​Our Life: Beginnings & Always

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?

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)

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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.

I'd do anything to play this 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.

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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...

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😂💜

Super random, but how do I get that scene in the 8th image where Cove is shutting his mouth? I've played this game a bunch, and I cannot find that scene. It's not a big deal, but I'm curious.

I've played through the game like 6 times and in only one of the playthroughs I've been able to refer to Cliff and Kyra as dad and mom. Is there anything specific that has to happen for that to be an option?

Is there any kind of video instruction on how to install the DLCs on Mac? I can't seem to figure out how to do it and I've tried everything

I just finished this game, and I really don't know how to feel. It's so bittersweet. The game is fantastic. The character development is wonderful and really helps build the relationships between us/the main character and everyone else. I would like to know what happened to Shiloh, Jeremy, and Baxtor though...

I MISS HIM

i didn't get this on itch, i have it on gog, absolutely love it, clean and the ability to scroll back using the mouse wheel is a life saver when you missclick as much as i do (i have dysgraphia and dyspraxia, its a pain and i make do) but i wanna ask, since over time i do wanna support the devs, im just curious to know, if i subscribe to the patreon, do i get the dlc independently or from from the patreon itself?

(i ask cus between not being tech savvy at all and simply just not being familiar with how any of this works, im kinda a touch lost on what to do)

Hey, so I'm not sure if I'm missing something, but I ended up getting the second Derek CG despite not having any of the DLC. I don't have any issue with it of course, but I'm just confused as to why it happened.

Also, congrats to the whole studio for having the top game on all of Itch.

is it possible to fall in love with a girl? or its possible only play gay with cove? is it a yaoi game?