Cove.
Now moving to Derek and Dexter DLCs, i myself am more found of Cove and would like to have the moment DLCs and finish my story with Cove with the wedding DLC first before moving on to other love interest, yet i can't deny that they're adorable too and their DLCs are just as amazing as the others.
I didn't think much about having two moms, as Ma and Mom are absolutely perfect parents, i loved how instead of going on and setting your height or describing your body right away you get to say it trought the game, such as when you look at yourself in the mirror or grab something in the shelves.
The fact that Cove was autistic was a lil shocking, i mean, it sounded a bit forced but it didn't change anything major at all, and it doesn't bother me that the game creators tried to include it, i mean, it didn't change how amazing the game is or how Cove is a well written character.
Something that made me pretty happy is how the game gives you the option to change your gender, name and explore your sexuality, i myself am i girl, identify as a girl and don't really care about gender, still didn't think much about my sexuality, but i love how the game allows you to explore it, as i know that there's people who'll relate to it and it just makes the game more real, as indeed, some girl do surgery to remove their breasts, be it 'cause they want to or 'cause they need, as much as some want it bigger and make a surgery to get it bigger, it just gives more detail to your OC, choosing your pronouns and sexuality and even deciding if you don't identify as your gender of birth.
But it just went all together, it really looked forced, but there was no other way to it, since after all, the game has a limited time for each step, also remembering that we start with 8 years at step 1 and for each step we skip around 5 years, which means we didn't saw it all happening at the exact same time, especially thinking that the time we play is summer break, about a month, which means that the whole game, at least what he played of it, it's a total of 4 months, since we had the need to skip the years to advance in game and relationships.
Sincerely, i wouldn't want it any other way, as much as informations were rushed and may have looked forced, it is the way it is, remembering that the game is free and it already gave so much more then i expected it to, i mean it.
...
After all this talk, better saying, typying, i'm tired, taking a look at the clock i've spend more then an hour in this review, which i'm not regretful of, as this game deserves more then it.
For me, Our Life: Beginning and Always, made my boring summer turn into passionate nights of staying awake and trying to not wake up the whole house with my giggles of joy as i played it, i'm grateful for having the chance of playing such a great story, i really developed a thing for Visual Novels, yet, since A Date With Death, this has been the only one who captivated my heart so much, being honest, even more then A Date With Death. This game is a straight 10/10, if you're still thinking if you should or not play it, don't think too much, just play it, i'm sure it will captivate you just as much as it did with me.
Also, sorry for any typo, as English is not my native language, neither am i fluent in it.
I dropped it the beginning of Step 4. It was just too woke. But please hear me out...
At first I wasn't sure about this game since I didn't really like the illustration style, but everyone was raving about it so I gave it a try and bought all ML-related DLCs (yes, even the wedding one although I won't be able to play it after dropping this game). I don't live in the US and I don't watch a lot on YouTube, Tiktok or even Netflix, this means I did hear people complain about lots of "woke" content nowadays, but I never understood what they meant... until I played this game.
Now I get it.
Everything feels so into your face which makes it forced and unnatural. It would have been so much better if there was a one-time short introduction at the beginning asking for my preferred family setting, my preferences and even how I want the male lead's preferences to be. Instead, those questions popped up during the story and it destroyed the immersive feeling every single time. The first thing that got me off guard was that it was mentioned that my character had "moms". Not only, but two. I thought it's not a big deal and it won't be mentioned that much, but I was so wrong. They appear so often and there was even a short text mentioning changes in the US laws that made it possible for them to wear rings in public - I don't care about that at all, in my country nobody would even mention that since it's natural for same-gender couples to be officially together. But that wasn't all. There were all these weird questions, for example the state of my breasts or if I got them removed / bandaged. Or if they are (not) growing because I took hormones or something like that. Then I was asked multiple times if my sexuality has changed. And at one point, the male lead made a big deal about it to tell me his sexuality, which is demisexual and panromantic. I had to google these terms to actually understand what he was talking about. And of course one of the friends changed genders mid-story. AND OF COURSE the love interest has a developmental disability. GOD.
That was the last straw that broke the camel's back. I had to drop this game. It got ridiculous. Again, I don't mind how other people live their lives or whom they love, but all of this happened at the same time, in the same game!? I think there was nothing that didn't happen. What made it so unbelievably bad for me was that all of these things happened instead of showing some afford to make it feel natural, for example, going with 1 or 2 of these topics and use them more sparingly. But no, instead the developers/writers decided for some reason they had to include everything. I hope what I'm trying to say makes sense. It would have been SO MUCH BETTER if all these topics would have been spread across 5 or even more games. There is nothing wrong about wanting to mention and include all that... but it was just way too much. It got comical at some point. Honestly, with everything that happened I expected all the parents ending up in some kind of open relationship together. At this point, it wouldn't have shocked me at all, but I HAD TO DROP IT before it got worse. Now I'm trying to forget about all the forced stuff and try to remember the good memories and moments.
And for me personally, this seems to be the difference between "being inclusive" and "being woke" - at least from my interpretation as someone who isn't from the US and had no clue it's so important for indie game studios to force this kind of agenda and forgetting to make it at least feel natural.
The remaining one star is for the amount of choices - it was really fun to have the feeling that I am shaping the main character and the male lead based of my choices. I played 3 DLCs and loved especially the "Reflection" moment - it was super interesting to learn more about Kyra and Cliff, but the "Happiness" one was amazing as well! I guess without the DLCs all the "woke" options and decisions would have been even more noticeable, so I'm glad I bought them. And I DID like the interactions in general with the male lead a lot.
Just all that unnecessary stuff turned it sour for me. It felt like the team had some kind of checklist and included everything to reach a 10/10 on a wokeness scale. It feels just so... artificial. That's why I'm writing this wall of text here.
