“A nostalgic visual novel where you design your own character and grow from childhood to adulthood with the lonely boy next door. Create an experience that’s all your own in this near-fully customizable, choice-heavy story.”
The game is basically separated into 3 phases: childhood, teen, and young adult.
The base game is free: Our Life: Beginnings & Always by GBPatch and there are 3 DLCs you can purchase for… like $4 each? There will be a “Step 4” released sometime soon (“Summer 2021”) that’ll be about adulthood.
This is a one LI game, but the devs have plans to release DLCs for a couple of the characters you meet in the game after they finish Step 4. I’ve also heard that they plan on creating Our Life 2 eventually.
I have actually played this, and I’d strongly recommend it too. The characters are so much fun and feel very real, and the writing itself is incredibly charming. Definitely give it a go if you want a feel good game with a surprising amount of depth to it.
A friend from Discord reccommended this game to me (well, to the whole server tbh) and i decided to play the game. Did not expect to be hooked within the first hour of gameplay and now, i’m anticipating the release of Step 4.
i want to gush so many things about the VN from the characters, to the writing, the art, the music, the mini-games and so much more.
i also recommend this VN if you’re after a good wholesome feel-good and feel-better game.
I also totally love Cove’s dad, Cliff, and want the devs to give us a follow-up game with an adult character who falls in love with him, but I don’t think that’ll happen
Ah! Did you play the Step 3 DLC that came out a week or two ago?! I’m so excited for the weddinggggg because how could I not have my player propose to Cove since she declared to her moms the first day she met him that she was gonna marry him?!. I’m not sure how far into the future Step 4 is gonna go, but I’m hoping we can see Cove and MC as parents… I can just imagine how panicked Cove would get when MC went into labor! Lol.
i really like all of the parents in the story. Btw, have you seen the Step 4 preview of them yet?
i admit i laughed at myself when i decided to name my MC “Keira” in Step 2 and then it was revealed that Cove’s mom was named Kyra. i can only imagine the embarrassment Keira feels when she responded to those times when Kyra was being called.
i downloaded all of the DLCs and i’m super excited about the wedding DLC…and that other DLC if you know what i mean.
i remember gushing about the proposal and whined a bit at Cove’s immediate “yes, i will marry you” when my MC wanted to make a whole longass speech. Lol.
As far as what i know and read from GB Patch’s tumblr, Step 4 will have the MC and Cove at 23. i can see them probably living together or seeing each other (if they are still in contact). As for kids and pets, i think i may have to leave that to my imagination, much to my sadness.
I don’t think they mentioned that that Step 4 will have parents scenarios but it would be great for those who want children. I haven’t read the newest DLC yet but I heard it was good. Unfortunately my save files were missing so I have to play it again. I do know there will be another Our Life, not a direct sequel though and it will have a new cast and I think they’re going to release Baxter’s and Derrick’s paths in the future as well.
Yeah, Baxter and Derrick are gonna be DLCs, but tbh, I don’t know if I can imagine MC with anyone else so… I’ll have to wait and see how I feel about those when they’re released.
I enjoyed it! One of the events is Cove learning more about why his parents divorced, which leads to MC and Cove having a conversation about whether or not what he learned changed his views on marriage (and what MC’s views on marriage are), which I thought was really nice. It answered a question I’d had from the beginning, and also created really nice moments between them.
They could make like 50 Our Lifes with different casts and I’d play every single one, so I’m excited to see what they have planned for the next one.
I was kind of sad that there’s no way to get Cove to propose, but it was still really cute and the exact place I wanted them to end up lol.
Hm, I need to check out their Tumblr. I’ve never looked at it! If there’s really not gonna be any babies, I, too, am sad about it. Lol.
oh 100%. I’ve been backing the devs on Patreon for a little over a year and they work hard, diligently, and have created such a beautiful, well-written game! especially with how in-depth the MC customization is and the eventual additional LI content, this game has such great replayability value!! i wuv it, it ticks all of my interactive romance boxes
*also, the nostalgia factor is STRONG for a millennial (i’m '91 myself and there are times where I just paused over some moment in the game, having very vivid memories of my own childhood )
As far as i know, Cove can propose at Step 4, which i still hope that Cove would do with a ring even if the MC already it did first. And due to that one fanart, i really hope that Cove preserved that poppy i give to him, hopefully as a necklace.
The previews of the parents are availabe one GB Patch tumblr and GB Patch tumblr (updates only). There is preview of Elizabeth in Step 4 but alas, it’s only available in Patreon for now.
i also agree on the nostalgia factor. i was even surprised to learn that Liz is around my age while Cove and the MC are around my younger sister’s, making the sibling dynamic between the MC and Liz hit closer to home for me.
