Steam Prison -Beyond the Steam-

I'M DISAPPOINTED!!!! GIVE US AN ACTUAL SACHSEN ROUTE! As someone who really loved Sachs in the first game, I was really disappointed in A New Theory. It was literally the whole reason I bough this game. You get one ending and other two ending of A New Theory relate to Fin. I wanted to see character development of Sachs because if you played the first game and read his backstory you know partially why he's the way he is. I was so hopeful but it so short. I was hope for something as long as the other love interest's routes in the original game. I really wish I read the reviews to see how so many people were annoyed about the lack of a proper Sachs route. I have nothing wrong with art, music and translation. I would just recommend getting this game on sale if you were hoping for a Sachsen route.

[h1]Concise Game Reviews: "Steam Prison -Beyond the Steam-" (スチームプリズン -Beyond the Steam-)[/h1] [i](Scroll down for the longer version)[/i] [table] [tr] [th][b]Game Value:[/b][/th] [th]✅ Recommended for fans of steampunk otome visual novels, "Steam Prison -Beyond the Steam-" delivers an engaging continuation of the original story. The heroine, raised in the perfect Heights, faces the harsh realities of the Depths and explores unknown lands, grappling with tough choices and forming meaningful relationships along the way. The game stands out with its beautiful 2D art, well-written characters, and a branching storyline that keeps you invested. With fun extras like the Petit Prison minigame and a focus on character growth, it’s a fantastic pick for anyone who loves a good mix of romance and adventure.[/th] [/tr] [tr] [td][b]Mature Themes:[/b][/td] [td]✔Romantic Drama ✔Mild Violence ✔Betrayal ✔Steampunk Politics ✔Unjust Systems ✔Friendship ✔Family Conflicts[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td][b]Genre Classification:[/b][/td] [td]Steampunk Otome Visual Novel with a rich narrative and compelling character dynamics.[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td][b]Censorship:[/b][/td] [td]Completely safe for work; no explicit adu…

I think enjoyment for this game will depend on what you expect from it. Steam Prison as a game doesn't really have romance as its selling point (despite being an otome game) so I went in with no expectations in that department. Needless to say it was pretty in line within my expectations (or lack thereof). The game is enjoyable if you like the characters enough, which I do. I'll try to lay out pros/cons from what I can gather. Pros: -for the Cainabel portion (which is a good chunk of this game) it's a lot less bleak than the first game as it branches off from the first game's best/true ending. -despite the short length, I think the game does a good enough job expanding on the characters while having call backs to their arcs in the first game that are left unexplored in the best end. -seeing the love interests interact/bounce off each other was quite refreshing imo -the two new characters are solid and have interesting enough stories that kept me engaged, though this is just from my personal experience -mini game is fun and gives you new chibi illustrations of the love interests -a lot of bonus episodes/scenarios and even has some translated comments of the game's cast whi…

I was so eager for this but I was left terribly disappointed. There's barely any romance, the routes' endings seem like a friendship ending instead of a romantic one. There's not even a single kiss. I expected something similar to the quality of the original game so I was sorely let down with this.

As a fandisk, it's very disappointing. Instead of following up from each of the LIs happy end, it follows the "grand ending". The Cainabel story has two linear stories (depending which path, Jevite or Jereme) and no definitive "route". So it's just repeating the same things over and over again when trying to get each LI's CGs. The stories were short and wasn't fleshed out well, felt very rushed, and with almost zero romance. It felt like they only put up random CGs with mundane unimportant stories. I usually don't mind minimum romance as long as the story is great. But the story was very disappointing that I struggled to finish the game and play through it to get all of the CGs. Adage and Ines were my favorites and I felt like they ruined them for me in this game. Sure you get some backstory, but it felt so sudden and miniscule with very bad pacing.

Really not worth your time. It follows the end of the 'truth route' meaning that all the romances basically start from zero, so if you were hoping for more fleshing out of the relationships in this sequel, you're going to be sorely disappointed. It plays out more like just a speed run copy of the original relationship building, so the routes for the original LI's all feel rushed and shallow. All the effort and focus is put into the two new LI's and their land, which are all really hard to give a crap about since they still feel super generic. I don't know why they didn't just make a new game entirely if they wanted to show a new setting and new LI's, since as it is, the execution here is still sloppy at best. Also don't buy if you want Sachsen, his 'route' is a joke.