Backstage Pass
- August 22, 2016
- sakevisual
- 11h median play time
Get on Steam"Backstage Pass" is a visual novel/sim game that follows Sian, a makeup artist's daughter, as she navigates the world of showbiz. With fully voiced characters and over 15 unique endings, players must help Sian balance her schoolwork, career, and romantic life while working with various talents in the entertainment industry. The choices made will determine Sian's path and her future in the unpredictable world of showbiz.
Mac OS
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Reviews
- The game features beautiful artwork and well-designed characters, making it visually appealing.
- The storyline is engaging, with multiple endings and character routes that provide replayability.
- The voice acting adds depth to the characters and enhances the overall experience.
- The game is still in early access, leading to bugs and incomplete content, which can be frustrating for players.
- Stat management can become tedious and repetitive, making it difficult to achieve desired endings.
- Some characters and routes may feel underdeveloped or lack depth, leading to a less satisfying experience.
- story162 mentions
- 35 % positive mentions
- 61 % neutral mentions
- 4 % negative mentions
The story aspect of the game receives mixed reviews, with some players appreciating the character development and engaging narratives, while others criticize the plot for being bland or overshadowed by stat-raising mechanics. Many users highlight the game's beautiful graphics and voice acting, which enhance the storytelling experience, but express a desire for more depth and interaction within the narrative. Overall, while the game offers a variety of storylines and relatable characters, some players feel that the focus on gameplay mechanics detracts from the overall storytelling quality.
“The story is interesting, the characters are really well developed and believable, and the dialogues were fun to read.”
“The characters are amazing, the music is perfectly matched, and the storyline is well written and carried out amazingly with the voice actors.”
“What really makes the game great isn't the graphics or the characters or the storyline, it's the way the game represents and portrays social anxiety and other mental illness with sensitivity and heart.”
“The plot was extremely boring and the guys didn't stir up almost any emotions in me.”
“The story is too short for that price.”
“I just couldn't enjoy the story as I got bored of the stat-raising aspect.”
- graphics52 mentions
- 63 % positive mentions
- 31 % neutral mentions
- 6 % negative mentions
The graphics in the game are widely praised for their beauty and quality, with many reviewers highlighting the stunning artwork and character designs. While some noted inconsistencies in the art style between different elements, the overall visual presentation, including the voice acting, is considered a strong point that enhances the gaming experience. Despite a few critiques regarding certain character designs, the visuals contribute significantly to the game's appeal and replayability.
“The graphics add a lot to the story.”
“The artwork is beautiful, drawing inspiration from Japanese sources while adding a nice touch of Western flavor, and some of the CGs are simply gorgeous.”
“The graphics are amazing, the character's CGs are totally fangirl worthy, and I actually do enjoy the gameplay of it.”
“Initially, I was unsure about the art style of Backstage Pass, and some CGs do look a bit strange with regards to proportionality.”
“There is a very inconsistent art style between sprites and CGs; it feels like all of their money went to hiring Studio Deen for the anime opening.”
“Graphics don't matter in this game.”
- gameplay40 mentions
- 30 % positive mentions
- 60 % neutral mentions
- 10 % negative mentions
The gameplay is a blend of romance, stat-raising, and decision-making, offering a mix of enjoyment and frustration. While some players appreciate the depth and mechanics, many find the gameplay repetitive and tedious, with convoluted systems that can detract from the overall experience. Overall, the game provides a significant amount of content, but its lengthy and sometimes random nature can lead to a dull impression for some players.
“It's a mix of romance, stat-raising, and decision-making, and it took me around 20-25 hours of gameplay to find a bunch of endings (still haven't finished all the routes).”
“The gameplay is well thought out so that you can earn heart/star points through different means.”
“But overall, I think the story is solid, the characters are interesting and likeable, and the general gameplay is both challenging and fun.”
“Then when it comes to the romance/friendship aspect, the bland plot and the stat raising mean you don't really get a lot of either. Unless you're lucky enough to dedicate a lot of time to fully playing a route or recording the gameplay and picking it apart, it's not that fun.”
“If there is anything lacking about this game, it would be that some of the stories are a little underwhelming and the gameplay can be quite repetitive at times.”
“The gameplay quickly becomes repetitive and mindless, making it a huge pain and true repeat hell.”
- music37 mentions
- 38 % positive mentions
- 54 % neutral mentions
- 8 % negative mentions
The music in the game is generally well-received, with many players praising its beauty, soothing quality, and how well it complements the art and story. However, some users noted issues with repetitiveness and volume control, suggesting that the soundtrack could benefit from more variety and better audio settings. Overall, while the music enhances the experience for many, it may not appeal to everyone equally.
