can you be straight in this game?

[Lone Wanderer]

this game is rated very high so i thought i might try it, but i can't self insert in gay man...

[UStelaBB]

Originally posted by Lone Wanderer:

this game is rated very high so i thought i might try it, but i can't self insert in gay man...

If you mean you want to be a woman and romance the love interests, then yes! Beginnings & Always has three male love interests to choose from, both bi/pan themselves. However no women for straight men MCs to romance this time around. It looks like the sequel is aiming to change that, though.

[Lone Wanderer]

Originally posted by UStelaBB:

Originally posted by Lone Wanderer:

this game is rated very high so i thought i might try it, but i can't self insert in gay man...

If you mean you want to be a woman and romance the love interests, then yes! Beginnings & Always has three male love interests to choose from, both bi/pan themselves. However no women for straight men MCs to romance this time around. It looks like the sequel is aiming to change that, though.

ok thanks for clarifying. i might check it out after i run out of straight kamige then

[eightiesboi]

I'd like to point out as well that you can be a straight male in this game. Nothing forces you into a particular sexual orientation or romantic relationship. The fact that there are no women for straight MC's to romance doesn't change this. While your relationship with your neighbor is the main focus of the game, the game's author has done a masterful job of allowing for different types and depths of relationships, including friendships and even apathetic tolerance (which, for me, was the hardest playthrough!).

If you have an interest in an engaging narrative featuring relationships and characters that develop over the course of 15 years, I highly recommend this game.

Lastly, and to the OP, I do hear you when you say that you have difficulty immersing yourself in the role of a gay man. You probably can easily imagine how frustrating I (and perhaps others) find it to immerse myself in the roles of straight men, which so predominate games. I especially dislike it when a male MC is forced into a romance with a woman or punished by the game for not engaging in heteronormative romance, like in the original Mass Effect or Witcher games. The game dev here does *not* force you into anything, so consider this a safe space to explore narratives and perspectives that you might otherwise not chance upon.

[Lone Wanderer]

Originally posted by eightiesboi:

I'd like to point out as well that you can be a straight male in this game. Nothing forces you into a particular sexual orientation or romantic relationship. The fact that there are no women for straight MC's to romance doesn't change this. While your relationship with your neighbor is the main focus of the game, the game's author has done a masterful job of allowing for different types and depths of relationships, including friendships and even apathetic tolerance (which, for me, was the hardest playthrough!).

If you have an interest in an engaging narrative featuring relationships and characters that develop over the course of 15 years, I highly recommend this game.

Lastly, and to the OP, I do hear you when you say that you have difficulty immersing yourself in the role of a gay man. You probably can easily imagine how frustrating I (and perhaps others) find it to immerse myself in the roles of straight men, which so predominate games. I especially dislike it when a male MC is forced into a romance with a woman or punished by the game for not engaging in heteronormative romance, like in the original Mass Effect or Witcher games. The game dev here does *not* force you into anything, so consider this a safe space to explore narratives and perspectives that you might otherwise not chance upon.

so you're saying i can "beat" the game without sexing anyone? if so i'd guess i'll still miss like 50%+ of the content.

as for the other thing, if i wanted to boy x boy romance i'd give precedence to something like slow damage for example

[eightiesboi]

If you were thinking about Slow Damage, check out DRAMAtical Murder by the same team. It has it's ups and downs, but since I use an image from it as my Steam profile background, I must have liked it!

There's no real sex in OLBA, so there's really no sexing anyone in this game. There *is* a NSFW scene for Patreons, but it's standalone.

And no, you won't miss anywhere close to 50% of the content by not romancing anyone. (That is exactly what my complaint is about the Witcher--you miss out by not romancing any of the women.) In fact, there is an achievement in this game by getting to Step 3 and being "disinterested" in your neighbor. If you only play OLBA as a romance VN, you actually miss out on content.

I admit, I am biased as I truly love this game. But since the base game is free, when you've got some free time, check it out. If you don't like it, it cost you nothing but time.

And if you want to chat, feel free to friend me. I don't get offended easily. :D

[UStelaBB]

Originally posted by eightiesboi:

If you were thinking about Slow Damage, check out DRAMAtical Murder by the same team. It has it's ups and downs, but since I use an image from it as my Steam profile background, I must have liked it!

There's no real sex in OLBA, so there's really no sexing anyone in this game. There *is* a NSFW scene for Patreons, but it's standalone.

And no, you won't miss anywhere close to 50% of the content by not romancing anyone. (That is exactly what my complaint is about the Witcher--you miss out by not romancing any of the women.) In fact, there is an achievement in this game by getting to Step 3 and being "disinterested" in your neighbor. If you only play OLBA as a romance VN, you actually miss out on content.

I admit, I am biased as I truly love this game. But since the base game is free, when you've got some free time, check it out. If you don't like it, it cost you nothing but time.

And if you want to chat, feel free to friend me. I don't get offended easily. :D

I will second the fact that you truly get a whole ass game out of Our Life, whether or not you choose romance (or only friendship). I've said before that a better tag for the game may be "Healthy Relationship Simulator". It's the one game I've found where you don't have to go through emotional damage to find happiness. What makes Our Life special is that for once in your life, none of your friends or family will punish you for being you, whoever you are. Support all the way. It's a magical experience.

[OSHIKAWA]

I think this game was the communication of the soul. We could play living life with Cove. It is not anywhere I could experience the same. I think. This game specifically did not focus you were straight. You can play this game as if you are a man, gay, have a physical interest or romantic in a man, and so on.
In step 4 of Baxter DLC, there entered an engaged gay couple. So, this game doesn't force you as if you were straight. I think. (Wait. Jorge and Scott are gay? Maybe I missed something read. But they loved each other, and they are the same sex.)

boy X boy? I think you can play with thirteen years old Cove or Derek like you getting into a stew about them or being before dating. In romance, it happened the kissing event within I verified in Cove.

Cove is cute.