This was cute! Fluffy romance is my weakness when done well and I enjoyed how wholesome this was a lot. The characters in general I ended up caring quite a bit for, especially loved Cove and how personalized you can make your relationship with him throughout
Above and Beyond Sweetness
In 2022, a friend of mine recommended me Our Life: Beginning’s and Always, his reasoning being that since I am bisexual that this could be something I might end up liking. Initially, I was kind of hesitant to give the game a try. From my outside perspective looking in, it’s a romance otome visual novel, which it’s already hard to get me hooked into visual novels like that. However, it’s free, so I swallowed my pride and started a playthrough.
Almost immediately, I was sucked into a sugary sweet slice of California in Sunset Bird, and before long, I finished an entire “life” of the game, then went back, and did another. What I found was one of the most comforting, fluffy games that shuts out the outside world and allows a moment of reprieve.
The premise of the game starts with your main character at the age of six, who finds a man moving in next door. The man wants the main character to take $20 to befriend his son. Take the money or not, you’ll encounter the star of the show, Cove Holden. Fairly quickly you befriend him and will begin the first “step” of the game, the summer of childhood.
Each step of life is one summer in one of three (or four if you buy the DLC) parts of life; childhood, adolescence, and adulthood. In each step, you are given select activities to experience, each one putting you in a different situation with either family or friends, but most will focus on your relationship with Cove.
Each event has different options for you to take, and while some of them are inconsequential, a lot do have some impact on how Cove will act or what you do will alter events later in the game. While I could argue that the selections do not always allow for every type of response, and some of those missing would be more reasonable than what you’re presented, I quite enjoyed playing and seeing what I could do with each option.
But what I saw throughout each step of the game, and what made me love it more, is how nice the people around you are. Whether it be your character’s sister, your two moms, Cove’s father Cliff, or any of the friends you make in each step, each are well written and feel human, even if the dramatic and gloomy points of the game or their characters never linger long. The town of Sunset Bird is one I came to love, because of the likable characters, and the pleasant vibes it brought in every step of the game.
Cove is the star of the show, and the game goes out of its way to make sure that you will grow to like him. His inner struggles are very human and gives reason to care about him. Throughout each step, the game will nudge the player towards a (optional but c’mon) romance with Cove, and it’s super sweet.
I’m trying not to say too much about all the details of the game specifically, as I think just playing it and finding out each thing for yourself is the best way to experience Our Life: Beginnings and Always. However, throughout my experience at least, I found myself emotionally invested with every character, and Cove himself has shot up to one of my favorite characters.
What I do want to highlight is the game’s writing. I touched up on it in the options you as the player are given, but it goes further than that. GB Patch’s writing for each stage of life is not only good, but really believable. At least in my time with the game, I never read a piece of dialogue and said, “a six-year-old wouldn’t say something like that” or “they’re teenagers, this is not how they act”. It’s all very well written, and that writing is a strong reason I kept playing.
But more importantly, and absolutely my favorite part, is the handling of queer writing. Our Life: Beginning and Always embraces LGBT+ themes very openly. For starters, you can make your player character whatever you want them to be, and just like any actual queer person, have their feelings and own self change in each step of the game. Want to start off as a male, but have your character discover to embrace being transgender or non-binary? Then it’s possible, and incorporated with actual care.
Even further, a lot of the cast in the game is also queer. The player character has two mothers, who married and adopted both the main character and your sister. Not once did I think this was a strange decision, it just felt extremely natural here. You’ll also have an openly transgender character as one of your friends. With DLC, two additional characters can be romanced in a same-sex relationship as Cove.
In a lot of games, I never really find myself satisfied with how queerness is portrayed. Every so often we’ll get a game that doesn’t shy away from queer themes, but also embraces them either upfront or subtlety. However, there are also plenty of shallow duds, which either play it safe, use it as a bad joke, or do not even try to make it feel “normal”, but rather a gimmick tacked on for brownie points. Here though, GB Patch has put care into making a game that’s not only inclusive, but well-meaning and comfortable. That’s the word, it’s comforting.
With how much I hear of gay jokes or flat out homophobia, it doesn’t really bother me, but rather annoys me. How do we still live in a time where someone's life and way of life can be so despised? Why did I have to spend so much of it ashamed of who I was, and how others around me would feel about my sexuality? It's lame, and this game knows that those feelings are lame. So, it’s nice that Our Life: Beginnings and Always just feels like a nice warm hug away from the nonsense and venom people today can spew.