“The voice acting and the background music make the game feel like coming to life.”
“The music is just... it's hard to describe it as anything but gorgeous and very soothing.”
“The characters are amazing, the music is perfectly matched, and the storyline is well written and carried out amazingly with the voice actors.”
“The music is repetitive that I muted it after 2 playthroughs.”
“The music gets very grating very quickly.”
“The music cannot actually be turned down low enough without being fully muted.”
- replayability24 mentions
- 58 % positive mentions
- 29 % neutral mentions
- 13 % negative mentions
The game boasts high replayability due to its numerous endings, secret routes, and well-developed characters, encouraging players to explore different storylines and achieve all possible outcomes. Many reviewers highlight the game's compelling narratives and quality design, making it a worthwhile experience for those who enjoy visual novels. Overall, players can expect hours of engaging gameplay with significant replay value.
“It has plenty of replay value; it gives you plenty to do, plenty of routes and endings.”
“The artwork is very well-done, the game itself is well-designed, and it offers hours of replayability with many endings that go beyond 'good ending' or 'bad ending'.”
“This gives the game so much replayability as you want to figure out all the extra endings and get the scenes you were unable to get prior.”
“The replay value is high, since there are many different endings you can strive for.”
“With all of those endings, I think it’s got enough replayability (especially after the final version with voices gets updated) to make it worth the money.”
- grinding19 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The grinding aspect of the game has been widely criticized for being tedious and repetitive, with many players expressing frustration over the stat-raising mechanics and the need for meticulous planning. While some appreciate the strategic elements it adds, the overwhelming nature of the grinding often detracts from the overall enjoyment, leading to frequent restarts and a sense of redundancy. Overall, the balance between gameplay and story suffers due to the excessive focus on grinding.
“The stat raising and calendar planning got too tedious that it ruined the game experience for me.”
“In practice, it just leads to a lot of unnecessary grinding.”
“Not to mention how tedious and repetitive the game process of stat raising was.”
- humor16 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The humor in the game is widely praised, with players enjoying its clever writing and funny character interactions that elicit genuine laughter. Many found the storylines to be both cute and humorous, with standout moments that had them laughing out loud, particularly in specific character routes. Overall, the blend of charm and comedy contributes significantly to the game's appeal, making it an enjoyable experience for players.
“It's worth the hours you put in to enjoy a beautiful and funny storyline!”
“Dude, Benito is the smoothest guy in this game; I totally didn't see anything he did coming, and it's hilarious.”
“I found the characters to be really well written, and I found myself smiling and laughing along with happy moments and jokes alike.”
- character development6 mentions
- 83 % positive mentions
- 17 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
Overall, the character development in the game is praised for its well-designed characters, engaging personalities, and appealing art style. The storylines are described as cute and humorous, complemented by great voice acting, although some cutscenes may distort character appearances. Despite minor flaws, the character design and development are considered strong points of the game.
“It has well-written and interesting storylines, good character design, beautiful art, and great voice acting.”
“The stories are cute and funny, and the character designs are all very pretty.”
“Ultimately, the colorful character designs and scene choices are done really well with respect to the game setting.”
- emotional5 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The emotional aspect of the game is mixed; while some characters, like John, can be disappointing due to their emotional detachment, others offer wholesome moments and innovative storylines that address mental health and personal conflicts. Players appreciate the effort required to impress romance interests, though some dynamics, such as Sian's motherly demeanor, can create discomfort. Overall, the emotional depth varies significantly across characters and routes.
“Though, John's a bit of a jerk in other routes, but he's so wholesome in his own route.”
“I still don’t really like the RNG nature of stat raising, but I did like how it made me feel I was actually working to impress the romance interests.”
“Also, some of the side character storylines are really innovative, touching upon mental health issues, career conflicts of interest, etc. Looking forward to what sakevisual does next!”
- stability2 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The game has been criticized for its stability, with users reporting various bugs that hinder gameplay, such as unreadable emails and issues with the opening video. Overall, these stability problems detract from the overall experience.
“The biggest flaw of the game was probably that it was a bit buggy.”
“It was a bit buggy; I could not read the emails at all, and I couldn't watch the opening video, although the music still played.”
- optimization1 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The optimization of the game is positively highlighted through the exceptional performances of the voice actors, who bring significant emotional depth to the experience.
