Afterparty

Night School Studio can toast to creating a funny and endearing tale.

Some weird technical mishaps aside, Afterparty is a helluva ride. Night School Studio’s depiction of Hell is wonderfully inventive, quirky, and surprisingly enticing. While it’s certainly up for debate whether it dethrones Oxenfree, Afterparty is a quality followup that will bring a smile to your face. The story is solid with great relatable characters but the constantly hilarious script and dialogue make Afterparty worth sticking with until the very end, even after everybody’s gone home.

Considering there’s the touch of an interesting puzzle here and there, we’d have loved something a little stronger than the tasty but weak cocktail we got. [Issue#170, p.86]

Afterparty is a unique look at the people we are, the people we wish to be, and how the world, its occupants, and even ourselves can frequently f.ck with both. While as a video game it offers mostly persistent conversation, that conversation is excellently performed and smartly written. Despite undeniable narrative and technical shortcomings, Afterparty is still a shindig worth turning up to, even if the invite seemed a little more promising.

I'm torn from afterparty. On the one hand, the crazy characters, along with funny dialogues and completely ridiculous story are an absolute genre highlight. On the other hand, however, what you do in the game is just too much limited. The drink feature is a really funny gimmick, but there is not much depth. Moreover, apart from the decisions on which of the two options you choose, there is not really much to do.

Afterparty is a game with characters and writing, with the secondary characters often managing to outshine our two leads, Milo and Lola. Unfortunately a few technical issues with load times, stuttering and long periods of silence do suck some of the fun from Afterparty. Still, it's worth playing if you like your character centred pieces.

Some of the best dialogue of the year and an interestingly original portrayal of Hell overcome a slightly undercooked take on classic graphic adventures.

Night School Studio's Afterparty falls short of greatness, with an unrewarding narrative, underutilized gameplay concepts, and technical issues.

Hellish bugs might significantly diminish the experience but Afterparty still gives players a convincing enough argument to take an express elevator down to the fiery pits of torment.