Our Life: Beginnings & Always

Our Life: Beginnings & Always is a superb visual novel. It includes a lot of choices that allow you to customize your character: from their look to their taste. Most of these choices do not affect the game at a profound level but they are still important to you. They make sure that your playtrough is unique. The DLCs double the length of the game and bring memorable events and characters. The only critique I would make to this game is only providing you with a male relationship (be it romantic, friendly or even cold). But I know this point is taken care of in the next game from GB Patch (still in development).

I never thought I'd write a VN review, but after spotting this randomly in a "you might like" recommendation, I figured I'd see what was worth free. I don't have a basis of comparison to any other VN, but what I did get was an incredibly chill, comfy experience that far exceeds its free price tag. There has possibly never been more personality/preference choices in a game before. Our Life wants to know everything you're about, and pulls those choices back sometimes eons later. You choose the pace and tone you want, you even decide how things turn out. Are you good or bad at that thing? How are you feeling right now? What do you think about this, and even more minutiae, why do you feel that way? Even not knowing how you feel is a valid option, and the game is not here to judge you for it. You can pretty much be whatever you want as well; I'm not familiar with the different aspects of LGBTQ but it sure seems like you could identify as whatever, dress how you like, and have whatever 'preferences' you want. Cool if that's what you're about. I don't want to get too much into the story, it's a free game so you know if you want to try it, but suffice to say, this game was purpose-built to chill out with and cheer up with. There's no 'wrong' choices, and no bad or early ending. People will remember how you act, and generally acting like a jerk might take events down a weird path, but ultimately it's your life; if you want to fly off the handle just because, go for it. The auto-save system is generous and you can even rewind a decent amount if things aren't going how you thought they would. Ultimately, I was quickly absorbed in hanging out in Sunset Bird, and hours would go by as I cruised through the story. It's an extremely relaxing game, and it's honestly pretty surprising it's free. I would sincerely recommend the DLC expansions if you like the base game, they add quite a bit of extra time. It's a pretty easy recommendation with a small file size and a free price tag!

It's an odd feeling, being nostalgic for a life I didn't live, but this game brings that out in me. Worth every minute of gameplay, I've run through the entire thing three times now, taking different options, and I love how seemingly trivial early choices suddenly appear as relevant much, much further in the game. The storytelling is beautifully done, and the art equally so. Highly recommended.

I'm not a VN player, I don't read romance and I'm not usually an emotional man. I am however gay and stuck in bed with a chest infection. For some reason I decided to play this and god damn am I glad that I did. I got fully sucked into this and I'm a bit stunned considering I was expecting something contrived and to heavily pander to LGBT+. Instead I got a truly emotional and charming story. I love the 4 life stage format. I love the characters. I love the sheer volume of choices and different outcomes/scenes. I'm pretty sure I nearly cried at least once - a new experience for me! Big thanks to the dev(s) for this, it's helped me pass the last few days being stuck in bed.