I do NOT want to offend anyone. I'm trying to give constructive feedback and explain why this game was such a disappointment for me. Of course, I could have researched and read more detailed reviews, but usually I just read what the story is about and play it blind. I did expect the "familiar everyday moments". But there were so many "unfamiliar" moments, characters and subplots that surprised me. I'm pretty sure the facts that my character has two mothers and the male lead's disability wasn't even mentioned in the "Story" part of the game explanation and I think those were quite impactful informations...
I'm not offended, but I am amused. Who do you think made this game? Not straight people, trans people, nerodivergant people, and people of color. Many of the team falling into multiple of those categories. But you're only allowed to have one or two of those or it's just going too far! It's ridiculous that people not like you made stories that were relatable to them and comment on the actual real world implications of what it's like to be a part of those communities. It's great that you're not a total "anti-woke" troll, but your critiques are still entirely silly.
Wow. I spent a lot of time writing out my thoughts, trying to give honest feedback without being offensive, and you call my critiques "entirely silly"? That's pretty disappointing coming from a developer...
Just because your team falls into various diverse categories doesn't automatically make your storytelling immune to criticism, unless you created this game just for your own team and didn't care about the average user in the first place. My issue wasn't with inclusion in general - it was with how you crammed everything in at once, making it feel forced and unnatural.
Again, it is good to stand up for representation of marginalized groups in media, but what I've been trying to say the entire time is... was it really necessary to put every single one of these topics and groups in one short game instead of using a gentler approach and saving some of these topics as main points for future games?
I'm really shocked that you are disregarding other players' feedback and even think their opinions are silly. There is nothing wrong with having different opinions and agreeing to disagree. Isn't the point of releasing a game to have a wide range of people play and enjoy it?
If you can't handle critique without getting defensive, maybe you shouldn't respond to reviews. I gave your game a chance and shared my honest opinion. Calling that "entirely silly" just makes me glad I stopped playing when I did. I don't regret buying the DLCs, I just regret reading your answer and seeing how you really think of people with different opinions. All the best.
I think you're very naive with hopefully a lot to learn. This isn't a critique on how well our characters were written or how accurate they were to real people in those groups, your problem is clearly that they are what they are in the first place. You are saying "Hey, people who put in the time and effort to make this game, can you include less of yourselves in it so it stops being off-putting to people who don't want to read about you?" Can you really, truly not see why I can't take it as reasonable advice?
But congratulations on finding your first made-by-and-for-queer-and-neurodivergent-people game ever. You might be shocked to realize one day that there’s lots of games like that and it turns out there’s no such thing as a story with an "unnatural" amount of “inclusive characters”. People have made games where every character was gay and/or trans or so on and that doesn't make it "forced". The world doesn't have ten queer people who aren't allowed in the same room. Often, people who are minorities hang out with other people in that community.
Our players themselves are queer, and trans, neurodivergent, and people who are willing to empathize with those groups without getting uncomfortable when they realize the game isn't including them for the benefit of helping straight cis people feel at ease with them, it's actually so the people in those communities can have something that makes them happy.
"Was it really necessary to put every single one of these topics and groups in one short game instead of using a gentler approach and saving some of these topics as main points for future games?"
Yes, it was! Minorities aren't just talking points. They're not some theoretical concept that only exist to be side characters in fictional stories. They are alive in reality. They play games and they make their own games. The whole world doesn’t revolve "average players" who don't mind seeing minorities in a "gentle way" as long as they’re not "crammed in". Please realize that.
I don't reply to real reviews, and if this had been somewhere other than a public comment section I wouldn't have engaged. But I'm not gonna let our players see a comment like yours and not make it clear that we're not here for you. They don't deserve to be talked about like this, so I will continue to disagree with you.
Also, check out our second game in this series. You think we included everything woke here? Not true. Our Life 2 is even wokier!
And I will add one more thing that might be a missing piece here. We already knew what you said. Anybody in a minority group who intends to make stories more about their own experiences and those of people like them know before they even start development that some players are going to dismiss the game for being woke. That's the reality of being in the minority! But we did anyway. No matter how many “average gamers” tell us to tone it down on the “PC nonsense”, we’re simply not going to. We’re just as allowed to make games that center on us as anyone else is.
Let me see if I'm understanding this correctly. You believe that the game has presented so many societal issues on its plate that, to you, the characters and occurring events are more like token representations instead of actual people and events?
(If that is the case, i have my own opinions on that matter. However if you want to drop it and move on, i will respect that. Good day.)
You sound like you want us to think you have a magical life in some magical country where nobody needs to care about diversity because nobody has a problem with anyone who is "different" to begin with. If that's true and not just a new tactic of the anti-woke crowd, I'm happy for you because you truly don't need this game, you're living it without even realizing it. But please understand that 99.9% of us aren't as lucky as you, and I don't understand why it would offend you that some writers are trying to give other people a glimpse of the kind of life you're blessed to be living.
I understand where you're coming from. For me, immersion is one of the biggest contributors in playing a visual novel, so this mini-review kind of helps me. The game won't exactly be everyone's cup of tea, but that's alright. It's us who decide to play it or not.
And as someone who doesn't really follow all the woke stuff (never was exposed to it, nor saw it promoted in my life), I'm glad I didn't download this. No offense to the developers.
Finally have some money to spend, I proceeded to buy all DLC at once, now i have blocked card bc bank decided it is sus :D :D :D. But well, better false alarm than no alarm when needed so I am not even angry. Just find it hilarious :D. Love the game so much and I am so excited to explore DLC content. I just regret that we cannot marry Cove platonically, you know, QPR/PLP stuff. My MC is already living with him and planning all the future with him, just let them marry :D.I know this game is completed, but maybe you can still add such option in your other game, that would be awesome representation for all 'destroy amatonormativity' people out there :)
I just wanna say... that this game was so fucking beautiful. I really fell in love with Cove. I even bought all the DLC and subscribe for the Pantreon content. Cant wait to play ol2!!!!! love Cove soooo much. Im gonna miss him. Srsly best steam purchase!!!
