In the midst of an incredibly difficult and painful year, video games haveprovided people with an escape, whether that be to a relaxing island paradise, a thrilling adventurein a fantasy world or even a cathartic, gory romp through Hell. However, while some games offer an escape from reality, othersseek to change the way we view our own lives. What Comes After falls into the latter category.
What Comes After is a side-scrolling point-and-click adventure game from fahmitsu and Rolling Glory Jam (creators of Coffee Talk and Rage in Peace respectively) that tells a powerful and heartwarming story about a young woman who needs to learn to love herself. After launching on PC late last year, the game is coming to Nintendo Switch soon, a platform that is a great fit for this bite-sized but poignant game.
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In What Comes After, players control Vivi, a young woman who just barely makes it onto the last train home for the evening. After falling asleep during her ride, Viviawakens to find she is trapped, and the train is now filled with ghosts. Upon meeting the Granny Conductor, Vivi is told that she's the only living soul on a train full of the spirits of those who died near the station that day. The train is headed to "what comes after," but since it isn't Vivi's time yet, she will be taken back to the land of the living after the train drops offits passengers.
From there, Vivi simply has to pass the time until she can return home. While she can go backto her seat, the more interesting option is exploring the train and speaking to the various souls on board.Pretty much everyone you see can be interacted with, though some have a lot more to say than others. Each has their own reaction to their demise, with some struggling to accept their fate, and other expressing confidence that they will be reunited with loved ones who passed before them.
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Early on, the player learns that Vivi suffers from depression and deals with suicidal thoughts. Her immediate reactionupon realizing she may be dead is that she may have gotten what she wanted easily and painlessly. However, she quicklybegins to panic, worrying abouthow her deathwould affect her mother, whoever had to clean up her body and the people sitting around her who watched her die. Thisstruggle between Vivi's dark thoughts and her genuine empathy for those around her are the central focus of the game, and they make for a compelling narrative and protagonist.
Vivi'sconversations with the various spirits headed towards their final destination help her put her own life and feelings into perspective.While a player could speed through the game, speaking only to those with white circles and black exclamation points above their heads, What Comes After is best enjoyed when you speak to everyone, from theperson trying to bargaintheir way out ofthe inevitableto the one contemplating the metaphysical implications of traveling to the afterlife via train to the animals and plants who are also along for the ride.
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Whilecertain conversations can get heavy-handed, the gamegenerally does a good job of imparting its wisdom upon Vivi and the player.What Comes After's"life is worth living" message is abundantly clear, but what makes it interesting is the various perspectives the departed spirits bring. The game isn't just an hour or two of people telling Vivi that she's lucky to still be alive; it's individuals sharing their unique truths and helping Vivi realize for herself that she has value and can find her purpose.
Despite its fantastical premise,the game is firmly grounded in reality and the time in which it was made. For one, the humans on the train in the land of the living are wearing face masks, a sight that puts Vivi's world in line with our own. Vivi's feelings ofinadequacy and fears that she is burdening her loved ones are also painfully relatable to so many right now.
One ofWhat Comes After's greatest strengths is how it makes Vivi feel real without giving players too many details about her. While you'll learn a bit about her family and friends,the storynever dives into the "source" of her mental illness, nor should it.Instead, thegame makes it clear that what matters most is finding the strength to carry on, not whether or notVivihas "earned"her right to feel the way she does.
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Still, even with how simple it is, thegamehas some issues. For one, the text boxes don't distinguish between when Vivi is speaking out loud and when she is thinking, which can get confusing.There are also some issues with the English translation that make some conversations seem just a little bit off. None of this takes away from what isoverall a heartwarming andthought-provoking game, buthaving to reread a sentence because somethingfeels wrong can take you out of the moment.
What Comes After is, of course, not the only game to deal with difficult themes like mental illness and death. Critically-acclaimedindie titles like Celeste and Spiritfarer have handledthese topics in powerful ways, incorporating their messages into gameplay. Of course, as a text-based adventure, What Comes After takes a more direct approach to storytelling, one that makes the game work especially well on Nintendo Switch, where it can be enjoyed in either handheld or TV mode. Despite its issues, the game, overall, is a compact and cathartic experience that serves as a hopeful reminderfor those who are struggling to move forward in 2021.
Developed by fahmitsu in collaboration with Rolling Glory Jam and published by Rolling Glory Jam, What Comes After is available on PC. It launches on Nintendo Switch on April 1. A review copy was provided by the publisher.
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