Shadows of the past

***UPDATE 10/10/23*** I stand by what I said below from WHEN I wrote it. Unfortunately "Game_002" has already been released, and that demonstrates to me that this developer is more interested in pushing short bites of what will inevitably become trash out the door than they are in growing their skills. As such, I can't really recommend this game (or any of their others) to the community. This now changes from a thumbs up to a thumbs down from me. ***ORIGINAL*** Wow...this is the first time that I get to be the first person reviewing a game. Don't I feel special?!? I'm not gonna lie, I really only bought this game BECAUSE I thought that it would be a train wreck, and I wanted to see just how bad that it is/was. On the store page, it just says "Game_001" where you add it to your cart. And I figured that if the devs have so little focus that they can't even name the thing, what hope is there for the game itself? But on the other hand, when I make music, I don't always have a title for it. So I have a LOT of tracks that end up being something like "23.09.21 Blues D#m - 92bpm" so I get the naming convention the dev used. Although I think that it's ambitious to use "_001," but I am curious as to what "_069" and "_666" end up being! Here's the thing, I was pleasantly surprised by this game's story. Truthfully, I would give it a neutral score if I could. It's a KINETIC VISUAL NOVEL, and I don't really like those. There is NO ONE CHOICE for you to make, and the 74 minutes is how long it took for me to read it. There is ONE SEX SCENE, and it is NOT animated. So the thumbs-up really only applies to people that don't mind those qualifiers. What surprised me was the story itself. It's not outstanding, but it is intelligent. The story starts out spending a little time creating a likable relationship between the MC and the love interest. There isn't a LOT of emotional investment, but just enough to leave you rooting for them. It's clearly a translation to English, but whoever did it almost certainly is a native speaker. I didn't see any actual spelling errors except for the fact that the MC is sometimes called "John" when his name is "Josh" and "Elli" is OFTEN called "Ally." A few of the text boxes have confusing wording that had me backing up a few boxes in order to regain the context, but I have played MANY games that are more highly polished, with a WAY worse script. I would like to see what this team (or person) could do with a larger story, choices, and branching paths. Maybe it would be a cluster-♥♥♥♥, but I was at least slightly invested in these characters. And that's not something that happens for me very often in a kinetic novel. Good job, and here's to "Game_069" and "Game_666"!

動圖✘ 高清✔ 配音✘ 無修正✔ 啪啪啪✔ 遊戲性：★★☆☆☆ 畫　風：★★★☆☆ 激情度：★☆☆☆☆ ＣＰ值：★☆☆☆☆ 備　註：文字冒險遊戲，途中沒有任何選擇分歧，單一結局，全通關約5分鐘。就3張靜圖，沒有差分圖 [table equalcells=1][tr][td]更多同類型評測[url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/42686587/] 可按這裡

Sex game. Only one route. Get on discount.

[h1]Shadows of the Past — Achievements: No | Steam Deck: Unsupported[/h1] [quote] TL;DR: Overpriced adult visual novel with weak story, flat characters, and no real gameplay. Decent visuals and varied music, but nothing else holds up. Not recommended. [/quote] Shadows of the Past is an adult visual novel built around a small-town investigation and a supposed romantic storyline. On paper, it promises a lot: deep characters, twists, emotional writing, and atmosphere. In reality, it delivers very little. The gameplay loop is non-existent: Click. Read. That’s it. No meaningful choices, no interaction, no engagement beyond progressing the story. It’s a fully linear experience. The biggest issue is the writing. The story is basic, predictable, and lacks impact. Characters feel flat, with very limited personality or development — it’s hard to care about what’s happening. The romance aspect is especially weak, feeling forced and underdeveloped. Even compared to generic content in the genre, it doesn’t stand out. Visually, the game uses semi-realistic 3D-style renders. It’s decent, but repetitive — characters cycle through the same expressions over and over. Audio is one of the few areas where some effort was made. There are multiple tracks, creating some variation, even if none of them are particularly memorable. There is only one explicit scene, and it’s not enough to justify the experience — especially at this price point. [h2]QUICK SNAPSHOT[/h2] [table equalcells=1] [tr][th]Category[/th][th]Info[/th][/tr] [tr][td]Recommendation[/td][td]Not recommended[/td][/tr] [tr][td]Genre[/td][td]Adult visual novel[/td][/tr] [tr][td]Core loop[/td][td]Click → read → repeat[/td][/tr] [tr][td]Story[/td][td]Basic investigation with weak romance[/td][/tr] [tr][td]Length[/td][td]Short to medium[/td][/tr] [tr][td]Achievements[/td][td]None[/td][/tr] [tr][td]Mature content[/td][td]Yes ,Uncensored, Explicite Nudity,Explicite Sex[/td][/tr] [tr][td]Steam Deck[/td][td]Unsupported[/td][/tr] [tr][td]Value / Best way to buy[/td][td]Skip — overpriced[/td][/tr] [/table] [h2]VISUALS & SOUND[/h2] [table equalcells=1] [tr][th]Category[/th][th]Notes[/th][/tr] [tr][td]Art style[/td][td]Semi-realistic 3D renders[/td][/tr] [tr][td]Graphics quality[/td][td]Decent but repetitive expressions[/td][/tr] [tr][td]Scene variety[/td][td]Limited[/td][/tr] [tr][td]Audio / Music[/td][td]Varied soundtrack, but average quality[/td][/tr] [/table] [h2]GAMEPLAY & TECH[/h2] [table equalcells=1] [tr][th]Category[/th][th]Notes[/th][/tr] [tr][td]Gameplay depth[/td][td]None — fully linear[/td][/tr] [tr][td]Difficulty[/td][td]None[/td][/tr] [tr][td]Controls / Feel[/td][td]Basic visual novel interface[/td][/tr] [tr][td]Tech polish[/td][td]Functional but lacks depth[/td][/tr] [/table] [h2]RATINGS[/h2] [table equalcells=1] [tr][th]Category[/th][th]Score[/th][/tr] [tr][td]Overall[/td][td]★☆☆☆☆[/td][/tr] [tr][td]Story / Emotion[/td][td]★★★☆☆[/td][/tr] [tr][td]Originality[/td][td]★★☆☆☆[/td][/tr] [tr][td]Gameplay[/td][td]★☆☆☆☆[/td][/tr] [tr][td]Art / Presentation[/td][td]★★★☆☆[/td][/tr] [tr][td]Audio[/td][td]★★★☆☆[/td][/tr] [tr][td]Pacing[/td][td]★☆☆☆☆[/td][/tr] [tr][td]Tech polish[/td][td]★★☆☆☆[/td][/tr] [/table] [i]Final verdict:[/i] Shadows of the Past is an overpriced adult visual novel with weak writing, flat characters, and no gameplay. A bit of effort in visuals and music isn’t enough to save it. Easy skip. Curator: MexarGaming — https://steamcommunity.com/groups/mexargaming

ШЕДЕВР из разряда дай денег. Весь контент на скриншотах!

This novel without choices should be priced max 0.50 max

Not worth the money. Too short for the cost Bad renders Beat/played through in less than 15 minutes CHOICES DO NOT MATTER