And he was done in by someone at the party above where his life came to an end. Did he fall by accident? The responding officers Danner ( Tiffany Haddish) and Culp ( John Early)-and what great “cop show” names-decide quickly that this was no slip and fall. It won’t take long before Night School’s Oxenfree follow-up is merely an Afterthought, though.“The Afterparty” opens with the death of a pop star/actor named Xavier ( Dave Franco), who plummets from a cliff overlooking an ocean. Still, if you enjoy some fairly well-written dialogue, complicated relationships between multi-dimensional characters and enjoyed the fluency of Oxenfree’s dialogue, you may well enjoy Afterparty. Compared to Oxenfree, however, Afterparty can’t hold a candle to it. In fact, I think it’s a pretty serviceable game – well, aside from the bugs and frame-rate issues, something that held Oxenfree back from greatness – and one that I enjoyed for the most part thanks to the witty dialogue and absorbing relationship between Milo and Lola.
You would be forgiven for thinking that I don’t actually like Afterparty, but weirdly I still do. Another put an NPC in front of my character during a Simon Says style dance-off, which meant I couldn’t see the button prompts above my head. But worst of all is the bugs, one of which had me restarting the game after half an hour because of a game breaking glitch that locked me in a bar with no options to pursue. The frame-rate issues aside – which are numerous to say the least – the game is let down by characters talking over one another and dialogue being unintentionally cut short. The one thing that Afterparty did manage to nail that Oxenfree also nailed was how bloody buggy it was. I spent a lot – and I mean a lot – of my time in-game traipsing back and forth from objective to objective, playing some lame and inane mini-games, and one of the main mechanics – whereby you drink alcohol to give you new dialogue options – actually starts to feel rather tedious after a few hours. My problem – well, aside from the aforementioned problems, of course – is that Afterparty just isn’t that much fun, narrative aside. That, and the typically excellent dialogue and the fluency at which you experience it. The relationship between Milo and Lola is honestly the only thing that will keep players going. Night School presents you with options to befriend a whole host of characters throughout the game’s 5-hour or so story, but they’re all either demons or in Hell, so they’re not exactly likeable characters.Ĭredit where credit is due, though, Night School has still amply demonstrated its ability to create likeable, and more importantly, hand-crafted realistic human characters.
In Oxenfree you played as Alex, you crafted relationships, got to know and love – or hate – your companions who were dotted throughout your journey In Afterparty, though, it feels odd playing both sides on the main – and possibly only – relationship. Playing as two characters in Afterparty also seems to have an adverse effect on the quality of the experience. From beginning to end, Night Party shrouds Milo and Lola’s death and why they’re in Hell in mystery, but when it comes to the payoff, it falls incredibly short. Tonally, then, the two games are polar opposites, and although the scope for Afterparty to add thought-provoking and compelling twists throughout still exists, the problem is they never deliver on the promises they setup. While Oxenfree focused on mysteries from the beyond, Afterparty opts for a sort of juvenile, almost comedic romp along the banks of the River Styx. And in typical jovial nature, the only way to do that is to outdrink the Lord of the Underworld himself, Satan.
In Afterparty you play as best friends, Milo and Lola, who inadvertently find themselves in the depths of Hell with one thing on their minds: to escape. Compared to Oxenfree, it's a real disappointment. Afterparty, Night School’s follow-up (if you don’t count the Mr Robot mobile app, which we don’t) unfortunately, is a bit of a damp squib. It was the video game equivalent of a good book, with gripping page turning moments and twists to boot.
#AFTERPARTY REVIEW FULL#
It was mysterious and full of intrigue, while at the same time supported by some savvy dialogue and a story that you just couldn’t put down. In 2016 when Oxenfree hit consoles, Night School instantly jumped into my list of studios to keep an eye on.
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