Would I recommend Our Life: Beginnings and Always to everyone? Absolutely not. Unless you’re queer, really into slice of life and/or visual novels that just keep it sweet, this really isn’t going to do it for you. But what I found is one of my favorite games, a game so good and so sweet that it being free is a damn crime. A game that is comfort for when I want to step away from the negativity of the world or the negativity of myself and want to have a smile plastered on my face. I would go to say it’s one of the best visual novels out there, with the likes of VA-11 Hall-A. But above all else, one of the best examples of queer writing out there in video games. To me, that makes it something special. I've wanted to write about this game for so long, and it felt good to do so.
Grand Theft Auto VI and Monster Hunter Wilds will be on their knees when the sequel, Our Life: Now and Forever, drops in 2025. Truly, it will be game of the year, I just know it.
In 2022, a friend of mine recommended me Our Life: Beginning’s and Always, his reasoning being that since I am bisexual that this could be something I might end up liking. Initially, I was kind of hesitant to give the game a try. From my outside perspective looking in, it’s a romance otome visual novel, which it’s already hard to get me hooked into visual novels like that. However, it’s free, so I swallowed my pride and started a playthrough.
Almost immediately, I was sucked into a sugary sweet slice of California in Sunset Bird, and before long, I finished an entire “life” of the game, then went back, and did another. What I found was one of the most comforting, fluffy games that shuts out the outside world and allows a moment of reprieve.
The premise of the game starts with your main character at the age of six, who finds a man moving in next door. The man wants the main character to take $20 to befriend his son. Take the money or not, you’ll encounter the star of the show, Cove Holden. Fairly quickly you befriend him and will begin the first “step” of the game, the summer of childhood.
Each step of life is one summer in one of three (or four if you buy the DLC) parts of life; childhood, adolescence, and adulthood. In each step, you are given select activities to experience, each one putting you in a different situation with either family or friends, but most will focus on your relationship with Cove.
Each event has different options for you to take, and while some of them are inconsequential, a lot do have some impact on how Cove will act or what you do will alter events later in the game. While I could argue that the selections do not always allow for every type of response, and some of those missing would be more reasonable than what you’re presented, I quite enjoyed playing and seeing what I could do with each option.
But what I saw throughout each step of the game, and what made me love it more, is how nice the people around you are. Whether it be your character’s sister, your two moms, Cove’s father Cliff, or any of the friends you make in each step, each are well written and feel human, even if the dramatic and gloomy points of the game or their characters never linger long. The town of Sunset Bird is one I came to love, because of the likable characters, and the pleasant vibes it brought in every step of the game.
Cove is the star of the show, and the game goes out of its way to make sure that you will grow to like him. His inner struggles are very human and gives reason to care about him. Throughout each step, the game will nudge the player towards a (optional but c’mon) romance with Cove, and it’s super sweet.
I’m trying not to say too much about all the details of the game specifically, as I think just playing it and finding out each thing for yourself is the best way to experience Our Life: Beginnings and Always. However, throughout my experience at least, I found myself emotionally invested with every character, and Cove himself has shot up to one of my favorite characters.
What I do want to highlight is the game’s writing. I touched up on it in the options you as the player are given, but it goes further than that. GB Patch’s writing for each stage of life is not only good, but really believable. At least in my time with the game, I never read a piece of dialogue and said, “a six-year-old wouldn’t say something like that” or “they’re teenagers, this is not how they act”. It’s all very well written, and that writing is a strong reason I kept playing.
But more importantly, and absolutely my favorite part, is the handling of queer writing. Our Life: Beginning and Always embraces LGBT+ themes very openly. For starters, you can make your player character whatever you want them to be, and just like any actual queer person, have their feelings and own self change in each step of the game. Want to start off as a male, but have your character discover to embrace being transgender or non-binary? Then it’s possible, and incorporated with actual care.
Even further, a lot of the cast in the game is also queer. The player character has two mothers, who married and adopted both the main character and your sister. Not once did I think this was a strange decision, it just felt extremely natural here. You’ll also have an openly transgender character as one of your friends. With DLC, two additional characters can be romanced in a same-sex relationship as Cove.
In a lot of games, I never really find myself satisfied with how queerness is portrayed. Every so often we’ll get a game that doesn’t shy away from queer themes, but also embraces them either upfront or subtlety. However, there are also plenty of shallow duds, which either play it safe, use it as a bad joke, or do not even try to make it feel “normal”, but rather a gimmick tacked on for brownie points. Here though, GB Patch has put care into making a game that’s not only inclusive, but well-meaning and comfortable. That’s the word, it’s comforting.
