The Indie Informer

Personal and global trauma. How does a world, a nation, a person grow up and move on after so many terrible things have happened? I didn’t start up Until Then with the intention of looking the hurt from my own past adult life — pandemic, economic and emotional depression, and any number of unprecedented events — right in the eyes. Recognizing myself in…O̶̜̰͖̠̬̤̹̹͙̗͚͛̒̉͂̓̿̐̄̕ͅͅn̷̛͍͕͓͍̠̈́̑̏̌͐͗̏͘͠͠͝ͅ ̴̧͔̭͖̰̅̓̾̅̀́̅̂̕͘͝͠n̴͙̞̼͒ơ̷̛̜͔̾,̷͍̖̺͊̀͗͊̉̏̾̋̾̚͝ͅ ̶̪̙̼̳̩̙̙͔̂̏͋͑͝ͅì̵̺̠̰̝̟̜͓̭̝̊͂̐̑̐͌̉̇͌̕͝t̶̡͍̣͉͎͘͜ͅ’̴͔̲̹̱̗̠͖̻̯̦̮̗͊̅̒̐̊͋̋̀̀̈̔́̓̚s̶̼̬̩͓̙̙̼̞̗͕͈̟̿̋̂͊͛̀̒͂̒̔̕͜ ̴̖͖͙̫͇̒̒͐͐́̊̿́͝h̸̡̧̞̹͖̩̙̯͉̼͉̳̟͚̊̾̊̾̈͊̋̒̽̍̈̀̀̚ͅa̴̜̤͖͕̜̘͚͇̣̓̈̌̆̀͜͜͠ͅp̵̡̗̪͇̈̌̽̈́̎͂̒̐̄̊̚͝͝p̵̡̘̫͙͙͚̤͂̀e̸̡͎͉͕̭̳̗͙̦̜͖̒̈́͗́̚͠͠ͅṋ̸̼͓̲͇̰̭̜̾̏̄̉̔̌͂̆͝ī̸͖̱͇̜̘͕̯͓̳̘̺͜n̵̡̢̦̰̙͓͚͔̞̫̈́̿͛̈́̈̓̒̈́̌͂̈̿͝ͅg̸͇̓͒̇̈̇͐̅̀̏̇͐͠͝ ̶̢̢̥̱̘̘̘̜̙̗̘͎͕̅̋a̴̟̺̠̺͍̻͙̗̯̩̫̰͆̃̓́̐̈́̀̾͝g̸̢̯̬̮̣̬̝͖͉̖͂͛͌̽͒̏̓̎̄͌̕ͅą̷̨̲̝̘̮̺̦̺͕̝̞̈̀̄͗̈́͋̄̊̕͜͝͝��̙i̸̛̛͓̗͐̾͒̿̎͝n̶̢̛̼̥̩̣̺̪̰̺̗̠͙͓̎̿͛̑̄̀͜.̵̛̭̣̤͈͍͚̭̩̫̦͂́̎̿̔̂͗̓̎̔̕ͅͅ ̷̯͙̠̲̘̱̭̏̚͜͠͠W̶̧̛͎͍̬̼̺͓͓̗̞̪̻̘̤͋́̋̊̂̍̆͘͝h̴̢̹̩͉͙̯̥̲̦͍̩̞̀̌̈̋̀̈͆̉̕ą̵͈̤̰͉̹̩̝̱͇̱͇̘͓̅̓͂͛̍̆͂̀́̐̒̎̊ț̸̡̨̮͎̳̮͖̙̼̅͐̾͂͌̀̓̚͘ ̷̡̛͈͚̼̣̪̺͖̹͉̠̖͚̮̓̿̈́͌̓̋͠͠į̵̨̨̧̘̝̮̭̪͔̜͔̤̗̊̂͜s̵̡̲̺͓̈̀̀̒̍̀̑̆̈́̓̓̃̈́ ̷̼̯͙̝̮̪̬̟̾͆̆̋͊̔͛̌̊̅͗͘͠t̶͚̝̖̜̹͙̉͑̋̌̎̓̕̚͠h̶̢̫͎͍̳̞̖̝̼̙̻̘̼̯̿̌̿̓̈̆́͐̚͠i̷͓̥̪̔̾̎͋̄͆̿̏̐̒͘͝s̴̭̦̤͔̲̍̓͝?̶̰͌̆͗͂̔̋̆́̽

What the heck is happening? Is time spinning out of control? Is that blood on the floor? The white noise is freaking me out. Who is even around to write “help us” on the wall? Can children’s lullabies be any creepier?

And then I’m at the fair, possibly getting a girlfriend. And, testament to the developer’s skill, I care just as much about that as the tearing fabric of reality.

You might have picked up on this already, but my six-hour adventure with Until Then took some wild turns. Its high points break through the clouds of my mind, with impressive visuals, hard topics, and the genuine heart of all its characters. Its lowest points, at worst, leave me without much to do but observe the world.

I’m not adverse to the kind of game that limits its gameplay. In fact, you can check out my earlier thoughts on that in this preview. But there were moments here where I almost felt like there was no game in my game. These stretches of long dialogue are often broken up with the most unexpected flashes of interactivity, thankfully.

My favorite of these bolt-from-the-blue moments included a constantly changing video game session that switched from old-school platformer, to online fantasy RPG, to a game resembling an obvious touchstone for Until Then: Doki Doki Literature Club.

For anyone aware of the inspiration title, let me quickly clarify that Until Then doesn’t hit nearly as disturbing turns. However, it is beyond a doubt working with similar themes and gameplay philosophies. Fans of heavy action are unlikely to get past the more pensive text walls, but narrative enthusiasts will be well rewarded for perseverance. Having played both titles, it’s fascinating what Until Then takes and rejects from the beloved indie. Its conclusion on the nature of reality and healing is, for example, more grounded and hopeful.

As with many remarkable games, interpreting Until Then‘s ending will lie with every individual player. I sat with it a while — swirling the bitterness and sweetness around in my mouth. Its mystery, finally revealed, is so human I toyed with the idea of feeling unsatisfied with its mundaneness. Ultimately, I landed on admiring how unfortunately relatable life after the end of the world felt.