Afterlove EP has something of a bittersweet taste to it given that its main theme is about grief and learning to move on as this is something studio Pikselnesia knows all too well. Its founder and creative director Mohammad Fahmi died in 2022 and Afterlove EP feels like not just a journey for the player but for the studio itself too. There is a lot of love and care in the narrative of Afterlove EP, and as someone who lost their dad last year, it resonated with me deeply.
Based in Jakarta and using real-world locations, Afterlove EP focuses on Rama, a young man who lost his girlfriend Cinta a year ago. Rama was part of a band with his two friends Tasya and Amit but after Cinta’s death, the band has gone on hiatus. They were all friends and as Rama shut himself away, all his creative flow and zest for life had been locked away with it. During this time, Rama has created a version of Cinta in his head that he chats to, and gets advice from – almost like a spirit guide. The problem is that Cinta is often giving advice to keep Rama safe and alone rather than re-engaging back with the world again as that would mean Rama may move on.
Afterlove EP takes place over 28 days and nights, each with a choice of scenes that you can pick from to progress the story. Do you embrace a new love from three prospective love interests (2 female, 1 male) – each with their unique challenges and struggles? Do you embrace creativity and focus on restarting the band? Do you choose to not move on and live in your own head? It is a delicate balance and whilst most options are paraded in front of you, your choices of who you engage with most will largely dictate how your story plays out. All the characters have some kind of flaw or trait that makes them both interesting and not quite the perfect choice or way forward. This makes Afterlove EP a much more enjoyable and intriguing game to play as you can quite easily decide to focus on yourself instead and spend time going to therapy, busking on street corners, and going home to bed without being too friendly to anyone. It is a very personal juggling act.
Graphically, Afterlove EP is beautiful and vibrant. Whilst the story has heavy moments, often delivered with levity sprinkled around it, the world of Jakarta is bustling and bright. There are some locations you’ll barely visit in some routes, whilst others transform over time depending on the context. Seeing Jakarta in both day and night is nice and the general ambience lends itself well to a homely place that could leave you feeling lonely too. There is a happy jam-rock soundtrack for the otherworld music which switches instruments and genres depending on the location and each shop or restaurant has its own spin on it. The way this all hangs together just works – it’s a great place to wander around whilst feeling contained and not too sprawling.
As music pulses throughout the game, we have various musical minigames to break up the visual novel with movement gameplay. The soundtrack is a slightly discordant rock most of the time and songs have an easy and normal mode to play. You can’t fail these rhythm games but achievements for perfect completions are the stretch goals. As rhythm games go, Afterlove EP is basic and button presses felt a little off-tempo. It is probably the weakest aspect of the game but only makes up for about 10% of the playtime. You can also select lyrics for open mic and busking events too which is a nice addition, although I’m not sure what impact it actually had on anything.
During my initial playthrough I felt like I’d set Rama on a path to self-discovery. As a result, I moved on from Cinta, found a potential new friend, and kept the band together. I found my therapy sessions interesting to show new perspectives and I found Cinta’s inner voice to end up being quite toxic and harmful, as such waking me up and forcing me to want to move on. Reflecting on my own experiences of grief and loss, I find myself still in the mourning and deflated part of losing my dad nearly a year on. I am engaged in bits of the world again but I’m certainly not my former self and I think that’s OK. I’m perhaps more focused on things I want to achieve and be proud of rather than sweating the smaller stuff. Each grief leaves an imprint on you and nudges you in a new direction and Afterlove EP does that in an excellent 6-8 hour story. There’s plenty of replayability too for exploring other routes and it is something I’ll definitely do again. Due to the emotional weight the game carries, I’ll probably park it for a while before replaying but its narrative and ideas stayed with me long after playing. Poignant and life-affirming.
A review copy of Afterlove EP was provided by the publisher. Afterlove EP is out now.
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