With how much I hear of gay jokes or flat out homophobia, it doesn’t really bother me, but rather annoys me. How do we still live in a time where someone's life and way of life can be so despised? Why did I have to spend so much of it ashamed of who I was, and how others around me would feel about my sexuality? It's lame, and this game knows that those feelings are lame. So, it’s nice that Our Life: Beginnings and Always just feels like a nice warm hug away from the nonsense and venom people today can spew.
Would I recommend Our Life: Beginnings and Always to everyone? Absolutely not. Unless you’re queer, really into slice of life and/or visual novels that just keep it sweet, this really isn’t going to do it for you. But what I found is one of my favorite games, a game so good and so sweet that it being free is a damn crime. A game that is comfort for when I want to step away from the negativity of the world or the negativity of myself and want to have a smile plastered on my face. I would go to say it’s one of the best visual novels out there, with the likes of VA-11 Hall-A. But above all else, one of the best examples of queer writing out there in video games. To me, that makes it something special. I've wanted to write about this game for so long, and it felt good to do so.
Grand Theft Auto VI and Monster Hunter Wilds will be on their knees when the sequel, Our Life: Now and Forever, drops in 2025. Truly, it will be game of the year, I just know it.
The game is so well written, I was quickly caught by the story. It's been a while since I played such a good otome, and I'm really happy I found it. The DLC added so much and it was worth every minutes I spent on it.
one of the better vns out there! cove i will always love you forever
This game literally changed my life fr. This is the pinnacle of VN mechanics
cove holden i love you
If you've ever looked for a cozy experience, this is it. I've played over 29 hours of this game and still not seen all that it has to offer and I keep getting surprised by just how well this vn remembers the choices that you've made.
Not only does it remember what you look like, if you chose to wear a ring or what item you picked a long long time ago, it also remembers how you reacted to your partner. Cove changing because of the way you speak to him and even how you feel about him has to be one of the most dynamic ways a vn has ever engaged with me.
There's a reason the kickstarter for the next game got funded in like. 2 hours.
Not only does it remember what you look like, if you chose to wear a ring or what item you picked a long long time ago, it also remembers how you reacted to your partner. Cove changing because of the way you speak to him and even how you feel about him has to be one of the most dynamic ways a vn has ever engaged with me.
There's a reason the kickstarter for the next game got funded in like. 2 hours.
This review contains spoilers
it's cute. it's like a "life on easy mode" simulator. no crime, no problems, everybody coddles you. it's great.
Some of these little stories though, man. I can't relate. They're written assuming a baseline level of anxiety neither my character or I (or even cove) exhibit . The characters will draw attention to my character not having any visible anxiety, but because it's written assuming they do, all the events play out the same.
There was one set during when your character is 19 where cove gets upset on your behalf because your parents play a little trick to give you independence. They leave you and stop answering their texts, basically. If I were in that position, I'd shrug my shoulders after ten minutes, assume they got caught up talking to an acquaintance, and shoot them a text saying "gonna walk around, meet up with you at insert landmark here later". the idea of it being some goofy trick wouldn't even cross my mind.
This kid though, he acts like your moms abandoned you by the side of a road at 2am in the dead of winter instead of a yuppie farmer's market in broad daylight. He even mentions that my character has no history of anxiety issues. The parents(and sister) act contrite, as if they've greatly wronged you. I guess it's refreshing to see a character's feelings be validated, but because I thought he was being a dipshit it was like... man. You don't even have anxiety, what are you upset about. Your dad doesn't even expect you to move out.
To be honest, I thought Cove was kind of a dipshit in general. half the time it feels like he's just an exact mirror of what i say my character likes.
Baxter and Derek were more likable little buddies. In fact, Derek was great. Taking a bus alone at 13? Awesome, finally, someone with a relatable background.
Some of these little stories though, man. I can't relate. They're written assuming a baseline level of anxiety neither my character or I (or even cove) exhibit . The characters will draw attention to my character not having any visible anxiety, but because it's written assuming they do, all the events play out the same.
There was one set during when your character is 19 where cove gets upset on your behalf because your parents play a little trick to give you independence. They leave you and stop answering their texts, basically. If I were in that position, I'd shrug my shoulders after ten minutes, assume they got caught up talking to an acquaintance, and shoot them a text saying "gonna walk around, meet up with you at insert landmark here later". the idea of it being some goofy trick wouldn't even cross my mind.
