These points come through in ways that are direct, but not didactic, and they make for some of the game's strongest moments. These end up being not one-off, traumatic events, but rather the kinds of smaller slights and moments that bring out their various hangups: Lola's ostracization from her family due to not only her complex family situation, but her skepticism in the face of her sisters' faith Milo's demanding parents and search for an identity as the child of an immigrant family. Sister May Wormhorn, a personal demon created to harass Milo and Lola as they try to get the approvals necessary to outparty Satan, torments the pair by sifting through their rougher memories. It makes easy connections between businesspeople and demons, or social media platforms and hellscapes, though the comparisons are all coated in a thick veneer of simmering snark and clever turns of phrases that make the comparisons fun, even if they're not the most imaginative ones.Īfterparty is most at home and most cutting when it delves into more intimate topics. The dialogue is lifelike in a way you don't find in most games characters restart their sentences, which often have a fantastically ad-libbed quality to them the main voice cast features whip-smart performances from Janina Gavankar, Khoi Dao, Ashly Burch, and Dave Fennoy, who all sell their cartoonish characters' maladjustments without making them overbearing.Īfterparty touches on several topics, including the layout, structure, and the underpinnings of its underworld, which pull heavily from the Bible and Paradise Lost. This puts the spotlight on Afterparty's strongest asset: incredibly verisimilar conversations. As you walk across rich and detailed 3D backgrounds along a 2D plane, most of your interactions involve talking to the right person at the right time. Mechanically, Afterparty keeps things simple. They then learn there's a way out of their predicament: If they can outparty The Prince of Darkness himself, they can return to the world of the living. After some quick onboarding on how they're to be tortured for the rest of eternity, the pair get a break when their turn in line comes just as the workday ends, giving them a night's reprieve. Afterparty revels in the small, personal acts of cruelty and kindness that define us, and while the ways it imparts lessons aren't always up to task with the material, it nonetheless treads exciting ground as a story about the work it takes to be a better person.ĭeveloped by Oxenfree creators Night School Studio, Afterparty follows Milo and Lola, a pair of recent college grads who've just found out they face eternal damnation. ![]() It isn't the flashiest take on the afterlife, but that's kind of the point. ![]() To escape the drudgery of everlasting torment, demons and humans alike flock to bars and other seedy hangouts between the days' torture. Sure, its human inhabitants are still damned for eternity and demons still flagellate them for their sins, but that's just the nine-to-five.
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