I was drawn to What Comes After with its beautiful hand-drawn artwork and interesting story premise. The short film-length visual novel puts you in the shoes of Vivi, a young lady who is living life on autopilot. She feels disconnected from the world, and when boarding a train to go home one evening, Vivi falls asleep. Upon awaking, she realises she has boarded a train that takes ghosts onto the What Comes After. She can’t leave, so under the orders of the conductor, Vivi chats to the inhabitants onboard, realising she isn’t seizing her own life in the process.
How this excellent idea translates to a game is crucial to whether you’ll enjoy What Comes After. You’ll move Vivi from ghost to ghost, carriage to carriage, chatting to anything with a speech bubble. Most of the passengers will have something to say, but they are very short and succinct NPC-style comments and conversations. Some are happy they’ve died, some are confused, some are regretful, and some feel that they have unfinished business. What Comes After is great at showing a variety of thoughts about the end of your life, but I’d have liked those chats to be a little meatier to uncover more nuanced takes and ideas.
Instead, Vivi will have a few longer conversations with a couple of key characters. Three stand out. One is a baby who never had the chance to live a long life. Another is with a giant old tree whose watched the world change over hundreds of years. Towards the end of the game, you’ll meet a staff member who prepares a final meal for each passenger, and as a foodie, I connected with the idea of food triggering memories. All three bring unique perspectives, and because the conversations reveal Vivi’s thoughts, and the character’s life outlook too, they are easily the shining elements of the game.
Aside from those key conversations, What Comes After looks and sounds beautiful. The hand-drawn visuals are excellent. They convey a cosy and warm world, and sell a lo-fi beats indie Ghibli world. It is just a shame that the stay is so short. Whilst it’s admirable to be in and out in under two hours, I think this is one game where spending another half hour or so discovering more about the characters, and crucially Vivi herself, would have benefitted the overarching experience. We know a bit about Vivi’s world by the end, but not enough to truly understand why she feels so empty and disconnected. I wanted to balance why she was considering ending her life against the backdrop of her life, but it’s told in broad strokes. Vivi is a likeable character, but again, I wanted more.
What Comes After is a great premise, but it feels a little short-changed by its depth and runtime. I did enjoy my playthrough, and I had some reflections after playing, but it wasn’t quite as impactful as I thought it was going to be, having read the concept.
Higher Plain Games is part of the Higher Plain Network. If you like what I do, please consider supporting me via Patreon for as little as $1/£1 a month. There are additional perks for supporting me, such as behind-the-scenes content and downloads. You can also share the website or use the affiliate buy now links on reviews. Buying credit from CD Keys using my affiliate link means I get a couple of pence per sale. All your support will enable me to produce better content, more often. Thank you.
