Reviews

• gamedeal user

  Jun 9, 2014

  So far I've played Backstage Pass for about 12-13 hours trying to get my hands on all the paths that are currently available. So far the only bugs I found was when Lloyd was going to meet Sian at Pho 24 to discuss what to do about Benito's magic production. The background was Sian's dorm room. Even though its not really a big scene, just thought I would point it out. Now onto my real review. Personally, I LOVE this game. Sure it's a bit short now, but once the game is completed, it will be longer with more dialogue, more routes, and more endings. The game is actually really realistic. You're given many different types of people with many different types of personalities. Plus, the original soundtrack goes perfectly with every scene. Also, everything is set up nicely and runs pretty smoothly. The storyline is also pretty good, sometimes it can be a tad sad. Other times it just makes you wanna giggle. I've played other otome, stat-raising, dating sims, and visual novels before. Backstage Pass has amazing originality, creativity and art. If you're wondering to buy this game or not, I recommend playing some free stat-raising/otome/dating sims before buying this game. A good free one is Re Alistair ++ (by Sakevisual). You can also play demos such as Always Remember Me, The Flower Shop: Winter in Fairbrook and more (both from from Winter Wolves). (EDIT!) I forgot! There is also another free amazing stat raising game you should try out. It's called 'Heartstring Bugs' and it's by Unbroken Hours. It's long, has 5 main guys and is over the course of 3 years. AND ITS FREE. ERMAHGERD. Go check it out! (End of edit. 6/14/14) So far I've focused on Adam x2 and Benito x1. I'm going to start John and Matthew after I'm done writing this xD. But this game will truly come out to be something special. I can't wait for the voice acting to be done.MICAH SOLUSOD (voice of Soul Eater Evans from Soul Eater) WILL BE VOICING ADAM. I literally had a spazz attack when I first found out!!!... *cough cough* Ehem. The price for the game is amazing at just $30 with all that's going to be included when the product is officially done. And replay is going to be high trying to get all the CG's, scenes, Steam achievements, Steam trading cards, items in game, unlocking new places to shop/hang out, and try any and all possible routes. Right now my current rating for Backstage Pass is 8/10. Which is stunning because this is only the Beta version! I've played a few finished games, and their no where near as good as Backstage Pass. If you want to follow Sakevisual about new updates on the game, visit their official website weekly. You can also sign up for mail updates, follow them on Twitter, Like their page on Facebook, view their Tumblr and more xD
• gamedeal user

  Jan 16, 2022

  It was such a tough decision to decide whether or not I'd recommend this game... But I decided I don't. I love the art and design in general (except, some of the CGs looked a little weird and in a quite different artstyle), and I enjoyed the stat raiser aspect at first. I like planning and organizing in general, so I always figured I'd like stat raisers, and this one was my first. But sadly, I can't concentrate on both that aspect and the story itself; whenever I got to new story parts and had to stop skipping, it irritated me, because my mind was like "soo I'm gonna do exercises next and then.... noooo I don't want to read rn!". Then I got into reading the story but was thrown back to planning. BUT that would probably be the same with any stat raiser, so I don't really blame the game for it. Nor do I blame it for me getting the completely boring, neutral ending (it was just... over, one day) - since it's my first stat raiser. I was trying to get on Johns route, but I never use guides on my first playthrough. I did after and got on Johns and Benitos routes just fine. So the reason I still decided against recommending this game is, because the second I got to the romance scenes on Johns route with the help of a guide, I felt really disappointed. It is partly because of the nature of Johns route he's very distant, which felt sad but it's on purpose, it gets addressed in the story, but even after that issue got resolved, I still felt like "and I did all this work for... this?". And I did feel the same with Benitos route. I think the story part itself is just wayyy too short for me to feel close to the characters; just skipping through dates with all the same text didn't feel like actually spending time with them, I expected more romance scenes outside of the dates you do as a chore. Also, Benito being 15 and fighting with him about whether he should talk to his parents or not... I would've thought the story would be more about how they make a famous blog and work together for his magic career, not me feeling like I'm babysitting him and telling him ditching school and not talking to parents is bad. There's also other small stuff that irked me; I love buying and assembling outfits, but the images of the outfits in the shop while buying are quite different than what it actually looks like on MC. (Save before buying!) I also couldn't really assemble them the way I want, since I had to wear whatever the character I'm romancing likes (as the guides told me, plus that way you get a small compliment at the beginning of dates). So if you follow that, you can only choose between two patterns / colors. If you love stat raisers, then this could still be the game for you, since the quality is pretty good. I personally wouldn't recommend it though, mainly because there's not enough romance for me. I wanted to play Adams route too, but it felt like a huge waste of time so I stopped.
• gamedeal user

  Oct 24, 2014

  Even in Early Access, Backstage Pass is easily one of my favorite visual novels to date. The storyline is interesting, the art is BEAUTIFUL, and the voices we've heard thus far have been top knotch. Funny, charming, and had me at the edge of my seat during the month of January FINALLY sealing the deal with one of the many guys every single time. Wholeheartedly recommend, can't wait to see this once it's in its full glory.
• gamedeal user

