What will be left on Earth when humanity reaches its end? That’s the question Piccolo Studio’s platform adventure title After Us seeks to answer. As Gaia, the Spirit of Life, you are tasked with sprinting, jumping, air-dashing and rail-grinding across a surreal, barren planet while freeing the souls of extinct animals. Along the way, you’ll encounter giant debauchers, countless tear-jerking moments, and many brooding yet beautiful vistas.
When I got my hands on this game, I encountered all of this along with a wonderfully unique and expressive gameplay core that proved After Us was an addition to the platformer pantheon.
unique power kit
Bring the world to life: Gaia is the Spirit of Life, endowed with the ability to restore beauty to a world engulfed by a dark void. Pressing L2 fires a boomerang-like orb of light that can recover lost souls, attack enemies, or even turn a simple wire into a green grindable rail. Holding L2 on her instead charges her with light, and releasing it unleashes a blast of bright energy, replacing impassable gunk-covered land with safe grass and animals that you can pass through.
Fight Darkness in Life: Gaia’s powers can be used not only to bring the green back into the world and unlock its secrets, but also to defeat the dark hordes of its enemies. I’ll be waiting over there. In order to free the trapped souls, Gaia must use her boomerang-like spirit balls to counterattack and use her superior movement options to evade attacks.
Platforming in a post-human world
Free and expressive platform: Gaia can jump to different heights, double jump, air dash, float, wall run, and rail grind to traverse the world. All of this combined gives players the freedom to express themselves regardless of the challenges they encounter. One who masters these movement options need not stop moving on his journey to free Animal his spirit.
An open-world platformer journey: You don’t have to stick to one path when searching for souls in After Us. The world is beautifully crafted and encourages you to complete tasks any way you like. Do you want to use airdash to reach floating cars and skip dangerous streets? The direction in which you explore this platformed wasteland is up to you.
Lots of challenges: New challenges await around every corner, and it’s up to you to overcome each one. This includes puzzle his platforming challenges that require you to test your platforming skills in conjunction with Gaia’s special life force force.
Gaia’s moves and attack options often need to be combined. For example, jump over large gaps while creating vegetated paths with perfectly timed energy bursts. Other challenges encourage players to react to the environment and create opportunities to grind rails and run walls. Be prepared for the arrival of plastic bags that will try to halt your momentum and hinder your progress.
Impressive Journey
Dogs, cats, raccoons, horses, etc. can be petted: After Us is a game with a message about being responsible for the innocent animals of our planet. Gaia’s job is not only to free the trapped spirits of the planet’s extinct creatures. Once rescued, you can comfort your pet using the DualSense controller’s touchpad.
It brings tears to my eyes: After Us presents players with a unique vision of a post-human Earth. There are statues of people who once existed, visual representations of their final moments. Some animals have died because of this trait, simple loneliness and grief. Releasing these souls not only gives the sad story a bittersweet ending, but also a vision of their memories before the end of the world. Yet another turn on the emotional roller coaster.
A beautifully empty world: After Us’ theme is gloomy, but the surreal world is filled with breathtaking visuals. From floating roads to Babylon-like post-apocalyptic cities to crumbling buildings that symbolize a former civilization, the world surrounding Gaia and her mission make adventure into this sad world a joy.
Your journey to save the last spirit on earth will begin when After Us releases for PS5 on May 23, 2023.