Have you ever been on a crazy adventure with your best friend? A lot of us probably have, but have you gone to Hell in your adventure? Probably not. Afterparty by developers Night School Studio, is a total party game. You get to challenge Satan himself to a drinking challenge. If you went to a university then this game will definitely bring back some memories.
Milo and Lola are best buds, since forever. The pair of recently deceased friends have found themselves in Hell upon their death, confused about why they are there. This indie adventure game takes the pair all around Hell and across the River Styx to visit many different characters. The best part of their afterlife adventure? They get to drink and party their way to defeating Satan so they can be re-admitted back to Earth.
Somehow the two found a loop-hole around Satan’s system and in an attempt to trick the friends, Satan has them both go around to all of his friend doing challenges. Lola and Milo seem pretty stoked about drinking everyone under the table, but can you get alcohol poisoning in Hell? As the two talk to each other, the story unfolds further about their relationship and the player gets to control every reaction to the story. How you answer will affect every single part of the game. Go through the dance challenges, drinking challenges and more to see if you can finally make it out. Be warned, every drink (there are 30 of them) will change how you interact with your friend, so choose wisely.
Afterparty has great imagery and the story is great to dig into. So much so, that all of the elements will keep you occupied. Plus getting different endings, and going back to change your original actions is just fun to try. The game is very text based, but if you’ve ever played their previous game OxenFree, you will have a pretty good sense of how the game will go. They don’t copy their previous game but their style still remains. With only a 6 hour run time, the game should be quick to get through.
The only downsides to Afterparty is that some people may get bored with side scrolling without a lot of action. You’re basically doing a bar crawl, which takes time. In some cases the mini games don’t really tell you what you’re doing, but you learn. Every once in a while too, the commentary is like a bad dad joke, but this might be someone’s form of humor. The voice actors are great however, and the music is great!
Overall, it’s a hard game to pass up. For around $19.99USD you can give it a try, and if you really like it, there are bundles you can get that would include the game Oxenfree and Afterparty, or Afterparty and the soundtrack. Just have fun with it and try not to die…again…or something.
8/10
Available on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC