After Us is a beautiful platformer that lets you explore an emotive world with a heartfelt story, although some controls are unreliable.
After Us comes from Piccolo Studio, an independent developer whose previous game, Arise: A Simple Story, was very well received. The development company was founded in 2015 by three friends who left their advertising agency in Barcelona to explore their passion for the gaming world. They created their newest adventure platformer in Unreal Engine 4. Publishing the game is the Private Division of Take-Two Interactive; After Us is available on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S.
Piccolo Studio’s last game was another platformer that fell into the action and adventure category. Coming out in 2019, Arise: A Simple Story proved that Piccolo Studio can make a clever platformer with a beautiful story full of heart. After Us falls into the same genre with a similar aim, giving the player a unique and vibrant world to explore as they unearth a touching tale.
After Us features Gaia, a Spirit of Life who lives on earth seemingly centuries after all the humans appear to have been wiped out. The surreal environments show the effects of humans on the world, a world that now needs to have its Heart restored to help reverse the unrelenting damage that has been suffered by nature. Gaia awakens to the last of the animals dying, leaving it up to her to help the Mother use her Life Force to save the animals’ souls. The player will travel from a forest that is slowly dying to a desolate city, with each new environment holding the corpse of an animal that has been killed by humankind.
Gaia must travel to each of these main animals and release their soul back into the world to help restore the Mother’s Light. Their souls are freed by Gaia as she offers the light to them, allowing the Mother to be restored to her full power and restore the forest. These souls are tethered to each other through the Life-Link that connects them, Gaia and the Mother. This interface shows off the Ark as well as the animals that will restore it.
On the way to each of these, the player has the opportunity to take various detours to release some of the other animals’ spirits back into the world. These are also available to view on the Life-Link as smaller waypoints that the player can look for as they explore the environment. After Us encourages this with the animals freed, inhabiting the world, and becoming interactive parts of the game. These can be discovered by traversing platforming sections and solving basic puzzles to find the glowing orbs holding these spirits away from the Mother’s Ark.
Gaia travels from the Outskirts, through the Suburbs, and into the City. In each of the places she explores, there is more and more evidence of the humans that inhabited the world before her. This starts with cars and highways before slowly transitioning to the remains of the people who lived there.
These remains are haunted, twisted interpretations of people that appear to be twisted and melted. A layer of ash covers each of the bodies, giving After Us a unique and chilling atmosphere that only increases as the player moves forward with the story.
As well as these charred remains, Gaia is confronted with the leftover tar-like oil that is consuming the world. While some of this can be fended away with the Mother’s Light, it becomes increasingly thick and aggressive, with dark, menacing tentacles whipping from the darkness to try to entrap the player as they travel through the remains of the city.
As After Us progresses, both Gaia and the player are introduced to the Devourers. These are versions of the human corpses that have part of the Light within them and can move around the environment. As the game develops into its darker themes and further into the city, these Devourers become more violent and aggressive towards Gaia, who they tower over. Trying to grab her small frame and consume her light, these creatures prove to be a chilling foe as they lumber after the player.
After Us explores its story through its unique environments and creative storytelling, rather than dialogue and long exposition-filled cutscenes, the game explores the story through the environment and gameplay. The gameplay appears very simple, although it develops very swiftly as the player gets used to each new addition to the controls. Within the first hour of the game, Gaia can jump, extended jump, double jump, sprint jump, dash, and glide, with wall riding being added later. These movement abilities all work in tandem to traverse the environment, although within these, there is a mixture of successes and failures.
After Us teaches the player new movements in a very simple and clear way. Before each section that Gaia is thus far unable to do, a screen will flash up with a demonstration of the movement and the button prompts. This also happens with combat as it is added to the game, the burst of Light, which is an area of effect that can stun enemies in a radius, as well as removing the oil that has overtaken the area. Another mechanic added is Gaia’s ability to throw the Light from her. This can be used as an attack as well as to free the spirits of animals from the orbs they are trapped in.
