Today I played a game that is not normally in my usual genre of games. I played Our Life because of a couple of friend recommendations. How good is the first impression of the game? Is the game worth keeping after 2 hours let us find out.

Disclaimers: The thumbnail art for the article was official art from their blog and is used as their banner for twitter over at GB Patch Games, the devs. I also note the game itself is free, so the refund policy does not apply in this case. However, there is paid dlc that you can buy and if you are like my friend that means you may have bought the dlc upfront before trying the game. Here is steam’s policy on dlc returns, “DLC purchased from the Steam store is refundable within fourteen days of purchase, and if the underlying title has been played for less than two hours since the DLC was purchased, so long as the DLC has not been consumed, modified or transferred. Please note that in some cases, Steam will be unable to give refunds for some third party DLC (for example, if the DLC irreversibly levels up a game character). These exceptions will be clearly marked as nonrefundable on the Store page prior to purchase”(steam). With that said I was unable to find if the store page says it is refundable or not. With that said I will be moving forward with the notion that it is refundable.

Also, this game is very text based so your mileage on time will vary with reading speed and comprehension. I myself can read quite quickly but there were times I did slow down to really soak in what was going on. I managed to finish all the first “Moments” in the game before reaching my threshold and that is where my critique will be based up to. I also want to note that my experience is all from the base game and I did not have any of the DLCs at the time of this writing.

Gameplay.

First and foremost I want to talk about the gameplay. Normally a game’s gameplay is what makes or breaks a game for me. I am not an avid visual novel consumer, but I can appreciate the work that goes into them. With that said I really think the gameplay goes great with the visual novel style. I love the way that each choice feels like it has some weight to it, that they matter. Even the smallest things that I chose from in the beginning of the the game felt as though they may change the story, whether big or small. I want to try and not spoil any of the story or what goes on, but I must say that one of the very first choices I made felt like it was impacting so many interactions I had with some of the characters early on. Otherwise the gameplay is mostly point and click to select options. There are some visual novels that spice things up with minigames like Dangenronpa, but I can appreciate that they did not shoehorn in minigames as they may feel out of place in the beautiful setting they have set up.

The game loves to give the player choice as I said before and I liked the implementation of what they call “Moments” in the game. You hit a point in the story that lets you watch character interactions with certain events like shopping or a summers day. They let you choose the order you want to watch them or skip them entirely. I got through all of the first ones in the base game and could have made it to the DLC, as they clearly mark what moments are DLC content. This freedom to prioritize your experience with the game is fantastic and I love when I can choose about how quickly I play a game. As well as it incentivizes me to keep playing as it makes me want to see what certain moments are about.

Art.

I absolutely love the art of the game as well. The moment I saw one of the characters parents I just thought “Oh wow look at him”. They were really proud of their art and it helps draw you in when the scenery of the background art draws you into the moment. It really feels like a sunny day at the beach or like you can really feel the fireflies gently light on your face. I am not the biggest art connoisseur, but I know that each character I saw I found to be drawn really well and their style complements the characters personalities. My only gripe I guess art wise is I spent time in a character creator and he looked so good but I haven’t seen him since, as the game gets played through your eyes in the first person, so I can’t appreciate my character and his fantastic blue hair!

Writing.

Normally, if a game has great gameplay, I can overlook the writing. For visual novels, however I know that this formula should be reversed when reviewing. visual novels can have amazing gameplay, but it is not the staple of the genre. you do not play a battle royale for its writing and you don’t play a visual novel to try and grind material drops for hours. With all that said I absolutely love the writing that I have gotten so far in the first 2 hours. It feels very real, not like it is some novel from on high, and not shoddily written. It feels as though the devs cared for each and every character and their interactions with you the player. They give you some cruel and mean options but they also give you some overly kind and sheepish ones. They let me, through their character writing insert my anxious and scared self at the begging of the game and I am so excited to see where the writing goes. It is setting itself up to be tackling some tough issues like death of a parent, divorce, etc. I can’t wait to see where this goes.

Music.

The music, just like the art, is fantastic. I love the ambiance that it adds, helping make a setting really pop without being too in your face and taking away from your experience with these brilliantly written characters. The music is soothing when it needs to, adds a bit of stress in a stressful moment, and makes you want to sigh in relief when tension leaves. I found this relatable to many good soundtracks lately that follow this same pattern of being there, but not commanding the stage. It works seamlessly together.

Closing.

If this game was a paid game, if I had paid for the DLC at the time of writing this, would I think of returning them? Absolutely not, I am too eager to see what will unfold between these characters and I just may go and buy the DLC for myself to see some more of these great moments. As far as if I think it represents the rest of the game, well here I give my best guess but I would say that it seems to set up for the rest of the game quite well. I can see the writing possibly shifting focus as the characters grow up, but I don’t see it pulling a doki doki literature club and totally swap genres. It is a great, cozy, relaxing romance visual novel and I hope you will all give it a try sometime.

As always if you like my content please give me a follow here or on twitter, I appreciate every new follow, comment, and like anywhere I get. Also again please check the devs out I have their twitters linked above and the game is free so please do give it a try. Till next time, thank you for reading all the way through.