This game is so choice heavy and i love it. Not only was i able to describe who i was to a T it immersed me into this world, I cried playing this game, gorgeous story and characters. I'll plan on getting the dlc soon when i have actual money to my name.
have been a fan of this game since around october 2021. an AMAZING visual novel, by far my favourite of any i've played and a constant comparison point for myself when thinking of other visual novels - 'oh, that was almost as good as our life!'. as of right now i have about 170 hours on this game on steam (yes, i know, im sad) and couldn't possibly reccomend it any more than i do. i am so so so SO excited for now and forevers release and have been following the demo updates on patreon RELIGIOUSLY.
thank you GB patch for this amazing game and god bless your minds for crafting the perfect man in cove james holden.
I love how you are able to slowly understand cove as you play through the different steps of the game. Love how in the dlc's you are able to explore the two other characters derek and baxter. It's nice to be able to have the fun of spending time with them there the different summers. I really enjoy the process mc have with cove through the different summers!!! Tbh i will never get tired of playing the game over and over again.
My favorite thing about this game, is that while you have the option to explore other love interests (Derek and Baxter) Cove is the MAIN love interest, and you can explore that freely without feeling the need for the other two at all. I find myself falling all over again for Cove without trying on my Baxter route but have to keep reminding myself that it's a BAXTER route and not a COVE route, lol. To me, that's a good example of good writing for a love interest. Other times they feel flat or too perfect in some VNs, but this one you notice qualities of Cove you didn't realize he had in another playthrough. Soft bois aren't usually my forte, but with Cove I find myself making an exception, its so hard to be just best friends with him!
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this game... my heart has been melted i cant. like i cried so many times and had to get up often to jump around from cuteness overload. 😭😭 i love this game smm
I genuinely can't express my love for this enough. There are SO many amazing qualities about this that I could list off. I don't think I could've ever thought about getting so attached to a visual novel and wanting more out of it. I definitely want a sequel of this of either continuing the story from Step 4, or from Cove's POV. I'd even be happy with DLC that continues the story with more steps. You all made an amazing game, with beautiful writing, beautiful characters, beautiful art, beautiful music, just a perfect game overall. And I don't think I'll ever find any visual novel better than Our Life: Beginnings & Always.
So thank you, from the bottom of my heart. <3
the `long day` one was kind of disappointing, when i chose popsicle i was expected the main character to be smart and pick one of those double popsicles that can be split in half.... [image for reference]
I honestly don't know what to say , there are tears in my eyes as I write this.(/srs) This is definitely the best vn I have ever played , I had to take like 10 minutes after it ended to be able to do anything. I actually felt like the story was my life and this is the first time I have ever felt this way. I teared up SO MANY times it's actually ridiculous. I really hope there will be a Step 5 in the future because I'm not going to be able to get over this game for a year or more :( I KNOW THIS SOUNDS RIDICULOUS but I actually started contemplating life , and I'm pretty sure I'm not going to be able to find something like this ever again. The sounds track fits the games atmosphere too it gave me a lot of different emotions at once. I'm probably rambling but the positive things I can say about this game are too much. and the soundtrack playing probably influences me too. To the creator and everyone who worked on this , you did such a great job , this is exactly what I needed and I hope you keep putting out games <3
this was so sweet and beautiful. it literally took me to a sunny island with endless summers and days by the beach. I felt as though I was creating actual memories along cove and every other character! the perfect summer dating sim - I will always look back on it with fondness <3
I love this game so much, I miss it too. I haven't been able to stop thinking about it for the past year, every time I play a new game I find myself comparing it to Our Life. No game has ever come close to being as beautifully written as this one, it will always have a place in my heart; and I secretly hope that we'll get more content from it in the future, even though the game is already lengthy as it is, I just can't help it :( I'm looking forward to Our Life Now and Forever!
i just had to say. this game made me cry multiple times. I really resonate with cove and his family problems, and even the way he portrays them. and the way mc loves their moms so much and how supportive they are makes me bawl. this game is beautiful. i get so much comfort from this, thank you.
So quick question I've got some unwanted saves in the game how do i delete those because I assumed it was deleting the save files in the saves folder but that didn't work
On PC or Mac you can delete saves by hovering over them with the mouse and hitting the delete key!
thank you for the tip it worked
Literally the best game I have ever played. It really captured the beauty of growing up and relationships, platonic or otherwise. I loved it and I'm currently about to replay it! <3
wait, is this a gay game
depends on if you choose to be a guy or a girl. Or if you even decide to date Cove.
I wish there was a game like this ,but for straight guys,dont get me wrong,the game is awesome,but i couldnt really feel atracted to cove,if anyone knows a game as good as this,but with girls as partners,id be thankfull
Ps:i know about The other our life game,but its still a demo
definitely one of the better games on here - creations like these make me wish love like this really did exist and sends me in an unrealistic spiral which isn't normal for me lol. Touching, beautiful and worth downloading
it really feels like we grew with cove
This game is awesome, hands down. One of the best games I've ever played and I'd do anything to play through this for the first time again.
I cried so hard through the game and when it was all over and I had to come back to reality without my beloved Cove, I actually felt sick. I still do
one of the best games ive ever played, i dont regret spending a single dime on this
i finished the game in one day and im crying right now. This game was great i dont want it to end..
I'm right there with you. I can't get Cove out of my head and my heart and I don't want to
I can't thank GB Patch enough for making this game. It truly deserves every single bit of praise that it receives. It has been months since I first picked up this game and yet the amount of love I have for it hasn't faltered in the slightest. Playing this visual novel feels like wrapping yourself up in a warm blanket, when I've felt low this game has been my go-to to help lift my spirits again.
The amount of love and care that was poured into this is so evident throughout the entire playthrough. It is a beautiful, fantastic visual novel. I truly can't put into words just how much fun I've had through my various playthroughs!