This kid though, he acts like your moms abandoned you by the side of a road at 2am in the dead of winter instead of a yuppie farmer's market in broad daylight. He even mentions that my character has no history of anxiety issues. The parents(and sister) act contrite, as if they've greatly wronged you. I guess it's refreshing to see a character's feelings be validated, but because I thought he was being a dipshit it was like... man. You don't even have anxiety, what are you upset about. Your dad doesn't even expect you to move out.
To be honest, I thought Cove was kind of a dipshit in general. half the time it feels like he's just an exact mirror of what i say my character likes.
Baxter and Derek were more likable little buddies. In fact, Derek was great. Taking a bus alone at 13? Awesome, finally, someone with a relatable background.
i love this game so much man its so heart warming 10/10 would cry over my gay moms again
COVE HOLDEN YOU BEAUTIFUL BEAUTIFUL MAN THE LOVE OF MY LIFE THE MAN SINGLE-HANDEDLY RAISING MY BAR
thank you for everything
i love my queef <3
this was so wholesome and sweet 10/10
Perhaps the only visual novel you need. Came at the perfect time to kick my ass into transitioning.
not made for me, i thought it was boring <3
(Copy and Pasted from Steam)
This game is my happy place. Every summer I boot it up there's a million new things to discover or another cute thing to put me into a frenzy. Making me care about every character in a game where Cove is the lead is a massive accomplishment. The art and sound of this game is so cute and welcoming, and the writing for both the causal interactions and the intimate ones are just chefs kiss.
There is no other game like this one and my hat goes off to the entire development team, you truly made something unforgettable. I know I wont.
This game is my happy place. Every summer I boot it up there's a million new things to discover or another cute thing to put me into a frenzy. Making me care about every character in a game where Cove is the lead is a massive accomplishment. The art and sound of this game is so cute and welcoming, and the writing for both the causal interactions and the intimate ones are just chefs kiss.
There is no other game like this one and my hat goes off to the entire development team, you truly made something unforgettable. I know I wont.
ermmm i like men sometimes
Absolutely love it. I'm usually not a visual novel player, hell this is the only one I've played and there's a good reason for that: because I fucking LOVE Cove. Played this through about 3 or 4 times, with the DLC too, and its just perfect.
i love cove holden. Ask me about Cove Holden. did you know tjhat i lobve-
My favorite game ever, bought every dlc and have an unholy amount of hours.
3.5/5 Stars
The art style is cute and it has alot of character customization! Beautiful round characters with a solid plot. Plus super inclusive and has lgbt characters! Gender/sexuality/romantic attraction is all customizable which is what gives it the extra half heart, so very nice. Only downside is little endings
The art style is cute and it has alot of character customization! Beautiful round characters with a solid plot. Plus super inclusive and has lgbt characters! Gender/sexuality/romantic attraction is all customizable which is what gives it the extra half heart, so very nice. Only downside is little endings
i love cove so goddamn much. i already adore the idea of a dating sim where you grow up with your love interest, but my god are the characters and the writing just fantastic here. i have yet to get every achievement in this game because the last few i need to get require you to be indifferent about cove, and i'll just have to speed through the game in order to not feel bad about it. customization is also a plus, as the game tailors itself around the kind of person you are.
a genuinely cozy experience that's perfect for the summer vibe!
a genuinely cozy experience that's perfect for the summer vibe!
See, if you were to ask any of my friends what was THE thing I'd talk about in 2020, they'd all say Our Life. As a dating sim mega geek, I'll say this is the closest to perfection in the genre, as even with 100+ hours, I still find myself in new paths depending on the different sets of choices and feelings I pick throughout the game.
If you want to be obsessed over a green haired fictional man and ruin real life relationships forever because "They'll never be like Cove" then PLEASE, go play Our Life and you will NOT regret it.
If you want to be obsessed over a green haired fictional man and ruin real life relationships forever because "They'll never be like Cove" then PLEASE, go play Our Life and you will NOT regret it.
beautiful game
this game made me love graphic novels im afraid.
guess squiggly eyebrows aren't that bad...
A chill, fun VN that hit me at the exact right time. Honestly seems like it could be a lot of fun replaying, if I was capable of replaying games
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.
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.
Broke me with pure sweetness and heart, actually made me cry. Genuinely worth trying for anyone, this might be what you need in your life to help you through it all.
Our Life: Beginnings & Always follows the main character (named whatever you want) from childhood to adulthood in the town of Sunset Bird and their relationship with Cove Holden. When it starts, you’re eight years old and Cove and his father have just moved in across the street. Naturally, being only two of a handful of kids in the area, you start hanging out. It’s a rough, emotional summer as you get to know Cove little by little and he deals with his parents’ divorce.