To perform an extended jump, the player has to hold down the jump button. For me, this was A as I played on an Xbox controller. I found in some moments, this would take me to nearly the top of an obstacle, and Gaia would be able to scramble over the last section of the wall. Yet, in another moment, I was barely able to make a jump of the same height. This was not an issue in some moments as I could simply reattempt the jump; however, at other times, it led to me falling from an object and plummeting into the abyss below.
The dash ability could also have a similar problem, with a lot of frustration being caused by the inconsistent length of each one. During a particularly platform-heavy sequence, Gaia has to traverse over a swarm of Devourers that are after her. Every jump has a double jump and a dash between each obstacle. With these being the least consistent mechanics, it becomes a very difficult sequence. What should have been very creepy with the horrors below during the climb ends up being one of the most annoying sections of After Us as the player repeats the same section.
The wall riding has a similar issue as the hit detection between Gaia and the wall can be a little unreliable when moving completely vertically. Again, this was not an issue in many moment,s but could become one when the player was at a particularly high section of the level that would lead to a death and restart. When jumping from left to right on a wall run, however, the detection seemed to be far more consistent, making this part of the platforming far more fun.
It should be noted that while some of these platforming moments can be a little erratic, the majority of the movement mechanics in After Us are very good. Gaia also has a circle that remains beneath her while the player is jumping means that struggles with depth perception are minimal in the game. Many platformers have the issue of the player being unable to tell where they will land; however, this circle expertly diminishes this problem. This can help to minimise some of the frustration caused by some of the other mechanics that are a little less seamless.
The strength seen is After Us, with the platforming is increased by the fantastic level design. There are multiple routes to explore each area, with options being with the altitude as well as moving left and right. This is helped by the optional side quests of freeing the smaller spirits. These can be found off the beaten path by exploring the levels. They can also be discovered by using the Sing mechanic. As Gaia sings, a swarm of butterflies forms around her and leads her to nearby pieces of the Light.
This is a very helpful mechanic as it encourages the exploration of some beautiful, creative levels that have had a lot of care put into them. The butterflies also change colour depending on which version of the Light is near the player. After Us makes it very clear that blue is for the animal spirits and yellow for nearby enemies. Although never directly told to the player, it is clear that this is the case. As well as this, the butterflies turn white once all the nearby light has been discovered. This prevents any confusion of whether it is time to move on to the next area of the game.
The combat in After Us is equally well designed, with the Devourers being a creative enemy to face off against. The burst of Light can be used to stun, while firing the light from Gaia’s chest causes damage to them that releases the Light within them. These enemies develop and evolve as the game progresses, with faster versions of the Devourers becoming a common enemy type. Larger, tankier versions are also introduced. These versions can only be attacked from behind and can also attack with a ground pound that stuns Gaia, knocking her to the ground to be grabbed.
After Us is a visually stunning game with a wonderful art style. The juxtaposition of Gaia’s bright white hair and glowing outline with the dilapidated world around her is just beautiful. Every cutscene allows for the story to be communicated simply through the expressive facial expressions of Gaia.
The translucent spirits of the animals have the complexity to show their joy at being released, yet hold the simplicity that allows them to be a clear representation of the creatures. When these interact with Gaia, her light reflects off them delicately, really showing the skill of those who created them.
As well as Gaia’s stunning design, the environments in After Us are very elegant due to the small size of objects in the level tower over her. While in many of the moments in the opening of the game, this is very disconcerting, later, it leaves the player in awe of the epic detail within every spec of the oversized obstacles. The nature that is expelled from Gaia during her burst of Light also complements and contrasts the urban setting she is thrown into wonderfully. While so different from the world around her, nature seems to fit in, bringing the world back to how it once was.
The atmosphere in After Us is created through not only the stunning visuals but also the amazing sound design. The soundscape in the game is calming and expertly reflects the natural side of the setting. While there is no dialogue in the game, Gaia does make sounds in reaction to jumping or being injured. Her singing is also voiced and is relaxing and haunting, creating the otherworldly air Gaia exists within.
After Us is a very strong title that is visually beautiful, with an amazing atmosphere created by the coordination of each element of the game put together. While some platform elements can be a little frustrating, the combat is a very fun part of the game that allows the size of the playable character to enhance the creepier aspects of the game.