I'm sure I'll play many, many more playthroughs of this game, and I'm excited for the next instalment of the Our Life series (and any future projects) and will eagerly support their upcoming releases!
It was nice to feel loved and be apart of a good family for a while :) amazing game!
Also, I cannot stop crying my eyes out. I wish I had a life like that
Hello! I absolutely adore this game. I was told about it when I was going through a rough time and it was my biggest source of comfort. I've played it and all the Cove DLCs multiple times both on Steam and on Mac, which allows me to bring my adventures in Sunset Bird everywhere. Our Life has probably been one of my favorite gaming experiences in general!
I tried to go back to it today on Mac OS, but when I downloaded version 1.7.1, my laptop refused to let the file launch as the developer couldn't be verified. I tried multiple fresh installs and I dove deeper into the comments here to try and find a fix (I tried one from a few years ago to try and force a verification through launching the scripts and while the game did boot, it crashed upon trying to load my local save history).
Is there a workaround for this? I had no issues downloading the previous version last year. I'd love to be able to play the game again whenever, I've been itching to replay it but haven't been able to dedicate time to it on my Windows PC.
I'm sorry for the trouble with that! There are workarounds but it depends on the exact type of Mac OS you have. Basically, you need find a way to allow third party apps to run. Some people can right click the launcher and choose an option that makes it open. Other people need to go through more hoops and change settings. You could try searching on google for your device and using third party apps on it. And hopefully we'll be able to get approved on Mac this year.
Thanks so much for the reply! I'll keep that in mind - I was able to get it working again, I don't know what exactly I did but the OS allowed it and is happy again so we take that as a win. I was able to start another playthrough after redownloading my DLC purchases and loving every minute of it as always!
Crossing my fingers for the Mac approval; I was really happy when I saw I could download it here. it's hard to get my favorite games on my laptop as a lot of them are locked to Windows, so having Our Life on it has been really amazing. Thank you for creating a Mac compatible version!
That's great! I'm really glad it launched. And thank you :D
Hello, I once played this game a really long time ago and now I'm wanting to get all the DLC to play again. Is there a way I can buy all of them in one go, or do I need to go to a different platform or otherwise buy them all individually here on itch.io? Thank you for your time!
Thank you for wanting to get them! I'm afraid the DLCs do need to be purchased individually. There is a bundle on Steam with all the DLCs in a single bunch, but that also includes the soundtrack and artbook. If you only want the DLCs, you've gotta get them as their own things.
hey guy i have a question, what do the clothing types do? like is it what mc is wearing throughout each step and youre meant to imagine the fit or is it to specify the types of clothes they wear? I havent seen clothes be mentioned unless its going out but even then you sorta get to pick what you wear so like, what is it for?
The clothing type setting is mainly for your imagination, but there are a few occasions where it mentions clothing in a casual setting. The game will note you're in a dress or pants or skirt, depending on your choices.
Enjoying this game so far, but there's a small issue(?) that's been happening on all my playthroughs. The background keeps flickering and glitching out for some reason, it's honestly really hard on the eyes. Not sure if it's a problem with my GPU or something, but this flickering effect doesn't happen with the rest of your games.
Edit: It only seems to happen when characters are on the screen. I turned off animations and it stopped the flickering for the most part, and now it only flickers whenever you move on to the next text box.
Found out that going fullscreen was the problem. Going into windowed mode fixed it.
I'm sorry for the trouble! If you want it in full screen mode, you can try this-
Pressing Shift + G and change the renderer. Changing it to ANGLE renderer.
It worked, thank you very much! ^^
Great!
I've been playing for a while now and I must say this is the best visual novel I've ever experienced
I'm on my second playthrough, with DLCs for the first time, and I had nothing to say so far except I can't believe how good this game is. Slice of life isn't usually what I go for, but this game is so immersive and calming and as someone who sometimes wishes for more choices in visual novels, this is perfect. I admit I am typing this in a bit of a confused state because I just finished "Serendipity" in the Step 3 DLC and I found the (SPOILERS BELOW)
...
...
reaction to Shiloh pretending to forget who we were a pretty confusing. First because there was a brief period where my character was basically forced to side with Liz, when usually in the harder situations you can choose a wider range of how to feel and who you think is right. And I, the player, did not side with Liz at all. I sympathized with Shiloh immediately, thinking what he did was a little insensitive but there were a million potential good explanations and it was definitely not worth sending him home and never talking to him again over. I'm glad we got to make up, but I felt like the tone was still that we decided to stay friends with Shiloh in spite of him not deserving it. It just doesn't seem to fit the tone of the rest of the game? I feel like all the other characters who have been jerks or manipulative sometimes (younger Liz, Cove's dad) got much more compassion for their imperfect behavior.
Heyyo, just providing some much needed context for Shiloh because I totes felt the same way when I first played through Our Life! He's actually treated that way for a reason. Shiloh, objectively, is not a good person. He's actually a love interest from another game in this universe, XOXO Droplets. If you ever play through that, you'll find out a lot about him, Jeremy, and even Nate(dude that was hella rude to you and Liz when Shiloh pretended not to know you). Note: all of the love interests in XOXO Droplets are jerks, all of them. Part of the game's premise is the MC is also an insensitive jerk, too.
Thanks for the reply. I haven't played that game, but I have to say even if that's true, I assume the characters in OL don't know anything about Shiloh other than what we see of him in OL, and neither do I as a player. So even if he is actually revealed to be a bad person in another game, that shouldn't inform judgment about his actions in this one. It just makes it confusing and uncomfortable for me as someone who was unaware of his other game but understands and somewhat relates to the way he is in OL.
