Until Then is an indie game that utilizes pixel art graphics and an emotional story to make a masterpiece.
Recently, two new stories, Homecoming and Sparks, have been added in the Afterimages DLC.
Homecoming follows Sofia’s return to the Philippines many years after the events of the base game, where the COVID-19 pandemic has changed more than just how things are run.
Sparks follows Mark in his college life, where he and his club president fall hard for each other and it impacts the relationships around him.
“Until Then” uses a pixel art style to show off its world and Afterimages introduces brand new characters and locations that are on par with the original game.
The new character designs work well with their respective characters, with Sofia rocking a new hairdo and outfit, while Mark’s looks a little bit more goofy.
The locations also look insanely detailed, especially in Sparks. The college feels lively and is full of students. Even in the far background, other people are still visible and moving around.
Kyle Patrick Naval returns with the music and it is a pretty decent soundtrack. The original game had many more memorable pieces, like “Memories” and “Time is Tearing Us Apart”. The tracks in Afterimages are good, just not as memorable as the base game.
The main issue with Afterimages is also an issue that stems from the base game and that is the pacing.
“Until Then” is meant to be a slow-burn story and that is fine. It is the way the characters talk that can make the game drag sometimes. A character will say two to ten words tops, then there is a pause for the other character to react and then the next line of dialogue will happen.
While this does not affect the quality of the stories, it can make some scenes run longer than necessary.
Pacing aside, the new stories are the biggest talking points of Afterimages.
Homecoming takes place well into the COVID-19 pandemic, when Sofia returns home to handle legal documents following her grandmother’s passing.
While in the Philippines, Sofia often calls her girlfriend, Alissa, back in the States. Alissa, while a supportive girlfriend for Sofia, is not all that interesting as a character. She has some deep conversations with Sofia, but does not have much depth beyond that.
This is mostly due to how short Homecoming is. There is not much room for Alissa’s development; therefore, she comes off as a bit bland.
Sofia, on the other hand, goes through quite a bit of change throughout her rather short story. Sofia is not a main character in “Until Then”, but she still plays a decently important role. She and Cathy have a brief romance until Cathy’s unfortunate demise.
The death of Cathy is something that has been causing Sofia pain for years. “Until Then” takes the player through the minds of its characters and how they process grief. Sofia lets that pain build up and it crashes down on her upon arriving in the Philippines.
Homecoming deals with the overwhelming emotions of having lost somebody years ago and deals with the consequences of burying your feelings.
This message builds on the themes of the game very nicely. Since the chapter is significantly shorter, it does not hit as hard as the main game, but it is still good nevertheless.
Sparks shows Mark finding his footing in college, where he is vice president of the Mechies, a student organization. Eventually, he and his club president, Desiree (Des), catch feelings for each other.
Des is an interesting character from the start. She is under a lot of pressure from her father while in school and she tries to be a strong authority figure too. In a way, she is just like Nicole, but with some hints of Cathy as well.
Nicole also returns in Sparks, after her role in the main game. She only shows up in a few scenes briefly at the start, but becomes more important as the story goes along. She is essentially the same likable character she is in the base game.
The version of Mark that is shown in Sparks is different from the Mark in the base game. He is quite stagnant, as he does not play the piano anymore, nor does he keep in touch with Nicole.
This does bring up an interesting take on Mark, but ultimately the execution falls a bit flat.
A lot of the major plot points are done through two exposition dumps. One moment, Des and Mark share their first kiss; the next moment, they are having relationship issues a year later, mainly conveyed through an exposition dump.
This makes their romance way less believable, which is a bad waste of two interesting characters.
The other characters are affected by this as well. Because of the focus on Mark, Des and Nicole, they get sidelined pretty hard.
Sparks has an interesting story and it is nice to see Mark again. However, the pacing and exposition dumps do leave the story with some issues.
Afterimages is a welcome addition to “Until Then” and the stories were pretty good, even if they are not as impactful as the original story.
Homecoming: 4/5
Sparks: 3/5
Afterimages Overall: 3.5/5
Griffin May can be reached at 581-2812 or [email protected].