Then it jumps ahead to you and Cove being thirteen and spending another summer together. It’s full of new faces and more tense situations and decisions to make. It is shorter than the first part and felt quite rushed. After that, you move onto the summer after the end of high school and all that transitioning into adulthood means. While I liked the story and decisions in this part, I wasn’t fond of all of the characters introduced. They just got in the way.
Finally, there’s full adulthood. This part actually starts after the credits, so don’t leave yet!
Visuals
Our Life: Beginnings & Always looks great. The backgrounds are simple but really set the scene. The character design is also really nice. Everything is clear and crisp. The characters also have more dynamic faces than I’ve seen in other visual novels. They blink and change expressions when the story calls for it. No one is just static. The main character’s moms are pretty hot for drawings. Child Cove is also super adorable. Although something seems a bit off about Mr. Holden, but I can’t pinpoint what exactly.
There are quite a few different backgrounds. While the main ones are the house and the beach, we do get to see several other places in Sunset Bird. I think my favorites were the golf course and the Redwood forest; they just looked really pretty. The scenes also change a bit to show time passing.
I also appreciated that details mentioned in the text were actually shown in the scene. A character mentions a picture on the wall, and there is actually a picture on the wall. They mention having eight dining chairs, and there are in fact eight chairs at the table. It’s a small thing, but something I’ve been mildly annoyed at in other visuals novels. Why make a very specific reference only to not have it appear anywhere in the scene? Our Life: Beginnings & Always doesn’t have that problem.
Sound Effects + Music
I was pleasantly surprised by the wide range of musical tracks in Our Life: Beginnings & Always. It’s not the same song on loop, or even the same handful of tunes. Each scene has its own track which fits the mood and setting. Not that they don’t ever repeat, because they do, but there’s space in between so it doesn’t get annoying. I quite enjoyed most of the songs. They’re mostly calming instrumentals.
There’s some minor voice acting. The majority of the story is unvoiced, but occasionally a few words or a line will be voiced by the character. It was a nice touch, but it didn’t make much of a difference to me.
Gameplay + Controls
Our Life: Beginnings & Always does start with a text based tutorial which explains the ins and outs of the game, like how your choices affect how the story changes. You also customize your character’s appearance, which is quite fun, even though they never actually appear on the screen. You choose their name and pronouns as well, which is a nice touch, since anyone can insert themself into the story.
You get to make quite a few decisions in this visual novel and they do seem to affect what happens next. Previous decisions even get referenced in future text, which was surprising. The choices are all color-codeded (blue, yellow, green). As the tutorial explains, this are just to indicate a common mood/feeling if you want to stay consistent. You absolutely don’t have to though. Pick and choose whatever feels right to you no matter what color the option is. I do think it would be fun to only pick one color to see what happens, then do another playthrough and stick with another color, and so on. For my first time, I just picked whichever option I liked best.
There are also “moments” which are additional bits of story that you can play through if you want. They’re optional, as you can also choose to advance to the next phase of the story without completing them. There are five per phase, with more available as DLC. Since this was my first playthrough, and I wasn’t in a rush, I played through all of them. Each moment is pretty short (10-15 minutes) but gives you more insight into all of the characters. You also get to make several choices, and I wonder if those also contribute to how the story evolves. It seemed like some of these scenarios had “right” answers based on what followed my choice.
Replayability
Our Life: Beginnings & Always is totally replayable. Of course, you can make different decisions or choose different tones (direct, relaxed, anxious) and feelings (indifferent, fond, crush, love) to see what happens to the story. Or, like I mentioned above, you can stick to one color for the responses and play all the way through that way. Similarly, stick with the same tone for the whole story or the same feeling toward Holden. The Steam version also has achievements that you can go for which do cover most of these play styles.
Overall
I enjoyed Our Life: Beginnings & Always. The story wasn’t my favorite, especially during phase two, and the ending was abrupt. Some of that may have had to do with the previous choices I made, so perhaps it’ll be different next time. But overall, I was invested enough to stick with it and learn more about “myself” and Cove. I do think the optional moments are stronger than the main storyline though, so I wouldn’t recommend skipping those.
I also really loved how LGBTQ+ friendly the story was. The MC has two moms, you can pick your pronouns to start with. Later you can choose your birth sex, sexual orientation, romantic orientation, how you feel about your body, and you can even choose whether or not to date Cove. Just because he’s the focus of the story and presented as a love interest doesn’t mean you actually have to be romantically involved with him.
