Two Steps Back

&%￥*（@……！（怒砸 还我感情来！我第一次痛下决心玩通关了一个恐怖类游戏竟然是这么个玩意！！ 一开游戏就被圆瞪双眼的尸体脑袋吓一跳，女主病态地说了句“终于…我还是杀了你……”然后提枪自杀了，再一睁眼就出现在了大殿里面，关键是那BGM！！！女声！吓人向！还编成了歌！突兀又恐怖得不得了，还很大声！ 我当时就想弃玩了来着！后来发现剧情竟然还有点意思，于是把BGM调小声了忍着不适玩了下去……中间再被吓到几次以后，竟然就……这么……完结了……………… 剧透吐槽： [spoiler]剧情是这样的滴： （这就是本VN，游戏没任何选项，就这么点点点地看完的） 玩家是女主，杀了某个人，看那台词我还以为是杀了互相折磨多年的丈夫呢……然后就自杀了，再睁眼来到了殿堂中央，丧失了记忆。被杀的那货原来是个不满12岁的小男孩，也活了，而且他还保持了记忆，跟主角交代了到底是怎么回事。 他俩是某实验的自愿参加者，两人的意识就一起进入到一个设定好的“梦”里面进行测试，以离开梦境为目的。然而进来以后毛都没有，他们找不到别的办法离开了，于是就找到了个杀死对方再自杀的方法来试着能不能离开…… 那一瞬间我的心情是卧槽的，所以你丫搞一个那么恐怖的开头结果两人其实是自愿的？！还是明知道不会真死的？那搞那么悲壮干嘛？！欺骗感情啊！！ 然后女主就莫名很痛苦内疚了起来，表示让你经历这样的事情真是太难过了，这次我们一定一起努力离开梦境！ 于是两人就继续瞎转了起来，然后突然！一声悠长的刺耳的女声！传来！我整个人都被吓得震了三震就等着接下来血溅三尺了，结果两人就表示虽然不知道为什么但是我们赶紧要离那声音远一点，找个房间躲起来吧！躲到了一个小房间里，男孩守在门口盯着鹰眼，女主从他的表情里看得出声音的主人在逐渐靠近，下一秒！男孩举枪（哪来的？！）射穿了女主的肚子！ 我整个人都激动了！这是要黑化了吗！阴谋来了吗！！！ 然后男孩只是哭着说……对不起我不会用枪，我想射击你的心脏的，但是射偏了……再补了两枪…… 然后女主就又回到了大殿……而且保留了上一次的记忆，结果原来是男孩子觉得他们必死无疑了决定再来一遍…… 那一瞬间我的心情是卧槽的，欺骗感情啊！x2 好吧小bug，无视之，继续看。 这次在4楼发现了一个电梯是可以上去的，结果这时那怪物（声音又吓我一跳）又出现了，女主让男孩上电梯，自己发现怪物竟然长着男孩的眼睛和自己的脸，还是七窍流血款……卧槽麻麻好口怕可是好刺激！下一秒就被怪物撕成两半了…… 好，这一回就这么风平浪静（？）的结束了，她醒来后找到了男孩，男孩很害怕但说不知道为什么那个怪物不伤害他。女主聊到那怪物的长相，男孩说电梯要输入密码，这也许是提示，是要找他们两人的共同点，然后就发现他俩生日一样。男孩说让女主先去电梯里面，他守着，反正怪物不会伤害他。ok，怪物来了，女主顺利进了电梯，发现男孩在外面开枪也伤不到怪物，她让男孩赶紧进来，下一秒男孩就被怪物钉死在电梯门上了…… wait，说好的不会伤害呢？！ 然后怪物突然说话了！它表示它其实是来帮忙的！WHAT？！你给我讲清楚点？ 它说它是系统设置的某种杀软，当系统有异物侵入的时候它就会生成来排除异物，来保证两人能顺利离开。但它现在还不清楚异物到底是什么、在哪里，它只知道那玩意跟女主有关。女主被唬得一愣一愣的，然后反应过来说，等等！既然你是要帮助我们的！干嘛老杀我们？！怪物幽幽地答道，我是依照你们两人来生成的，你们目前就没用过除了自相残杀以外的方式离开，现在你怪我杀你们？ 卧槽好有道理呢！这个怪物……啊不，360感觉伏笔很深啊！ 女主沉默了，360趁热打铁地说，你明白了吧，好了，现在赶紧打开电梯让我把你撕开看看异物在不在里面……于是女主就被撕了。（此处我需要各种表情） 然后……游戏突然回到了一开头！这是无限循环么！为什么女主的记忆又丧失了！为什么男孩的记忆又回到了自己第一次被杀之后！！ 开始玩后半章！期待！ 没记忆的女主在大殿中央遇见了不认识她的男孩，男孩表示女主是某个实验的自愿测试人，男孩原本不该来的，可是他哥哥把他弄了进来他也不知道为什么……（什么！原来异物就是男孩吗！难怪他总有黑化倾向！）还提到他现实里都快死了，心脏有问题啥啥的。然后女主全程都处在“为什么！为什么一靠近他我的心就好痛！好有负罪感！为什么！好难受！”的状态……好好奇你们的关系！ 男孩表示虽然不知道为什么但是我就是知道4楼有个电梯可以离开这里，还知道电梯的密码（没说这是他俩生日），然后他俩就去坐电梯了，中间经过了躺在地上的一滩怪物，360觉醒了又要杀人，激动！ 结果他俩平安无事地进入了电梯离开……徒留360在地下百爪挠心，好吧，看来boss是小弟弟了？他作为“异物”成功甩开了杀软，是不是终于要大杀四方毁灭世界了？？ 然后他俩就到达了一个房间，只有一把枪，两人快把墙都拆了也没找到别的东西……然后绝望地承认看来离开这里的办法就是得死一个人了，男孩哭着说，让我死吧，反正我也快死了，我们在外面相见！（咦？这剧本好像跟说好的不太一样？难道黑的是女主！）女主痛苦地说，怎么能让你来呢！你还是个孩子！我死！男孩说好吧谢谢你……然后女主就拔枪杀了男孩…………啥？ 然后女主就再一次开始游戏最初的台词，然后自杀了…… WHAT？这剧本有点看不懂呢妈妈……原来这是前传？？ 然后画面就跳转到了医院里，男孩昏睡着，某男表示弟弟我不能治好你我好痛苦，为什么我学的是精神科不是心脏呢，为了让你活下去，我只能这样做了…… 然后再看到隔壁病床上睡着的女主，某男表示你一定能很好地照顾我弟弟的，你们一定能在梦境里好好相处的，就这样永远……永远…… 啪，回到主菜单了。 WHAT？？？！！！！ 这啥鬼真相？！你逗我呢？！我半天都没搞清楚逻辑关系，结果就是个某男让弟弟在梦里续命然后塞了自己助手进去陪的故事，360其实是某种重置装置，两人一进行到特定环节它就清零进度。可是为什么这样设定？！为啥又要让他们知道是梦？！为啥搞成死亡循环？！360说的那些鬼话原来都只是瞎编的？！为啥360要长得叫得那么恐怖？！伏笔呢？阴谋呢？黑化呢？两人的病态呢？！原来真的纯粹是为了吓唬人啊？！ 你还我感情还我期待还我一个小时来！！！！[/spoiler] 然后我还花了40分钟来复述这个故事我也是有病……给自己点跟蜡烛。 游戏不是没优点，剧情虽然不算精彩但还是很有悬念很吸引人的，就是BGM太特么annoying了，突兀得不得了……然而这个结局简直就是一坨屎啊一坨屎，完全不知道前面剧情是干嘛的！体会到了看强行吓人的不入流恐怖片的感受了！ 前80%的剧情和悬念7.5/10，最后的结局-3/10头一回负分献给第一部通关的恐怖游戏拿好不谢！

