Afterparty is only $20, so if you’re a fan of indie games that are more story than game, this might be for you. If a slightly raunchy playable version of The Good Place sounds like a good way to spend a day or two, sure. It takes about eight to 10 hours depends on what choices you make and how interested you are in exploring hell. How long will it last?Īfterparty is short. Look to Quantic Dream’s catalog of Detroit: Become Human, Heavy Rain, or Beyond Two Souls for other options, especially if you want to feel the impact of your choices felt throughout. Life is Strange and its new sequel are the best alternatives. There are lots depending on what you’re looking for. Is there a better alternative?įor story-based games, yes. Like a night out with too many drinks, it’s easy to go in with the expectation of fun and come out regretting how you spent your time. Our TakeĪfterparty has a solid script and superb voice acting, but it’s not an engaging narrative-driven adventure. Still, that’s not enough to forgive the original sin of including tedious tasks in the first place. It’s something the game lampshades and pokes fun at, and the jokes are good. They’re just things to do for the sake of doing them. This is a familiar story and, because the way I play the game has no impact, it falls apart.Īfterparty is full of tasks that feel like chores to tick off a list. They have problems but, in the end, they’ll find a way to live with their problems even if they can’t entirely solve them. They’re best friends that aren’t interested in the parties and social politics of popularity. They felt like recycled characters with an inevitable end. I never felt that way with Milo and Lola. Entire character arcs can change because of your decisions. You’ll always see an outcome, but some are better than others. In those games, the way you overcome obstacles has an obvious impact. Other narrative-focused titles like Life is Strange or Detroit: Become Humanaren’t difficult, either, but they have a sense of consequence that Afterparty lacks. Without the sense of a true test or obstacle, or the need to call on brainpower to figure out the way forward, I found myself just going through the motions. It’s a good interactive story, but not a game that offers any challenge. That’s when I realized nothing in this game matters.Īfterparty is not so much a game as an interactive story. Instead, the game let me continue as if I had won. It’s ironic, since hell seems the perfect place to face consequences. You try, you fail, you try again until you stop failing or you can’t progress. “I’ll get to try again, and I know I can beat her this time.” At a crucial moment, I blew my lead against my demon opponent in one of the game’s challenges. Night School StudioĪfterparty throws in some minigames, yes, but they’re simple distractions, not real games with real consequences. That’s when I realized nothing in this game matters. Time and time again, everything worked out for Milo and Lola - even when it seemed it shouldn’t. I anticipated the plot pitfalls the game might put in my way as Afterparty sent me from one place to another, following very obvious clues on what to do. I spent a good deal of this game questioning whether Milo and Lola will make it out of hell, or if Afterparty would trick me in the end, laughing as Satan explained, of course, there isn’t a way out. And while I admire the unexpected turn for Satan - and the “hell as one great big party” concept - I found myself wondering why this subplot took over the game’s story. I need more than a few empowering moments to care for Milo and Lola. Unfortunately, Afterparty never ties them all together. As the game progresses and the night wears on, demons slump over, pee in the streets, and leave the bars empty. He reminds me of that guy who still goes to college parties years after he graduation, not the ruler of Hell. Satan isn’t the Prince of Darkness, or the Prince of Partying, he portrays. Things didn’t go as expected, but it’s still fun.Īnd, of course, the afterparty that is the afterlife soon unravels. Playing Afterparty feels like a bad night out with friends.
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