Hey, hey!! I just wanted to let ya'll know that i LOVE this game so much! I literally cried once I saw the credits after step 3 (and almost got a heart attack thinking the game is already finished lol). I spent 25 hours playing this game and it was SO SO worth it. I am currently playing this game second round cause I wanted to get the CG's I didn't get in my first playthrough 2 days ago (ex. the cg where cove gets all flustered in step 2). I'm desperate for someone to lend me some money so that I can buy the Wedding DLC lol. Words cannot describe the feelings I felt throughout this game. Each step, I just fell more inlove with Cove. I cried after seeing "THE END" after step 4. This game left me with a mark in my heart. I'll always remember the line "And then... summer ended", everytime I think of it, it makes me cry (and im currently crying while typing this lmao) Anddd that's all I have to say! <33
I'm right there with you. I wish I could lend you money to get the wedding DLC. I cried so much during it and the main game. Def worth it.
Hi! How are you? I hope u ar doing right. I am using Google Translate, I understand English but I am too lazy to write in this language. That said, I made an account just to say this: I swallow every poison-filled word I could have said about gringo creators (I know you'll understand me if I say American, I don't agree with the term but it's beside the point). A true work of art is this work. I just don't have enough words to define in a single comment the emotional charge that each part of this immeasurable result of human ingenuity possesses. Look, I spoke shit about the gringos, but they shut my mouth in a way that I can only applaud. Love u ^v^. Good luck in life. Bye.
-I made an account only to write this comment- With all my heart and all my commitment, I want you to download this game! As a human being with a heart I can't let you miss the chance of discovering such a masterpiece that will make you cry of joy and let shivers of felicity run through your body and your heart while you're giggling in a silly way. In short, I've clearly (and still) loved this game and the only negative feeling that it brougth me was disappointment towards myself for not having taking enougth precious time to enjoy this game for it's true value and for not being as adorably sweet as the characters of our life! If I had money, I would without hesitations donate it to the wonderful developers. But unfortunately, I am poor and a minor without gig job ಠ_ಠ
I hope you will have a great day/nigth/afteernoon/week/month/life, and treat Cove well please, he's such a cutie patootie ( like you, my darling ) <3
I'd do anything to play this all over again
Same. i really want to dedicate an entire weekend to play this game all over again.
Things i've realized after playing the whole thing 5 times and my opnion about the game.
1st - You can choose to tell Cove the truth about his dad offering you money to be his friend in step 1 or 2, they will both give you an image, if you say it in step 1, while you're still lil kids the image will be his dad comforting him about it, if you choose to say it in step 2 the image will be the whole family in an embrace. I feel like Cove understands it more in step 2, maybe since he's already grow up, yet he stills runs from his room and confront his dad. In step 2 you'll get this option when you have a dinner with Cove's family and you go to his room, in step 1, i believe it was either when the summer ended or in one of the five special moments, also, you'll only get one image, either choose to reveal it earlier or later, i think you can also get it by revealing it in step 1, then go to a save before you revealed it and let to say it in step 2.
2nd - In step 2, when Elizabeth asks about her biological parents and you gain the option to ask about yours too, if you do ask about it, either if you go to your room or go outside searching for Cove to comfort you, he'll appear, if you go to your room later he'll jump in by the window saying that you moms didn't let him come in and he felt worried about you, FR such a baby boy... also, if you choose to make a show with Lee earlier, either singing, playing an instrument or both, when you walk back down to the living room after talking with Lizzie you'll get an option to finally make your show, with your family and Cove as your audience, or watch a movie if you didn't.
3rd - Still in step 2, IMPORTANT, at the trip with both your families in the RV you will want to talk more with Cove, despite him being a little uncomfortable, if you insist at the talk with him on the couch he'll end up saying he likes anklets(REMEMBER THIS) and if you ask what he thinks looks good on someone he'll kind of flirt with you, i mean, he says he likes people with (your eye color) eyes, which is really cute.
> If he did talked with you about the anklets when the summer end you can use one or lots on them before he comes over to your room, which will get a cute reaction from him.
4th - Still in the trip, IMPORTANT, if you do ask him to get in the loft with you, you can try and kiss him, which will go wrong as the poor boy will smack his head in the roof of the RV, his dad will alert the whole family and he'll get all embarrassed. BUT if you do try to kiss him later you'll wake up to his mom scolding him and she'll give you the sassy milf look, AND, when the summer end HE will talk about the kiss and you can offer to try it again, which will end up with him confessing his feelings for you. You'll get the image of him all embarrassed after you kissed.
> If you didn't kiss him, which i doubt you didn't, in the end of the summer you will get the option to confess your feelings either by talking about them or kissing him. You'll get the image of him all embarrassed after you kissed.
5th - Still in the step 2... When you go and eat with him and his mom you will get the option to choose a drink, fr, don't think it's just a silly lil option, IT MATTERS A LOT, later in step 3, in the farmer's market moment, the gift he buys you will be according to your choosed drink in step 2, first time i played i choosed water with lemon and later in step 3 he gave me the same thing, but fancy, second time i played i went for a coffe, later in step 3, he gave me fancy coffe. FR i love these details.
6st - In step 3, after the Orca event i myself always choose to sneak into his room, which is super cute as we end up sleeping there and getting discovered by Cliff, later when he remembers about this moment in step 4, despite you choosing to be the one sneaking into his room, he'll remember that he was the one sneaking in your room, which i believe to be a lil mistake, but it doesn't change anything at all, just something i wanted to talk about. 7st - Later when you reach adulthood, choose Cove to still be your boyfriend, don't jump right to be his fianceé, there's great changes which each one.
> If you choose to be his fianceé right away, in the dinner of your mom's aniversary the'll make a silly comment about your future marriage, which is all i really payed attention to.
> If you choose him to still be only your boyfriend, despite not getting any comment later in your mom's aniversary, later near the end of the game you'll go to the hills and he'll remember events from the past, such as you ding donging the mean grandparents(if you did), you protecting him from Jeremy(that stupid lil shit), etc, lots of thigns that i won't totally spoil to you, if case you still didn't played, then he asks you to marry him, which is one of the scenes that most made me cry, it's just so charming....