30 minutes of linear visual novel. You lost your memory, are caught up in a dream, and must escape - and die and be terrified a few times in the process. This two-part "Novel" is a short story at best, the art is simple but effective, and so are the sounds and music, but the storytelling doesn't seem to go beyond common tropes. This game is 3:4 and scales seamlessly to any resolution, adding black bars if needed. It would be an ok VN if it was free, but instead for paying what feels like watching someone else play an adventure game, you could pick up an actual adventure and play that for more bang for the buck (Betrayer is on sale this week).

It's pretty enough, and the first part is compelling. But from the first episode looping on itself, to the animations, there's a distinct feel of lack of polish. The "ending" of the second part starts falling apart into vagueness, losing the strong flow of the story before then, There's no actual ending, and no real resolutions or clarifications of note. It really feels incomplete, like it was something intended for three parts, then the developer got rushed at the end of the 2nd episode, threw down a few tidbits, and wrapped it up. Also, the gameplay time is maybe 15 minutes, perhaps longer if you're a slow reader. Which, honestly, the game might have been worth $3 had it been a polished, 3-part story. As is, it feels like you're overpaying for a demo- unfortunately. Now, while I can't *recommend* the game for purchase, the fact that it IS fast and has some compelling elements- both on artwork and plot- means that I can easily recommend it for play, if you got it out of a bundle or something. Take a few minutes, enjoy the art, and don't go in with any expectations of resolution, and you'll at least get a story snippet that, for the most part, is higher quality than that of most VNs. If this had been a complete and polished experience, I likely could have given it a review of 4/5. As is, it's more of a 3/5, and even then only if you view it as a free to play experience. I can't honestly recommend paying anything for the game, given how incomplete it is, but I can recommend playing it. Really, if you're the type who likes to support indie developers with good talent but incomplete projects, go ahead and throw in when the game is on sale/in a bundle. If you're aiming for a complete game, or something that'll leave you with something more than a feeling of 'think what this could have been', you should probably avoid the game.

