On Tuesday, Salty Salty Studios released a new, free-to-play visual novel called First Snow. The Steam download has 10 available achievements that can be unlocked during gameplay, including a post-credits scene. One of these achievements, "Freedom of Choice," is hidden well enough that multiple players have turned to the game's discussion area on Steam to ask about unlocking it. It's not hard to do, but it does require some extra legwork outside of the game proper.
First Snow is a spinoff prequel to the visual novel Twofold. It chronicles Allison Merlo's freshman fall at college as she struggles to adjust to living away from her family, sharing household duties with her roommate, making friends and navigating her sexuality. When she meets artist Eileen Turner, Allison's life turns upside-down yet again.
In addition to story-driven Steam achievements, First Snow also asks players to go on a bit of a hunt for its final task. Hidden achievements are often frustrating to unlock, because they involve hoops or bizarre decisions a player wouldn't otherwise make. However, for completionists especially, the feeling of accomplishment in finally earning these digital badges is immense.
First Snow players who hope to collect all 10 Steam achievements will need to visit the Salty Salty Studios website. There, they can download the game's 18+ patch and follow the instructions to add the content to the Steam download. Once they relaunch the game, the title card will show a small + symbol to indicate success and the settings will have a checkbox for NSFW content.
To unlock the hidden "Freedom of Choice" achievement, players need to install the NSFW patch, then disable it in the game settings.
According to the Salty Salty Studios site, the Steam version of First Snow has had the 18+ content removed due to the platform's content policies. Downloading the patch allows players who are of legal age in their jurisdictions to add it back in. However, there is some slight risk: The patch is provided without warranty.
First Snow can be enjoyed with or without the NSFW content, though some players may feel the experience is incomplete without all of the game's intended imagery. That said, the game can also be downloaded directly from Salty Salty Studios and it's available on itch.io, which gives potential players plenty of options for acquiring and playing the visual novel.
First Snow is available now.