After all you won't want to leave the game after it ends, which for me, who still don't have the DLCs, cost about 13 hours when i first played, started 1p.m and ended it about 2a.m, i fr cried loudly 'cause it just went by so fast, i couldn't bring myself to stop playing it and i literally spent my whole vacation this year playing it over and over again, i never get tired of it, only seeing more details in the game and falling in love with Cove over and over again...
Now talking about the DLCs, unfortunately i don't have any, probably one day i'll manage to, but lets talk about them.
First the DLCs that give you more moments trought the roleplay, all have the same price, buying the childhood one will give you acess to 5 more moments and the teenage years and early adulthood will give you 10 moments each.
> Despite being less moments, childhood moments will give you one more image and teenage years too, despite having more moments, early adulthood is the only one that gives you two more images. Buying all gives you a total of 4 new images, with more details...
A total of 3 free images in your chilhood, 4 with the DLC one.
A total of 6 free images in your teenage years, 8 with the DLC one.
A total of 4 free images in your early adulthood, 6 with the DLC ones.
Maybe the five moments in your childhood are longer to compensate being less, unfortunately i'll have to ask one of you with the DLCs to answer it, but even if they aren't, it doesn't make these moments less special.
If you're short of money or don't really have any(like me), i would say you could first enjoy the game as it is, after all it's still an amazing play trougth, a game that engages you and surprisely doesn't look like a free game at all, the total of attention and details the game and characters gave is amazing, feels like a reality you really live in. After all, you don't need the DLCs to still enjoy the game, it is already amazing as it is, yet indeed, having the DLCs is a dream come true, and if you do have money to buy them, do it, enjoy these extra moments with Cove or whoever your love interest is, also supporting the amazing creators of Our Life, who really deserve it and more.
Moving on to buying the DLCs, as a great observer, if you aren't able to buy all of them, choose which one suits you better first, i myself will go for teenage years, as i find it the most charming moment in the game, but we can also judge it by what you want to do most.
> If you want to interact more romantically with Cove, i would go for the DLC of early adulthood, as we are already old enough to engage in more romantic touching, etc, besides the fact that is the moment you ''start'' dating Cove, it makes more sense, as even in the free moments, the only steps you have more intimate choises is step 3(early adulthood) and 4.
> If you're going for a platonic relationship, I would go for any of them, in step 1, it's when your friendship start, as kids, in step 2, it develops, you can do more things, in step 3, you have even more friends to join you in these moments. Yet i do am more inclined to the DLC of step 1(childhood), as i think it would be great to have more moments in the start of your friendship, making it more solid.
I myself am going to buy the DLC from step 2(teenage years) first when i have the money to, looking trought the moments and their proposals, i just find myself enamored especially with the thought of the escapade... besides the fuzzy feelings in my chest everytime there's tension between us and Cove, also 'cause no matter if you choose crush or love in the beginning of step 3, you'll be dating Cove, only choosing if it started recently or not, probably if you stayed fond and choose crush only on the step 3 you woudn't be dating, idk, i still didn't played with those options, despite playing it 5 times already, it seems like i can't help myself but always choose crush in step 1 or 2, next time i'll hold myself back and come back to confirm if my thoughts are right or not... Now talking about other DLCs, the wedding one is a yes, there's no need to explain why, it explains itself as it is, especially if you love interest is Cove.
Now moving to Derek and Dexter DLCs, i myself am more found of Cove and would like to have the moment DLCs and finish my story with Cove with the wedding DLC first before moving on to other love interest, yet i can't deny that they're adorable too and their DLCs are just as amazing as the others.
I didn't think much about having two moms, as Ma and Mom are absolutely perfect parents, i loved how instead of going on and setting your height or describing your body right away you get to say it trought the game, such as when you look at yourself in the mirror or grab something in the shelves.
The fact that Cove was autistic was a lil shocking, i mean, it sounded a bit forced but it didn't change anything major at all, and it doesn't bother me that the game creators tried to include it, i mean, it didn't change how amazing the game is or how Cove is a well written character.
Something that made me pretty happy is how the game gives you the option to change your gender, name and explore your sexuality, i myself am i girl, identify as a girl and don't really care about gender, still didn't think much about my sexuality, but i love how the game allows you to explore it, as i know that there's people who'll relate to it and it just makes the game more real, as indeed, some girl do surgery to remove their breasts, be it 'cause they want to or 'cause they need, as much as some want it bigger and make a surgery to get it bigger, it just gives more detail to your OC, choosing your pronouns and sexuality and even deciding if you don't identify as your gender of birth.
But it just went all together, it really looked forced, but there was no other way to it, since after all, the game has a limited time for each step, also remembering that we start with 8 years at step 1 and for each step we skip around 5 years, which means we didn't saw it all happening at the exact same time, especially thinking that the time we play is summer break, about a month, which means that the whole game, at least what he played of it, it's a total of 4 months, since we had the need to skip the years to advance in game and relationships.
Sincerely, i wouldn't want it any other way, as much as informations were rushed and may have looked forced, it is the way it is, remembering that the game is free and it already gave so much more then i expected it to, i mean it.
...
After all this talk, better saying, typying, i'm tired, taking a look at the clock i've spend more then an hour in this review, which i'm not regretful of, as this game deserves more then it.
For me, Our Life: Beginning and Always, made my boring summer turn into passionate nights of staying awake and trying to not wake up the whole house with my giggles of joy as i played it, i'm grateful for having the chance of playing such a great story, i really developed a thing for Visual Novels, yet, since A Date With Death, this has been the only one who captivated my heart so much, being honest, even more then A Date With Death. This game is a straight 10/10, if you're still thinking if you should or not play it, don't think too much, just play it, i'm sure it will captivate you just as much as it did with me. Also, sorry for any typo, as English is not my native language, neither am i fluent in it.