I didn’t realize they had a patreon! I just subscribed
Lol, for me it was a little more envy than nostalgia because I’m a “military brat” so I don’t know what it’s like to have a childhood friend you grow up with. I think that’s part of why I love Our Life so much. It’s pretty much a window into a life that I never had the option to live.
Also, I just realized that there’s Step 4 and then there’s the wedding DLC. So now I’m curious what Step 4 will show us!
ALSO, I’m so glad there’s a group of people on here I can gush about this game to. I love it so much
As someone who backed the original Kickstarter, I can give a bit more info - there’s two more romance routes which I think start in Step 3 (I’m blanking on their names right now, but one first appears in Step 1 or 2 and the other in Step 3).
And Our Life 2 was one of the stretch goals for the original KS which was reached, and I’ve already filled out some surveys and seen some of their tentative development progress for Our Life 2. It’s not a sequel to Beginnings & Always though, it’s a completely separate game.
That being said, I’ve really enjoyed playing it so far! Haven’t finished all the new content added with the Step 3 expansion, admittedly, but what I have played has been really great.
The two romance routes are gonna be DLCs (Derrick and Baxter), and I think Derrick has some “romance” moments that happen in Step 2 because you can take him to the soiree instead of Cove. (Gah, even saying that just doesn’t seem right! Lol)
I looked at some of the info they have on Tumblr and the next one is gonna be called Our Life: Now & Forever (aka Our Life 2/OL2) and it’ll be a new cast in a new neighborhood with two romance options: a sweetheart girl and a gender-fluid (they, he) lead!
I also wanna say as someone who is on aromantic spectrum Cole’s friendship route gives me so much life! The depth and the intimacy there just mean so much to me there are scenes and interactions there that could be interpreted as romantic, but since I choose to keep the relationship as platonic it’s just…hard to put into words, it just makes me so fulfilled.
And I really enjoyed nothing is locked behind romance, like there are scenes that would be often put only on romantic paths (or for characters who end up falling in love in the future) can also happen on platonic path (for example Cole and MC sharing a dance together)
Also I heard there’s gonna be romance path with Baxter on one of the DLC and I admit I’m rather curious about that
Also I love how many options there are given on the MC’s gender and how it can change over the years, felt very relatable for me
I was actually about to write that I forgot to mention how attentive the devs were to details about sexuality/pronouns.
In one playthrough, I accidentally started as “they” (forgot to switch it) so I changed it during the customization before the next step and in the beginning of the step, it mentions that MC used to go by they, but now goes by she (and probably more stuff but I forget what exactly lol) and iirc, Cove asks MC twice about their sexuality. I also thought the conversations/thoughts regarding how MC feels about themselves/their body were a nice touch that felt super relatable and also could change over time.
Also, I’m not 100% sure I’m remembering Cove’s sexual orientation correctly, but I think he’s demisexual, which was nice to see in a game too, especially since it’s one of the orientations that I don’t really see mentioned a lot.
As someone who played the VN from start to finish at least five times (and regularly checks the wiki), you’re right about Cove being a demisexual and it’s really nice to see more people in the ace-aro spectrum in media. (i also remember seeing that Cliff is straight gray-romantic/sexual and Miranda is ace.)
Btw, what are your favorite Moments or scenes? Mine as follows:
Step 1: Fireflies,
Step 2: Dinner/Road Trip
Step 3: Charity/Happiness
Overall: Happiness/The Proposal at the end of Step 3
I only just got done with a re-play session of my own before hopping back onto to forum to see which topics have been active.
I can’t express enough just how wonderful this VN is. It’s so good for decompression after a long day because it really let’s you express your moods in the various moments that really feel like they live, and breathe. There’s a lot of love poured into this one, for sure!
Ah this is such a great game, yeah! I play a lot of visual novels (I’m actually more of a VN person than an IF person!), so obviously I couldn’t NOT play that one.
I’m eager for the NSFW DLC (it’ll be avaible via Patreon, for those interested)!
Without any doubts, Serendipity from Step 3 (DLC)!
Jeremy is my favorite character in both XOXO Droplets and Our Life, and being able to actually have another contact with him, and stay in touch if the MC so wished was a treat I didn’t expect and that made me so giddy. I was literally squealing out loud during the entire thing. I mean, it’s something I was dearly wishing for during my entire XOXO Droplets playthrough!
Not to mention, while the cameo characters are that - cameos (and thus, one shouldn’t “officially” consider these things canon in the continuity between both games) - I actually do like to see it as canon, and that makes me even more happy since what happened in Our Life Step 3 basically “confirms” (again, see that with a grain of salt) that Jeremy is the “true” romance in XOXO Droplets. I repeat, this is not ACTUALLY any sort of confirmation, but one is allowed to interpret things as they wish.
I do know there will be another Our Life, not a direct sequel though and it will have a new cast and I think they’re going to release Baxter’s and Derrick’s paths in the future as well.
