Steam Prison – Beyond the Steam – is coming out on MangaGamer, Steam, and Nintendo Switch next week! You can pre-order right now on the MangaGamer store or wishlist it on Steam!
Today we have some more insights into the game from another of our wonderful testers, Arccun!
Hey all, this is Mangagamer tester Arccun, here once again with the latest Tester’s Corner, this time tackling the fandisk to the acclaimed visual novel by HuneX; Steam Prison: Beyond the Steam.
This fandisk’s main story, the aptly named “Beyond the Steam,” serves as a continuation two years after the original Steam Prison’s Grand Ending, revisiting the main group of characters led by one Cyrus Tistella (or whichever name you happen to give her) and her six potential suitors from the first game, as they adventure beyond the foggy boundary of the Depths, and happen upon a whole new locale, complete with a new land immersed in a completely foreign culture to the puritan ideals of the Heights. The new locale plays host to two new potential suitors in Jevite and Jereme, brothers and dual kings of the kingdom of Cainabel, a land taking clear inspiration from locales you would sooner see in something like the 1,001 Nights, as they are thrust into that position after the untimely death of the previous king. Jevite is a playful and casual sort, treating everyone around him warmly, while Jereme is a more cold and serious type of person, keeping people at bay. Depending on the route you take, your group becomes entangled in a game of political intrigue, leading you down endings dependent on the choices you make. Nothing to the extent of the original game’s 33 endings, but there are still a sizable amount of endings for what is simply a fandisk.
Along with the main story involved in this fandisk, a second story lies in wait as well, called “A New Theory”, which gives an alternate look into the first game’s events, revisiting Cyrus’s fall from grace after being falsely accused of murdering her own parents. This sort of retelling gives more focus to two characters: Fin Euclase, one of the potential suitors and Cyrus’s partner in the police force, and a newfound focus on Sachsen Brandenburg, the heartless lead commander of the HOUNDS, the Depths’s ruthless watchdogs.
The game also plays host to several additional features for fans of the original game. The primary extra is a minigame where you play Spot the Difference across several cute art pieces of the game’s main suitors in several scenarios, whether it be a sunny beachshore in the middle of summer, or a house made of sweets you’d see in Candy Land. The game also includes galleries to gaze upon any CG you attain from the stories, along with profiles for each main suitor that details their likes, dislikes, and even includes comments from the characters’ VAs that detail their experiences revisiting the character after 8 years. And if you wanted more laid-back stories focusing on a certain character, there are also bonus scenarios dedicated to each male character, as well as bonus episodes for A New Theory and the Grand Ending from the original game.
As someone that had played through the original Steam Prison to prepare for testing Beyond the Steam, I wholeheartedly give my recommendation towards this, and feel that this would be more than a satisfactory package for fans of the original Steam Prison.
Steam Prison – Beyond the Steam is out next week on the MangaGamer store, Steam, and Nintendo Switch! Pre-order on MangaGamer and save 10%! You can also pick up the first game, Steam Prison, for 50% off right now on MangaGamer or Steam!