
Don’t get me wrong, I liked Benito, he’s cute and definitely pretty slick with the flattery. So, after facepalming and a bit of swearing, I set my sights on Jail Bait Cutie’s route instead. If you have ever played a stats raising game, then you know just how devastating it is to grind for hours in-game only to wind up on the WRONG route! I almost rage quit right then and there, because I was in no mood to start that mess all over again. Only to realize too late that I’d missed some key Adam events and that I’d been raising the stats for Benito. So, for my first playthrough I attempted to romance Adam. LOOK AT THAT CUTIE!! Friendzoned on the First Playthrough with Benito But, I’d be lying if I said the cute megane TA didn’t also catch my eye. However, those routes are merely subsets of the main romance paths. Of the main romance options I was most interested in Adam and Matthew. There are different types of relationship options for folks looking for a non traditional romance experience. Including one asexual character and a female character. You can also achieve friendship ends with some of the side characters. While those are the only “romanceable” options. There are four pursuable characters: Adam, Sian’s Best Friend 4 Lyfe and an up and coming musician Benito, a jail bait cutie young street magician that hangs around Sian’s school John, a famous actor currently moonlighting as Adam’s music producer and Matthew, a shy model with an overbearing mother and a secret fear of women. On top of that there are a whole host of mini games, events, and wardrobe options that also add a bit more substance to the overall gameplay experience. The opening and ending themes I could live without, the vocalist is just a bit too upbeat for my tastes.

But the opening and credits scenes were animated by Studio DEEN and boy are they crisp. I must say, this is a huge step up from their first game in terms of content and quality. Not only does the game feature a full English voice cast, some of which have worked on some pretty big anime voice over gigs. Though there are a few Easter eggs here and there, for anyone who played the first game. The funny thing is Backstage Pass has absolutely nothing to do with RE: Alistar. So when I saw that they were working on a spiritual successor to RE: Alistar I was over the moon. I played SakeVisual’s first game, RE:Alistar ages ago, and I absolutely loved it.


Backstage Pass First Impressions Game Review An all new story from the team behind Re:Alistair
