Until Then, developed by Polychroma Games and published by Maximum Entertainment for all major platforms, is a narrative-driven adventure set in a post-catastrophe world. We’re checking out the PlayStation 5 version.
Until Then manages to quickly engage and captivate with its heartfelt narrative, which focuses on the joys and woes of high school life for protagonist Mark Borja. It’s a familiar yet intriguing setting, where you navigate everything from daily routines to relationships, as well as a mystery that starts to unfold after a fateful encounter. The narrative explores themes of love, loss, and friendship, presenting players with moral dilemmas and tough choices to make, and Mark’s interactions with a diverse cast of characters add depth to the story, making it a relatable and immersive experience.
The gameplay in Until Then is a blend of exploration, social interaction, and mini-games. You can use an in-game smartphone to browse your social media feeds, read emails, and even webpages, uncovering clues and building relationships. The game’s mini-games are mostly simple tasks, but they do manage to add a touch of mundane realism that enhances the overall experience of engaging in everyday life even though the mini-games themselves will get repetitive after a while.
The investigation mechanics and the impact of the aforementioned social media interactions are well-implemented though, providing a unique twist to the traditional narrative adventure genre. What helps is that the controls are intuitive, allowing players to easily navigate the environment and interact with various objects and characters. Using the smartphone is straightforward, as are the mini-games. During more intricate tasks the controls can feel less responsive though, which can be frustrating.
Visually, Until Then has distinct and eye-catching hand-drawn pixel art that uses a warm color palette. The game blends 2D characters with 3D environments, creating a unique and immersive visual style, and the depiction of Philippine-inspired landscapes and interiors adds authenticity and cultural depth to the game, enhancing the player’s connection to the setting – which makes a different cultural experience feel very relatable.
The audio design complements the visuals well, with a soothing soundtrack that captures the emotional tone of the story as well as sound effects and ambient noises that further immerse players the game world. This makes Until Then a game that excels in its audiovisual storytelling, offering a narrative that is both engaging and emotionally resonant. The game’s novel approach to integrating today’s influence of social media and everyday technology into the gameplay is innovative as well.
On the downside, the repetitive nature of the mini-games and occasional control issues can detract from the overall experience, and the narrative pace is on the slower side. However, Until Then is a captivating adventure game that successfully combines everyday high school life with a deeper mystery. Its strengths lie in its storytelling, visual style, and innovative use of technology within the game, and this makes it easy to overlook its minor flaws.
Score: 7.8/10
Press Play Media 