Then it jumps ahead to you and Cove being thirteen and spending another summer together. It’s full of new faces and more tense situations and decisions to make. It is shorter than the first part and felt quite rushed. After that, you move onto the summer after the end of high school and all that transitioning into adulthood means. While I liked the story and decisions in this part, I wasn’t fond of all of the characters introduced. They just got in the way.
Finally, there’s full adulthood. This part actually starts after the credits, so don’t leave yet!
Visuals
Our Life: Beginnings & Always looks great. The backgrounds are simple but really set the scene. The character design is also really nice. Everything is clear and crisp. The characters also have more dynamic faces than I’ve seen in other visual novels. They blink and change expressions when the story calls for it. No one is just static. The main character’s moms are pretty hot for drawings. Child Cove is also super adorable. Although something seems a bit off about Mr. Holden, but I can’t pinpoint what exactly.
There are quite a few different backgrounds. While the main ones are the house and the beach, we do get to see several other places in Sunset Bird. I think my favorites were the golf course and the Redwood forest; they just looked really pretty. The scenes also change a bit to show time passing.
I also appreciated that details mentioned in the text were actually shown in the scene. A character mentions a picture on the wall, and there is actually a picture on the wall. They mention having eight dining chairs, and there are in fact eight chairs at the table. It’s a small thing, but something I’ve been mildly annoyed at in other visuals novels. Why make a very specific reference only to not have it appear anywhere in the scene? Our Life: Beginnings & Always doesn’t have that problem.
Sound Effects + Music
I was pleasantly surprised by the wide range of musical tracks in Our Life: Beginnings & Always. It’s not the same song on loop, or even the same handful of tunes. Each scene has its own track which fits the mood and setting. Not that they don’t ever repeat, because they do, but there’s space in between so it doesn’t get annoying. I quite enjoyed most of the songs. They’re mostly calming instrumentals.
There’s some minor voice acting. The majority of the story is unvoiced, but occasionally a few words or a line will be voiced by the character. It was a nice touch, but it didn’t make much of a difference to me.
Gameplay + Controls
Our Life: Beginnings & Always does start with a text based tutorial which explains the ins and outs of the game, like how your choices affect how the story changes. You also customize your character’s appearance, which is quite fun, even though they never actually appear on the screen. You choose their name and pronouns as well, which is a nice touch, since anyone can insert themself into the story.
You get to make quite a few decisions in this visual novel and they do seem to affect what happens next. Previous decisions even get referenced in future text, which was surprising. The choices are all color-codeded (blue, yellow, green). As the tutorial explains, this are just to indicate a common mood/feeling if you want to stay consistent. You absolutely don’t have to though. Pick and choose whatever feels right to you no matter what color the option is. I do think it would be fun to only pick one color to see what happens, then do another playthrough and stick with another color, and so on. For my first time, I just picked whichever option I liked best.
There are also “moments” which are additional bits of story that you can play through if you want. They’re optional, as you can also choose to advance to the next phase of the story without completing them. There are five per phase, with more available as DLC. Since this was my first playthrough, and I wasn’t in a rush, I played through all of them. Each moment is pretty short (10-15 minutes) but gives you more insight into all of the characters. You also get to make several choices, and I wonder if those also contribute to how the story evolves. It seemed like some of these scenarios had “right” answers based on what followed my choice.
Replayability
Our Life: Beginnings & Always is totally replayable. Of course, you can make different decisions or choose different tones (direct, relaxed, anxious) and feelings (indifferent, fond, crush, love) to see what happens to the story. Or, like I mentioned above, you can stick to one color for the responses and play all the way through that way. Similarly, stick with the same tone for the whole story or the same feeling toward Holden. The Steam version also has achievements that you can go for which do cover most of these play styles.
Overall
I enjoyed Our Life: Beginnings & Always. The story wasn’t my favorite, especially during phase two, and the ending was abrupt. Some of that may have had to do with the previous choices I made, so perhaps it’ll be different next time. But overall, I was invested enough to stick with it and learn more about “myself” and Cove. I do think the optional moments are stronger than the main storyline though, so I wouldn’t recommend skipping those.
I also really loved how LGBTQ+ friendly the story was. The MC has two moms, you can pick your pronouns to start with. Later you can choose your birth sex, sexual orientation, romantic orientation, how you feel about your body, and you can even choose whether or not to date Cove. Just because he’s the focus of the story and presented as a love interest doesn’t mean you actually have to be romantically involved with him.