  Jan 3, 2015

  Once again, another otome game where you have to do everything perfectly and play off a guide or else you're screwed. And it's been months and months (years now?) and the game's still not finished. The music gets very grating very quickly. The voices still aren't implemented fully. I've unselected all the voice boxes (which is how you turn them on) and I've never heard anything. Maybe if they ever finish the game it would be worth it. I regret paying full price. It's not worth it. Maybe half off, and that would be when it's complete.
• gamedeal user

  Jan 14, 2015

  Kind of regret buying this game now. Not worth the price for the content it has now (way too expensive). It's been a while now and the game is not finished yet.
• gamedeal user

  Feb 2, 2015

  Finally, I can date boys without having to leave my house.
• gamedeal user

  Mar 14, 2015

  I played this game a lot when I first got it and it's a lot of fun! I don't want to play any more until the voices are finally added in though, because I don't like doing the same things twice. :/ Please add the voices! It's been a while. ><
• gamedeal user

  May 6, 2015

  Overall Score from me: 5.5/10. I realise that the game is not yet complete, if It ever gets updated and fully finished I'll adjust my review accordingly. Keep in mind, that I've played many many many Otome style visual novel games, and there are basically three main types that exist. Stat building, choice maker/visual novel, point and click/adventure. This one is mainly a stat builder but also is reliant on choices you make in relation to the character you're pursuing. First the numbers. Gameplay 4/10. There is no option to skip the mini cutscenes during the classes/work week, or making cupcakes, so if you're going for doing things efficiently and making 20 or so cupcakes it takes forever. The email system is critical for some of the game paths and EXTREMELY EASY TO MISS. Which means unless you save often you could miss half of the requirements for some of the game paths. The game length is too long in the worst way because of how long it takes you to complete the actual week day planning, (A "save this schedule" option would be great as well) And it is very difficult to monitor your character's stress levels while paying attention to the email system, and go out on enough dates with the bachelor of your choice. There are also numerous bugs, such as one on Matthew's path that if you press the skip button it occasionally brings you back to the start menu, on loading a save. Another one is that if you have skip on, and you bake cupcakes it makes that faster but can be turned off if clicking in the general area as well. I've also had certain event flags not start when they're supposed to so there's a few kinks that need working out. Music 6/10. The music in this game is fairly well done, but one thing that I personally believe is that the music cannot actually be turned down low enough without being fully mute. I'm thinking this will be fixed when they add voices and such to the game, but that's my only issue there. Artwork 8/10 The art in this game is very beautiful. The only thing I would like to point out is that there are a few cutscene pictures that distort the character's faces in a way that it's not attractive, but overall it's really well done and the character design is really good. My current viewpoints: *All of the paths are EXTREMELY difficult. As in pedantic and overwhelmingly difficult. I have yet to unlock one perfect ending with any of the characters, despite following guides and doing everything in my power for this. This game needs a walkthrough more than a guide. Matthew's path for example is a bit unclear as I'm not sure what you need to say to Nicole in order to make things work or what stats you need to focus, as even with maximum charisma, specialized cupcakes, dates and popularity I didn't get the complete ending. The game takes way too long to complete due to needing to re-input every single command into the schedule every day. I think that a lot of the game could be made smoother/more user friendly just by making the email button flash red on recieving a new email, and having the option to choose what sian's main "ideas" are at the start of the game, such as wanting to start a blog for popularity or practice speaking for charisma. It'd also be a lot better to add more stress relief books to the stores, and to make it easier to access the arcade as raising your gpa for another date-spot, plus trying to balance stats is a bit pedantic and difficult. It's not a bad game, but this goes beyond challenging to a painful grind and a lot of work. I still haven't gotten one perfect ending, though i'm not sure if it is related to the game or something i'm doing wrong, and there are no full guides or walkthroughs that completely cover the exact things people need to do to get the endings. I'd still reccommend this for the story, but until it's finished and some of the bugs are removed, it's not a full reccommendation from me.
• gamedeal user

  Jun 24, 2015

  I wouldn't reccomend this game to anyone until the final verson of it is released. It's not very fun, the voices aren't complete, you need a guide before you can even begin to understand how to jump onto a character path. Honestly, I regret buying it. Worst part? Since buying it last year, I've heard nothing about the development, or any predictions on when the game will be released in it's full version. Stay away from this game, hold on to your money for something better.
• gamedeal user

  Jan 3, 2016

  I honestly have no clue why there are such bad reviews for this game. I have not finished the game, as there is ALOT of content even if it isn't "complete". If you are a fan of otomes, and have the cash to spare, I highly reccomended this game. The newly added voices are a nice additon as well, and for the most part very impressive and appealing. The plot is fun and each route is a different experiance. I will will say it is a tad challenging and this is nothing new for fellow stat raising games. However, the art is really nice, the characters likable, the story is interesting, and I found myself relating to Sian, the mc, much more than any other game I've played. It is frustrating to play over and over, not getting the correct end, but it is possible. The game is actually pretty hilarious (especially John's Route. It was hard to get a good ending but oh my god a certain "conversation" had me laughing hysterically. My point is, you have to be willing to commit time into the game and have patience in order to enjoy it. It is well worth the price for all that we're getting, and have yet to receive.