c’est un des plus beaux visual novels auxquels j’ai pu jouer et j’en ai fait énormément. j’ai l’impression d’avoir vécu une autre vie, d’être retournée en enfance et d’avoir pu apprendre ce que c’était le véritable amour. les sprites sont beaux, les dialogues sont magnifiques (j’ai fait tous les dlc + content bonus) et ça se sent que plein d’amour et pleins de sentiments ont été mis dans le jeu, ça transpire l’émotion et ça m’a énormément prise et transportée. j’ai l’impression d’avoir grandit avec les personnages, tous aussi bienveillants et incroyables les uns que les autres! c’est tout plein d’ouverture d’esprit et d’inclusivité et pitié c’était juste incroyable!! merci à ce jeu d’exister et de m’avoir fait vivre tout ça. cove holden mais vraiment quel homme…. 🥺🥺🫶🏼 le childhood friends to lovers remonte FORT haut dans ma liste après ça !!

• Um dos meus jogos favoritos da VIDA! Acho fascinante como tudo nele funciona tão bem.

• Jogar esse jogo é como receber um abraço quentinho, fico feliz só de pensar nele enquanto escrevo essa resenha. Os personagens são EXTREMAMENTE cativantes, a história se desenrola de uma maneira super orgânica, a trilha sonora é impecável (principalmente a música dos créditos) e o estilo de arte é uma fofura.

• Acho incrível como ele consegue capturar períodos específicos da vida de alguém de um jeito tão orgânico. Enquanto jogava e via os personagens crescendo, me identificava com muitas coisas e sentia nostalgia de outras.

• Briga de rotas:
1 - Cove (óbvio)
2 - Derek
3 - Baxter

• Quase me matei jogando a DLC de casamento amo esse jogo de merda e sempre irei amar.

Was reluctant to finish this one, a very cozy and overall wholesome visual novel. Feels like the personification of a warm hug. The ability to determine aspects of both yourself, how others perceive you, and that of Cove himself gives the game some replayability especially since Moments have different outcomes based on how you roleplay. I also appreciated the fact you can set your relationship level with Cove at the start of each Step so if you just want to play a cute childhood friend sim without the romance elements you very well can though the romance path is really fucking cute that if I were to replay im not sure I would have the heart to do the "just friends" playstyle. My only critique, and this is more personal taste than anything, is that I wish you didn't have to stay so long in the "kiddie" phase like starting as a little 8 year old is sweet and has some nice call backs later on but it would have been nice to get to the adult phase faster. The next game seems to be fixing this a bit by pushing the ages up for the steps so that's cool.

A heartwaming and easy going visual novel, I really enjoyed it.

This was basically the first VN I ever played, and I found it to be very charming. The games prioritizes your freedom to have any kind of experience you want, without having to worry about it.

Cove will fall in love with you, regardless. So you don't need to stress about choosing the "right" answers. You may also customize your appearance, gender and pronoums to your liking.

The game also has an interesting system where Cove's personality is not set in stone. As you grow up together, some of your personality will change Cove as well, in his ways of thinking, acting and also his appeareance. As someone who is kind of sensitive and easily absorbs some traits from the people I like, this feature made me emphatize a lot with the character.

Of course, if you want your Cove to be a certain way without worring you'll change him into someone you're not too fond of, you can customize his appearance and personality mannually too.

This games tries it best to be welcoming to as many people it can, and brings you an endearing experience you can customize to best fit whatever you desire.

I'm look forward to buying all the DLC and trying new paths in this game in the future.

Oh wow, where to start. This was such a wholesome game. I think the developers did an amazing job especially given the fact that the base game is completely free. There's also a ton of customisation available for players of all backgrounds. I really felt like it was me and my life.

I didn't expect to love Cove and the entire supporting cast as much as I did. The romance was well done. It started off slow, but you saw how they grew from being childhood friends by circumstances to friends who cared to adults who love and support each other. Dating sims have a habit of highlighting unhealthy relationships so I'm glad that their relationship clearly goes both ways. The game also didn't shy away from family and friendships. In particular, I really liked Mr. Holden's growth in the game.

My only particular gripe is that, for me, there isn't a lot of replayability. I made my choices as me and even if I were to do it again, I think I'd continue to make similar ones. Other than that, super enjoyable, highly recommended.

Definitely need to replay this eventually, but wow! Really surprised me. I have always loved dating sims (and visual novels in general) but my biggest gripe with the genre is just... how much you are railroaded into being the character the game wants or NEEDS you to be. to give your main character such a variable personality and a story that actually respects and acknowledges that is insanely taxing. despite this, OL:BA does just that, with a level of customization that i knew existed, but didn't expect to like so much.

OL:BA allows you a level of customization i've never seen in a any dating sim or VN before. you can customize your characters appearance, pronouns, personality & feelings towards the love interest, Cove, as well as help guide the relationship you and the main LI through menu options, selecting the amount of agency you'd like your character to have, or naturally as a result of the choices you make. after steps 1 and 2, or childhood and middle school years respectively, i was unsure just how much my choices would affect the story. it felt like they had, but without wanting to redo anything until i played it once through, i had no frame of measure. it was a pleasant surprise when i decided to switch my characters interest in the LI from "disinterested" to "crushing" between steps 2 and 3 that not only did the game respond according, allowing very different toned options to me, but also acknowledging multiple times how the relationship because my character and Cove went from that of not-really-friends to very close, all because of the attitude and choices i started to make. honestly, sometimes the amount of choice was a little overwhelming! i challenged myself not to really reload or select other dialogue options, just to really immerse myself, and i was pleasantly surprised to see just how much this customizability helped with that. i was generally not very interested in cove during steps 1 and 2, but the natural progression of the relationship was genuinely so fun to watch unravel i found myself really loving certain memories, dialogues, etc. and even teared up during step 4 lol... the game really builds itself around who you are as a player, while still not sacrificing the story and person it allows Cove to grow into as well. i don't tend to replay games much, but i am REALLY looking forward to replaying this one.

also, i must mention: this was free!?! im so used to vns/dating sims gating the higher quality cgs and content behind pay walls, but everything available to you in the base game is insanely high quality. im not surprised their recent entries will be more paid, because they definitely deserve to be paid for how much effort and love shines through all this.

of course, there are still limitations to this system. you have to read a LOT of menu-ing and really spend time in menus to curate your experience (it lessens after step 1, but really it was a lot to take in at first) but that was fine once i adjusted. similarly, for a game that takes so much of your input into question, it's a bit... mixed? for me on how much of your family you do/don't have control over. i can't think of a family dynamic i related to so little, which was nice but felt a bit at odds with the way the game wanted me to play. i felt so immersed, like i was really thinking as myself as a child/teen/adult/etc, only to get dropped into family dynamics i was Not accustomed to and didnt really care for. the moms and sister are fine! the cousin is cool! i just... did not relate at all, which isnt the games fault necessarily, but did make certain parts of part 3-4 have much less impact since it felt very jarring to go between. hope that makes sense...

still, a really good play. would definitely recommend if you have time to kill and want a new VN/dating sim to try. even if you don't vibe with cove or the other LI's (theyre trapped behind dlc), you always have the option to remain platonicly bonded with them which is very, very cool. what a fun game. i genuinely cant believe i got so invested. i really feel like my attitudes i chose in game reflected my progression with cove as well, which was so satisfying to play lol.