This is not a visual novel, so don't be surprised there won't be given any choices and different endings to you. It's a short kinetic novel and quite an interesting one. First thing that startled me in the menu was "Begin Game"and "Begin Part Two". When I played the first part, I didn't realize that it was on the loop after a certain scene. So I was skipping it like an imbecile for at last 2 minutes straight. I was confused. Only then I remembered there is a part two. That was unnecessary. The whole idea of it is not new but the characters and the whole situation made it interesting. I would have never guessed that Eldin is 10 years old. The way he talks and acts (not to talk about his body build). Unique art style and the animations are over the top. I've never seen anything quite like this in a visual novel before. It's a really nice touch. Too bad this beaut didn't last long. It kept me thinking when I was done with it. Since there's no ending and there's no actual beginning, it'll be a real shame to close the case when it's unfinished. All in all it's a good kinetic novel and I'd love to learn more about the characters; about the mad older sibling and the different reality.

While there's amazing animated characters and beautifully contrasted backgrounds with the characters, I found the story too short for the asking price. That is not to say that the author didn't work hard on this and doesn't deserve the asked price for such a great; artistic novel, but to say that the work is entirely too short for something that I re-read and still don't have an hour's worth of gameplay. I've played many visual novels and I think even a dollar less would be an improvement. As for the story, I had seen the likes of it a few times before as an avid anime fan. However, there were a couple tricks I hadn't seen coming that I greatly appreciated. I loved the tone and as I said before, the artwork is just amazing I couldn't ask for more there. I'm wondering if perhaps there is more to this story yet to be added or if this is all that will be given. I really hope there will be something added onto this work, as I found myself really getting and loving the story only to be left at the end wanting for more. My only hope is that there will be a continued piece or maybe another story by the author. I'm now a great fan of their works and will definitely buy more-specifically if they had the same horror-undertones as this novel. Also the sound effects and music just matched perfectly! I'm so happy with my purchase because I got to see all this amazingness but I'm sad it ended too soon. (As I've already said many times in this rambling review.) GREAT WORK! Recommended if you've got the money to spend for something beautiful. Not if you are running low on funds and are looking for something long. However, it does have some replay value if only because you're left desperate for more!

The story is great, but it is a very short one! Also take in consideration that this is a not a game, but a linear visual novel. So if you buy it as a game you risk to be upset, but if you buy this for the story, it is an interesting one, but it's very short, so be aware! For its price it still totally worth the buy.

So, I am new to visual novels, as most of what I've seen out there doesn't appeal to me. I'm not interested in dating sims / otome, and I'm not interested in hentai or anything explicit. What I *am* interested in is a good story / good storytelling. An emotional journey. Interesting characters. That kind of stuff. So it seems like there should be VNs out there that have the great story/characters, without some of the other stuff that gets a lot of attention. Oh, and I also didn't want a game where you had to play it a dozen times to get all of the endings (and achievements). So that brought me to this game, which (after being bundled) seemed like a low-cost entry into the genre and didn't have any of the obvious things I avoid. Unfortunately, this game at least didn't work for me. For one thing, as some have pointed out, it doesn't have choices, it's pretty much just click-to-read. Maybe if I'd realized that in advance, I wouldn't have been surprised / put off by it. Some of the story was interesting enough. The premise and subject matter was good. The most frustrating part was that there are two "parts" of the story, but they are not connected in-game. It's like you have to know you've done all you can in Part 1, then exit and start Part 2 to continue. There wasn't a way to connect them in the game itself? The result was that I was scrambling around for a LONG time (check out my playtime) trying to figure out what to do to continue the story. The answer, it turned out, was to exit and start Part 2. Meh. Anyway, I know this game isn't a crowning achievement of VNs, and maybe not the best introduction to the genre, but I can't really recommend it unless, I don't know, you've played all the VNs out there and noticed that you missed this one.

I like visual novels. I like short visual novels. If [i]Two Steps Back[/i] were a free VN, I wouldn't have anything bad to say about it. The art and music are used effectively, and (although I'm not sure if this was intentional) the freakish animations help set the mood. The story and character development are insubstantial, but as a short horror story it works well enough. But for a commercial release, I expect better effort when it comes to programming and UI design. The first part of the story ends in a repeating loop, at which point you're supposed to go back to the menu and start Part 2. There's no reason for this. Why not add unlockable choices to find your way to Part 2 from Part 1? Why not leave Part 2 locked until you've read Part 1, and then give some in-game indication that you should go back? Why not do [i]literally anything else[/i] but leave Part 2 accessible from the beginning with a fourth wall breaking note that you should read Part 1 first? That's not just bad design; it's actively lazy. So is using the default Ren'Py UI. I want to see more visual novels on Steam, so I hate giving one a negative review. But I really can't recommend [i]Two Steps Back[/i] unless the designer gives it some serious polish.

Good story, some good horror, animated characters brings some extra life to it, but very short and most backgrounds look like pencilwork before the finished product. I only recommend it if you like supporting the genre and want to see a bigger and better product from the designer, because there is a lot of potential here. If you're looking for a longer VN, I'd check out Higurashi When They Cry, or Cursed Sight and other VNs by Invert Mouse. [spoiler] KILL THE ANOMALY![/spoiler]