Shards of the Past will launch into Early Access on Steam on Friday, October 16, according to its official announcement. The story-first visual novel focuses on character development, world building and meaningful choices. Its solo developer thanked players who wishlisted the game, tried the demo, reported bugs and followed development updates.
Shards of the Past will be priced at $9.99 USD, with a planned 10% launch discount ($8.99). Buying during Early Access will include every future content update as it is released, with updates planned to continue until the game is completed.
The announcement lists 7,400+ story renders for version 0.4.0, excluding Journal, Gallery and Achievement images. It also advertises 158,000+ words of story dialogue. Multiple main story paths include numerous dialogue choices; many choices already matter and are planned to carry into future updates.
A journal tracks your character's journey and offers insight into the motives of the people you have met. An interactive map updates as you explore new areas. Gallery images unlock through gameplay and earned achievements, and a soundtrack covers every scene and event.
The announcement notes that the slow-burn story currently has no sex scenes between characters in its released content. Those scenes are planned for later as the story and relationships with certain characters develop, and are intended to be avoidable.
Language options include English, French, Spanish (Latin America), Brazilian Portuguese, Simplified Chinese and Russian. An updated free demo is available on the store page. Players can wishlist Shards of the Past to receive a notification when it launches.
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Images: © Garou24 / G24 Games