Game Review: Wet Steps

By Manuel

Players: 1
Platforms: Nintendo Switch, PC

Wet Steps is a visual novel that just released for the Nintendo Switch that previously saw a release on Steam. It has the anime art style that fans of the genre come to expect, but it also features a plot that contains elements of Slavic mythology. It's hard for visual novels to stand out these days, especially on platforms like the Switch that contain several of them. So, let's take a look at this one and see what, if anything, sets this one apart from the rest!

Right off the bat I want to make it clear that this is a very short game. There's lots that I want to say about it, but it's a title where the creation of the review is going to inevitably take more time than I actually spent with the game. We'll address that more later, but just keep that in mind if you're just going to run out and grab it now without hearing the rest of what I have to say. Let's discuss the story first. Wet Steps drops you into the shoes of a protagonist that you can name yourself, with his default name being "Handsome" of all things. You're basically the school's "it" boy, who constantly receives confessions of love from every girl within a five mile radius. One fateful day you run into a girl named Iris after class who places a spell on you that claims to be able to protect from an evil being known as a bolotnitsa. What is a bolonitsa? Not important, but it's deadly and has taken an interest in you. Together with Iris you have to deal with this threat, and maybe see if this isn't all just some sort of elaborate prank.

Best girl Iris just dropping in.

You're going to have to look "bolonitsa" up.

Gameplay is standard visual novel fare. You read through screens of dialogue and narration and make choices at several key moments. Some choices can lead you to an early end while others progress the story. Furthermore, making a certain set of choices lead you to one of several endings, with two of them being the "true" endings that come complete with fully animated cutscenes. The game saves automatically at key points, but you can also save whenever you want. If you're trying to get through multiple playthroughs to see all the available routes, you can skip previously read dialogue if you so choose. Be careful reading too fast though as sometimes the spoken dialogue lines can step over themselves. There is an option to turn off dialogue lines being spoken to the end, but it only seems to work when it wants to. It only takes about an hour or so to see all routes, so you won't be spending a lot of time with this one. With that said there is a lot to rave about and I think Wet Steps is a very memorable experience, even if it's also a very short one.

Stop dramaqueening!

The bolonitsa is actually very spooky.

There are times when I feel that non-Japanese developed visual novels have that "How to Draw Anime" feel to them, and thankfully I don't think that's the case with Wet Steps at all. While it does have something of a standard anime style, it also does its own thing in terms of visuals. Wet Steps adapts the style in a way that looks unique as opposed to be a bad imitation. The only characters you see for any great length are Iris and the bolonitsa, and they both have very unique character designs that look great in all their forms. Iris' "regular" clothes, complete with a shirt that says "Daddy", is a bit off-putting but it was wacky enough that I thought it was more funny than distracting. Also, one would think that a short game would mean a distinct lack of visual diversity, but there are several CG images, some that are only used for a few seconds in the game even. It's actually impressive how much art the game has, and feels like the amount of content you'd find in a game several times its size. I mentioned the two animated ending scenes earlier, and these are so well-done that I couldn't believe I was still playing the same game. They were really that good. I did want to story to continue, but the ending scenes offer the perfect ending to everything.

Girl, your shirt says "Daddy"!

Choices.... choices...

Another surprising aspect of Wet Steps is that it's fully voiced, in English even. That said, you're pretty much only going to hear Iris and the Protagonist, but their performances are very well-done. I was expecting there to be some bigger names in the credits, but I think this game is voiced by relative unknowns in the scene. I found this pretty wild as I've heard some really bad dubs in my day, and this is the furthest thing from that. It doesn't have the "professional" stamp that one would get from working with the bigger dub studios most game companies go with, and now I'm beginning to question if other developers should find different solutions when it comes to casting voice acting roles. Besides voice acting there's several music tracks that move the game along with whatever mood that fits the current scene. Similar to the amount of CG images in the game, the amount of music feels almost excessive at times as there were several tracks you only hear once. There's even a very low-key vocal track or two in-game. I can't believe how impressive the overall presentation is, and it only falters a bit in the form of a very lackluster title screen. Other than that this feels like the most fully-realized indie title I've seen in a while.

Don't needlessly ruin silver!

What do you think she's gonna do?

I can't really talk much about the story without giving it all away, since it's rather short overall. I do want to say that there is a big difference between stories that are short and feel incomplete or boring, and those that are short but feel well-written and succinct. There isn't an ounce of fat in Wet Step's story, and every scene is relevant and moves at a pace that is both fast, but also full of character development. The characters are all great, even the Protagonist comes around from veering dangerously close to being an asshole at the beginning. Iris is simply best girl, and both are very funny in general. Even the bolonitsa has a bit of personality that works its way throughout the story. There are a few wonky translation bits here and there, but nothing that is overly distracting to the overall experience. Speaking of translation issues, the only true complaint I had with the game's story, if you can even call it that, is that the concepts of the bolonitsa, and the other Slavic mythological creatures mentioned, are included with very little explanation. Players will no doubt be left with both unanswered questions, and a want for more content in general, but I think it'll be more in hopes of staying in the game's world a little while longer rather than wanting more from a game that is lacking.

It is an anime-styled game after all.

The epic showdown!

Wet Steps is a very short game, but it's also one of the best visual novel experiences I've had in a while. Its short length actually feels like a plus rather than a negative, and it has the feeling of watching a really good episode of an hour-long series. It also comes with a low price tag that makes its lack of content a lot more palatable. I won't say "lack of replayability" as there is enough charm here that I think I'll come back to it at some point in the future. If you're a fan of the genre, or even if you're just looking for a good title to get you through an afternoon, pick this one up. You won't regret it, and maybe you'll also find yourself wishing that the developers somehow see fit to give us more of this story. One can wish at least.

For More Information on Wet Steps:

---

Story: A-
Gameplay: A
Graphics: A
Music/Sound: A-
Value: A-

Overall: A

Pros:
+ A surprisingly well-written and paced story for a title of this size.
+ Fully voiced, in English even, with great performances.
+ The art style and visuals are all well-done, and there even two animated scenes for the main endings.
+ Several in-game choices that lead to different endings add to the game's otherwise shorter length.
+ Priced just right for a game of its length.

Cons:
- Wet Steps' experience is rather short and one can see everything there is to see in around an hour.
- Fast readers might have issues with spoken dialogue lines jumping over each other.
- The elements of Slavic mythology that are included are presented with little explanation.
- Getting the final (possibly "true") ending is an easy to miss series of in-game choices.

A copy of this game was provided to us free-of-charge by the publisher for the purpose of this review. This did not affect our review in any way.

---

"Cutely Charming" is how I would describe this game.