I love you please don't ever die
For the sake of you, who loves me, i won't <3
I dropped it the beginning of Step 4. It was just too woke. But please hear me out...
At first I wasn't sure about this game since I didn't really like the illustration style, but everyone was raving about it so I gave it a try and bought all ML-related DLCs (yes, even the wedding one although I won't be able to play it after dropping this game). I don't live in the US and I don't watch a lot on YouTube, Tiktok or even Netflix, this means I did hear people complain about lots of "woke" content nowadays, but I never understood what they meant... until I played this game.
Now I get it.
Everything feels so into your face which makes it forced and unnatural. It would have been so much better if there was a one-time short introduction at the beginning asking for my preferred family setting, my preferences and even how I want the male lead's preferences to be. Instead, those questions popped up during the story and it destroyed the immersive feeling every single time. The first thing that got me off guard was that it was mentioned that my character had "moms". Not only, but two. I thought it's not a big deal and it won't be mentioned that much, but I was so wrong. They appear so often and there was even a short text mentioning changes in the US laws that made it possible for them to wear rings in public - I don't care about that at all, in my country nobody would even mention that since it's natural for same-gender couples to be officially together. But that wasn't all. There were all these weird questions, for example the state of my breasts or if I got them removed / bandaged. Or if they are (not) growing because I took hormones or something like that. Then I was asked multiple times if my sexuality has changed. And at one point, the male lead made a big deal about it to tell me his sexuality, which is demisexual and panromantic. I had to google these terms to actually understand what he was talking about. And of course one of the friends changed genders mid-story. AND OF COURSE the love interest has a developmental disability. GOD.
That was the last straw that broke the camel's back. I had to drop this game. It got ridiculous. Again, I don't mind how other people live their lives or whom they love, but all of this happened at the same time, in the same game!? I think there was nothing that didn't happen. What made it so unbelievably bad for me was that all of these things happened instead of showing some afford to make it feel natural, for example, going with 1 or 2 of these topics and use them more sparingly.
But no, instead the developers/writers decided for some reason they had to include everything. I hope what I'm trying to say makes sense. It would have been SO MUCH BETTER if all these topics would have been spread across 5 or even more games. There is nothing wrong about wanting to mention and include all that... but it was just way too much. It got comical at some point. Honestly, with everything that happened I expected all the parents ending up in some kind of open relationship together. At this point, it wouldn't have shocked me at all, but I HAD TO DROP IT before it got worse. Now I'm trying to forget about all the forced stuff and try to remember the good memories and moments.
And for me personally, this seems to be the difference between "being inclusive" and "being woke" - at least from my interpretation as someone who isn't from the US and had no clue it's so important for indie game studios to force this kind of agenda and forgetting to make it at least feel natural.
The remaining one star is for the amount of choices - it was really fun to have the feeling that I am shaping the main character and the male lead based of my choices. I played 3 DLCs and loved especially the "Reflection" moment - it was super interesting to learn more about Kyra and Cliff, but the "Happiness" one was amazing as well! I guess without the DLCs all the "woke" options and decisions would have been even more noticeable, so I'm glad I bought them. And I DID like the interactions in general with the male lead a lot.
Just all that unnecessary stuff turned it sour for me. It felt like the team had some kind of checklist and included everything to reach a 10/10 on a wokeness scale. It feels just so... artificial. That's why I'm writing this wall of text here.
I do NOT want to offend anyone. I'm trying to give constructive feedback and explain why this game was such a disappointment for me. Of course, I could have researched and read more detailed reviews, but usually I just read what the story is about and play it blind. I did expect the "familiar everyday moments". But there were so many "unfamiliar" moments, characters and subplots that surprised me. I'm pretty sure the facts that my character has two mothers and the male lead's disability wasn't even mentioned in the "Story" part of the game explanation and I think those were quite impactful informations...
I'm not offended, but I am amused. Who do you think made this game? Not straight people, trans people, nerodivergant people, and people of color. Many of the team falling into multiple of those categories. But you're only allowed to have one or two of those or it's just going too far! It's ridiculous that people not like you made stories that were relatable to them and comment on the actual real world implications of what it's like to be a part of those communities. It's great that you're not a total "anti-woke" troll, but your critiques are still entirely silly.
Wow. I spent a lot of time writing out my thoughts, trying to give honest feedback without being offensive, and you call my critiques "entirely silly"? That's pretty disappointing coming from a developer...
Just because your team falls into various diverse categories doesn't automatically make your storytelling immune to criticism, unless you created this game just for your own team and didn't care about the average user in the first place. My issue wasn't with inclusion in general - it was with how you crammed everything in at once, making it feel forced and unnatural.
Again, it is good to stand up for representation of marginalized groups in media, but what I've been trying to say the entire time is... was it really necessary to put every single one of these topics and groups in one short game instead of using a gentler approach and saving some of these topics as main points for future games?
I'm really shocked that you are disregarding other players' feedback and even think their opinions are silly. There is nothing wrong with having different opinions and agreeing to disagree. Isn't the point of releasing a game to have a wide range of people play and enjoy it?
If you can't handle critique without getting defensive, maybe you shouldn't respond to reviews. I gave your game a chance and shared my honest opinion. Calling that "entirely silly" just makes me glad I stopped playing when I did. I don't regret buying the DLCs, I just regret reading your answer and seeing how you really think of people with different opinions. All the best.
I think you're very naive with hopefully a lot to learn. This isn't a critique on how well our characters were written or how accurate they were to real people in those groups, your problem is clearly that they are what they are in the first place. You are saying "Hey, people who put in the time and effort to make this game, can you include less of yourselves in it so it stops being off-putting to people who don't want to read about you?" Can you really, truly not see why I can't take it as reasonable advice?
