“The Last Act is an enjoyable visual novel with a well-crafted mystery that wraps up nicely… while the story isn’t overly complex, it keeps you engaged and eager to uncover more.“
Platform: PC | Release Date: March 16th, 2021 | Hours Played: 6 hours
If you had a chance of achieving your life-long dream, how far would you be willing to risk everything?
This is the dilemma facing our heroine, Sarah, in The Last Act, a mystery-romance visual novel about a woman who lands a lead role and becomes the target of mysterious supernatural incidents that put her life in danger.
These incidents may be related to the play as it is based on a real-life incident in their town where a haunted couple was killed by a ghost. However, whether this scares Sarah or makes her determined to seek the truth is in your hands.
Despite the ominous plot, the overall aesthetic of the visual novel is the opposite, featuring bright, warm colours and a unique art style. The characters are diverse with simple designs, but enough to make them unique.
The UI is also noteworthy as it fits with the aesthetic of the game, with the text box emulating the look of a script as if you’re reading a script of the plot.
The story balances tension well, with slow-paced expositions punctuated by nerve-wracking or shocking scenes that keep you engaged. However even during serious moments, the tension is often relieved by light-hearted or romantic interludes.
While Sarah’s personality does not stand out from your average heroine, she offers enough agency that she does not just act as a vessel for the player.
To romance or not to romance?
There are four possible endings (three romance endings and one non-romantic/default ending), but the game offers multiple branching pathways that provide new dialogue, scenes, and perspectives on the mystery, which boosts its replayability. However, this also created some frustration for me, as pursuing certain plot points lock you out certain endings, leading to the default ending by preventing a key confession scene from taking place.
Speaking of romance, while the potential love interests are charming both in personality and appearance, the progression of their relationships with Sarah can feel rushed, with some characters professing their love within just a few weeks. Given how deeply the story explores the mystery, it’s unfortunate we don’t get to learn more about the characters outside of that context.
The three romanceable characters are Joshua, Sarah’s co-lead in the play; Gavin, a handsome private detective; and Silas, the ghost. Silas, in particular, feels like the central figure of the mystery and can be considered the “canon” love interest. This is evident in the CGs as Silas not only has a rejection but also three additional CGs compared to the other two.
Out of the love interests, I preferred Joshua for his character design but also appreciated the concern for Sarah throughout the narrative. My only problem was that to romance him, you essentially had to deny all supernatural plausibility which goes against the main plot, which means going for him would cut out a chunk of the mystery. He also has only one CG, and while he has two Steam achievements (including one for rejecting him), I would have liked a rejection CG for him too, just like Silas.
In terms of CGs, there are 20 CGs altogether to collect and similar to the art, the CGs are colourful and bright and although they are nice, there are some inconsistencies in them – such as one where Gavin missing his goatee entirely.
There were other narrative inconsistencies and bugs that I encountered during my replays. One was whether Silas’ was corporeal or incorporeal as he seemed to alternate. There was also a scene that skipped a few dialogues and moved straight to an exposition used several times in the plot, which may be due to the many branching pathways as well as my game freezing at times when I saved while skipping.
7/10
Final Thoughts
Overall, The Last Act is an simple visual novel with a well-crafted mystery that wraps up nicely. The first playthrough takes about an hour, and while the story isn’t overly complex, it keeps you engaged and eager to uncover more. That said, I wish the game was drawn out longer for more plot and character depth.
I wish there was an option to see what narrative branch you’re following through just to avoid having to replay through the same endings consistently.
With how Snowhaven Studio’s previous entries having been voiced, I was slightly disappointed that The Last Act was without it, but nevertheless it did not take away from the overall quality of the visual novel.
You can purchase My Sweet Romance for £3.99/$4.99 on Steam and itch.io
I was kindly provided with a review code by Snowhaven Studios
Please note that this is not factored and the review is 100% my honest opinion.
If you’re interested in other games by Snowhaven Studios, check out my reviews for My Sweet Confession and Once Upon an Electric Dream.
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