Until Then: Afterimages (2026) is downloadable content (DLC) for Until Then (2024) and cannot be played without the base game. I have attempted to avoid major plot spoilers for Until Then, but I do discuss its themes and mechanics in general terms.
Until Then is a visual novel/adventure game featuring 2D pixel-art sprites in a 2.5D sidescrolling environment. It is the debut title of Polychroma Games, an indie studio based in the Philippines. The game is set in a fictional city in the Philippines after a global catastrophe called “the Ruling.” You play as Mark Borja, a high school student who lives on his own, supported by money his parents earn while working abroad. The story focuses on how Mark and his friends contend with grief and trauma.
Until Then: Afterimages contains 2 new chapters that take place several years after most of the events of the base game. The first chapter concentrates on Sofia. Even though I had played Until Then earlier this year, I needed to look up who Sofia was because she was not part of the main cast. In Afterimages, Sofia is a struggling fashion designer and influencer living in North Carolina. She returns to her hometown in the Philippines after her grandmother’s death to sort out her affairs. Even after so many years, Sofia struggles with grief over the death of a high school crush and is supported from afar by her partner, Alissa.
In the second chapter, you play as Mark, an engineering student and vice president of a student organization called the Mechies. Mark develops a relationship with the president, Des, and reconnects with Nicole, one of the main characters from the base game. The story focuses on the three of them organizing the Mechies’ annual concert. Even though I was more interested in Mark’s narrative initially, I ended up enjoying Sofia’s more. I could not become invested in the school org drama. As a result, Mark’s story seemed to drag on, though it did eventually go to some of the places I hoped it would.
Afterimages features the same sharp writing as the base game. As in real life, many of these conversations happen over text. My favourite mechanic was the way characters would begin a text, then erase it, then try again. This was not only realistic but also provided insights into both characters’ knee-jerk reactions and how they censor themselves, even when corresponding with those closest to them. I also appreciated the definitions of terms or cuisine particular to the Philippines.
Until Then has a somewhat unusual structure. After rolling credits, the game will ask you if you want to continue. If you do, there are 2 more “acts” or “cycles,” amounting to around 10 more hours of gameplay. I don’t think reaching the “true ending” is required to understand and enjoy the DLC. In fact, I suspect that the DLC may make more sense to players who have not experienced cycles 2 and 3. In later cycles, it becomes clear that we are dealing with a story with multiple timelines.
Players who might have been put off by the paranormal occurrences of cycles 2 and 3 will be glad to hear that Afterimages focuses on the sorts of interpersonal relationships and slice-of-life activities that made cycle 1 so vibrant and engrossing. However, because I had experienced several different timelines, it was unclear to me what was true in the story the DLC was telling. I was unsure who was alive and the nature of characters’ relationships. For instance, when Mark meets Nicole in the DLC, it’s clear they know each other, but I didn’t initially know whether they were friends or lovers or mere acquaintances in this timeline.
In Mark’s chapter, the only minigame involved selecting dialogue options as they moved around the screen. Alternating between trackpad and controller, I often found myself frequently selecting undesirable responses, which had some minor gameplay or story implications and couldn’t be undone without restarting the chapter. Initially, I felt this minigame undercut my control over Mark’s responses. With reflection, however, my frustration at the challenge of choosing the best option, as well as my repeated failures to do so, mirrored Mark’s struggles to “find the right words.”
This mechanic exposes a tension between Afterimages as a narrative and Afterimages as a game. As a narrative, the mechanic aligns my feelings with those of Mark. However, as a game, it wasn’t enjoyable. I picked this up at the end of a workday filled with struggles to find the right words in emails to colleagues, a peer review, and a report for a research grant. In choosing to play Afterimages, I didn’t expect to have that experience gamified. It wasn’t fun for me, even as I understood its rationale.
Even at launch, Afterimages provides a polished experience. The only hiccup was actually finding the DLC. Seeing no button on the main menu, I clicked “Continue,” but that just played the epilogue again. In case anyone else is similarly confused, Afterimages is found under “Chapter Select.” It also took some random clicking to close the in-game social media app. I’m still unsure how the game determines the player is ready to move on.
Until Then: Afterimages is a must-play for fans of the base game who are interested in a glimpse into the future of Sofia’s and Mark’s lives as young adults. At over 5 hours of new content, Afterimages is a bargain even without a discount. But if you have a memory like mine, you may need a refresher on the plot.
