What Comes After

It's not a long or technically spectacular game, but What Comes After stands out for its ability to excite and leave you thinking for much longer than the actual game itself.

If What Comes After can help those dealing with mental health struggles, then that’s a wonderful thing. But it doesn’t cover these topics delicately; its messages aren’t hidden anywhere, they’re in-your-face, front and centre. However, it’s all the other issues What Comes After tries to deal with – deforestation, animal abuse and more – that ruin the experience. As important as all of those issues are, What Comes After doesn’t give enough time for them to have any real purpose or meaning. Had it been more focused, it could have had much more impact.

It's always a bit of a challenge for me to review games that really aren't games, whether interactive novels or in this case semi-interactive and fixed narrative experiences of a sort...

What Comes After doesn’t go much further than “Remember happy memories” and “It’ll get better with time.” I just don’t feel that’s enough to really examine this topic. However, the presentation is charming enough, and the entire experience can be completed in less than an hour, to which it doesn’t overstay its welcome. Perhaps more time would have allowed them to explore the themes they introduced further.

What Comes After treads some common ground on these topics but it does so well enough to have it stand out among the rest. Its gameplay leaves a lot to be desired but as its own confined bite-size adventure, especially now available as a handheld game, it's a story that wholesome and thought-provoking. I appreciated the game's shorter length, how it went about commentating on serious topics, I just wish its gameplay was a bit more engaging whether it'd be some light puzzle solving, some choice selection, or something else. Regardless, What Comes After is a great story that at its $6.99 price tag, is worth reading.

It is a very short experience, clocking in at just around an hour long, so even if you find the gameplay to be a tad tedious, the game at the very least does not overstay its welcome. If you're more interested in narrative as opposed to gameplay, you will likely find some enjoyment here, but those who are more interested in gameplay should probably steer clear. What Comes After has a lot to say, and even if a shoddy translation takes the impact down a bit, it's still worth a look if its premise has caught your eye.

From the creators of Coffee Talk comes What Comes After, swapping coffee for ghosts, this heart-warming tale captured me from the get-go. But, is it a game you should dive into? Let me tell you.

What Comes After is a short narrative experience that doesn’t ask much from the player but has a lot to offer in return. Its playtime may not run long, but the effect it had on me lingered for far longer.

What Comes After is an inspiringly told portrayal of the beauty of life. It perfectly balances discussions about suicide, the trials and tribulations of life and the meaning of it all with a detailed and stylised art style that oozes warmth and joy.

A tale of self-discovery, forgiveness, and all the love, life, memories, and regrets that make us human. A philosophical journey that will have players thinking deeply about their own life and place in the world. This game is an amazing experience wrapped up in a charming artistic style. There is also the hint of a lesson in this game as well; the lesson being that humanity needs to do better. The way we treat our fellow living creatures we share this planet with is, quite usually, not all that great. As the intelligent beings we are, we can – and should – strive to do better. Just as Vivi discovers: perhaps we can’t change everyone, but we can try… and we can most certainly change ourselves. That’s all it takes to make the world a more kind and beautiful place. The game is short and sweet, and you’ll easily be able to finish it in one sitting. However, keep a box of tissues handy, as you’re probably going to need a whole box of them by the end of What Comes After.