The Use of Life on Steam - User reviews, Price & Information

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The Use of Life is a multi-ending adventure book style JRPG. The main character’s various attachments change in accordance with the choices the player makes, and the ending changes depending on “the use of life” you choose through your journey.

The Use of Life is a choose your own adventure, crpg and turn-based strategy game developed by だらねこげーむず/Daraneko Games and published by PLAYISM.
Released on May 21st 2022 is available only on Windows in 4 languages: Japanese, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese and English.

It has received 426 reviews of which 388 were positive and 38 were negative resulting in a rating of 8.4 out of 10. 😎

The game is currently priced at 11.99€ on Steam with a 20% discount.


The Steam community has classified The Use of Life into these genres:

Media & Screenshots

Get an in-depth look at The Use of Life through various videos and screenshots.

System requirements

These are the minimum specifications needed to play the game. For the best experience, we recommend that you verify them.

Windows
  • OS *: Windows7 / 8 / 10
  • Processor: 1.2 GHz
  • Memory: 2 GB RAM
  • Graphics: DirectX 9 compatible graphics card

User reviews & Ratings

Explore reviews from Steam users sharing their experiences and what they love about the game.

Nov. 2024
A unique game combining a CYOA adventure book with a turn-based battle system where you use action commands to dodge enemy attacks. There's a lot of ability to go for different builds (two different physical classes and two different magical classes, which can be combined into four different advanced classes). As of writing one of the two major story branches is complete, so you're already able to get half of the endings of the game and even if it were to not get updated again it's worth the money.
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Nov. 2024
Story heavy game with cute art style and easily customizable combat. There are several branches in the story so it's also replayable. This game is doing a lot with little. Very worth playing.
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Nov. 2024
I like this game; I love almost everything about this game. the story is good, and gameplay is good even though it a bit a hard but if you good enough it won't be any problem
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June 2024
This is the kind of game you try out and end up spending the entire remaining day playing. I don't know how novel the mechanics in this game are since I don't play many similar games but it felt very novel, refreshing and well thought out. Game doesn't just rely on figuring out optimal character builds but also on your own skill. Reaction time, memorizing attack dodge patterns, weighing up defense vs offense etc. It all feels very skill dependent with both many decisions as well as mechanical execution, even the random encounter slots-style rolls which are realistically too fast to react to still feel as if you are controlling the outcome. The story is simple but endeering, I very much enjoy these kinds of linear branching RPGs, with 4 endings (2 available as of now) and 4 build paths there is quite a bit of replayability too.
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May 2024
With the game now having a fully playable route and two distinct endings, I think it's about time to share some thoughts on it. When it comes to RPG combat, I tend to be somebody who dislikes minigames or button prompts. I'm a fan of pressing a button and having damage done. The Use of Life is built around button prompts, but they're entirely reaction based and as a response to the enemy, rather than something you do for the benefit of your own attacks. I really enjoy this, it means that if you're skillful you're able to go the whole game without taking any damage. For Misha route I primarily used the Robes of Death that kept me at near oneshot territory, making it feel very rewarding to be able to clear encounters without having to use any retries. In terms of classes, every path seems to be fairly unique, although what little I played of magic it seemed to be the weakest link. Despite having invested a lot into int and sorcery in order to use curseblade, I found myself using my HP as a resource more than I did mana due to built in class features making it easier to manage that. The game's choices seem to carry weight and I enjoy the number rolling. It's very easy to elicit emotions just from the RNG of rolling low on something you very well should have succeeded at or clutching out something you definitely could have failed. Dialogue options remained somewhat relevant later on, though don't expect a narrative that constantly shifts based on your choices. There are consequences but overall the main branches are very easy to spot. The writing isn't anything special, but it gets the job done. Characters have clear personalities and are all around enjoyable, though this is only really my experience in the Misha route as I'm waiting for more content to be added to the other playthrough before giving it a shot. Everybody has great designs (especially Goshe, whole reason I gave this game a shot was because of how much I love his aesthetic) and it's overall an enjoyable story. I really like this game and think it has a lot of potential, and with two endings implemented I think it's a decent enough time to give it a shot if you're interested. I think the game could use some work in terms of combat variety and balance, but it's still early access and I've seen enough changes since I first started playing last year that I'm sure the dev will do their best.
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Data sources

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Additionally, we incorporate data from the SteamSpy API, which offers insights into game sales and player statistics. This helps us present a comprehensive view of each game's popularity and performance within the gaming community.

Last Updates
Steam data 12 April 2025 23:14
SteamSpy data 14 April 2025 12:56
Steam price 15 April 2025 04:34
Steam reviews 13 April 2025 11:58

If you'd like to dive deeper into the details about The Use of Life, we invite you to check out a few dedicated websites that offer extensive information and insights. These platforms provide valuable data, analysis, and user-generated reports to enhance your understanding of the game and its performance.

  • SteamDB - A comprehensive database of everything on Steam about The Use of Life
  • SteamCharts - Analysis of The Use of Life concurrent players on Steam
  • ProtonDB - Crowdsourced reports on Linux and Steam Deck The Use of Life compatibility
The Use of Life
8.4
388
38
Online players
2
Developer
だらねこげーむず/Daraneko Games
Publisher
PLAYISM
Release 21 May 2022
Platforms