But congratulations on finding your first made-by-and-for-queer-and-neurodivergent-people game ever. You might be shocked to realize one day that there’s lots of games like that and it turns out there’s no such thing as a story with an "unnatural" amount of “inclusive characters”. People have made games where every character was gay and/or trans or so on and that doesn't make it "forced". The world doesn't have ten queer people who aren't allowed in the same room. Often, people who are minorities hang out with other people in that community.
Our players themselves are queer, and trans, neurodivergent, and people who are willing to empathize with those groups without getting uncomfortable when they realize the game isn't including them for the benefit of helping straight cis people feel at ease with them, it's actually so the people in those communities can have something that makes them happy.
"Was it really necessary to put every single one of these topics and groups in one short game instead of using a gentler approach and saving some of these topics as main points for future games?"
Yes, it was! Minorities aren't just talking points. They're not some theoretical concept that only exist to be side characters in fictional stories. They are alive in reality. They play games and they make their own games. The whole world doesn’t revolve "average players" who don't mind seeing minorities in a "gentle way" as long as they’re not "crammed in". Please realize that.
I don't reply to real reviews, and if this had been somewhere other than a public comment section I wouldn't have engaged. But I'm not gonna let our players see a comment like yours and not make it clear that we're not here for you. They don't deserve to be talked about like this, so I will continue to disagree with you.
Also, check out our second game in this series. You think we included everything woke here? Not true. Our Life 2 is even wokier!
And I will add one more thing that might be a missing piece here. We already knew what you said. Anybody in a minority group who intends to make stories more about their own experiences and those of people like them know before they even start development that some players are going to dismiss the game for being woke. That's the reality of being in the minority! But we did anyway. No matter how many “average gamers” tell us to tone it down on the “PC nonsense”, we’re simply not going to. We’re just as allowed to make games that center on us as anyone else is.
Let me see if I'm understanding this correctly. You believe that the game has presented so many societal issues on its plate that, to you, the characters and occurring events are more like token representations instead of actual people and events?
(If that is the case, i have my own opinions on that matter. However if you want to drop it and move on, i will respect that. Good day.)
You sound like you want us to think you have a magical life in some magical country where nobody needs to care about diversity because nobody has a problem with anyone who is "different" to begin with. If that's true and not just a new tactic of the anti-woke crowd, I'm happy for you because you truly don't need this game, you're living it without even realizing it. But please understand that 99.9% of us aren't as lucky as you, and I don't understand why it would offend you that some writers are trying to give other people a glimpse of the kind of life you're blessed to be living.
I understand where you're coming from. For me, immersion is one of the biggest contributors in playing a visual novel, so this mini-review kind of helps me. The game won't exactly be everyone's cup of tea, but that's alright. It's us who decide to play it or not.
And as someone who doesn't really follow all the woke stuff (never was exposed to it, nor saw it promoted in my life), I'm glad I didn't download this. No offense to the developers.
Dude, out of all of the glowing reviews, you listen to the single negative one?
yeah.
That wouldn't be so much of an issue if that guy's review didn't sound like a schizophrenic, terminally online rant.
blud does NOT like minorities 🙏🙏
Wait... you had to google demisexual and panromantic? Why? Cove literally explains what they mean in the conversation you are referencing.
Finally have some money to spend, I proceeded to buy all DLC at once, now i have blocked card bc bank decided it is sus :D :D :D. But well, better false alarm than no alarm when needed so I am not even angry. Just find it hilarious :D. Love the game so much and I am so excited to explore DLC content. I just regret that we cannot marry Cove platonically, you know, QPR/PLP stuff. My MC is already living with him and planning all the future with him, just let them marry :D.I know this game is completed, but maybe you can still add such option in your other game, that would be awesome representation for all 'destroy amatonormativity' people out there :)
absolutely beautiful
just had to show my steam hours because of how invested i am in this game. gonna miss my ocean boy but i always come back to visit him😂💜
COVE»»»»»»
THE BEST OCEAN BOYYY
I just wanna say... that this game was so fucking beautiful. I really fell in love with Cove. I even bought all the DLC and subscribe for the Pantreon content. Cant wait to play ol2!!!!! love Cove soooo much. Im gonna miss him. Srsly best steam purchase!!!
This game is so choice heavy and i love it. Not only was i able to describe who i was to a T it immersed me into this world, I cried playing this game, gorgeous story and characters. I'll plan on getting the dlc soon when i have actual money to my name.
Cove you best BOIIIII I will never forgive you :(
have been a fan of this game since around october 2021. an AMAZING visual novel, by far my favourite of any i've played and a constant comparison point for myself when thinking of other visual novels - 'oh, that was almost as good as our life!'. as of right now i have about 170 hours on this game on steam (yes, i know, im sad) and couldn't possibly reccomend it any more than i do. i am so so so SO excited for now and forevers release and have been following the demo updates on patreon RELIGIOUSLY.
thank you GB patch for this amazing game and god bless your minds for crafting the perfect man in cove james holden.
I teared up when the game ended. This game is fantastic i enjoyed every second of it! Im gonna miss this game (and cove) a lot!
Thank you for this amazing visual novel!!!!
I love how you are able to slowly understand cove as you play through the different steps of the game. Love how in the dlc's you are able to explore the two other characters derek and baxter. It's nice to be able to have the fun of spending time with them there the different summers. I really enjoy the process mc have with cove through the different summers!!! Tbh i will never get tired of playing the game over and over again.
My favorite thing about this game, is that while you have the option to explore other love interests (Derek and Baxter) Cove is the MAIN love interest, and you can explore that freely without feeling the need for the other two at all. I find myself falling all over again for Cove without trying on my Baxter route but have to keep reminding myself that it's a BAXTER route and not a COVE route, lol. To me, that's a good example of good writing for a love interest. Other times they feel flat or too perfect in some VNs, but this one you notice qualities of Cove you didn't realize he had in another playthrough. Soft bois aren't usually my forte, but with Cove I find myself making an exception, its so hard to be just best friends with him!