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Afterlove EP

The Summer of Demos : Day Five

Afterlove EP

(key art by Soyatu, copyright Pikselnesia)

A year after the death of his girlfriend Cinta, Rama is ready to reach out to his friends and get the band back together. Only problem is, he still hears her voice.

Set in modern day Jakarta, Afterlove EP is set to explore the nature of grief against a lesser-explored urban backdrop. In the demo you check out poetry readings, hang out in coffee shops and jam in the back of a record shop like young artists are wont to do. With a remote team working across Indonesia, it feels like an authentic depiction of the space from an artist’s perspective. The game was Mohammad Fahmi’s (Coffee Talk) final project before he passed away in 2022, so the team’s exploration of grief working on the game in his wake will be tragically poignant.

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(copyright Pikselnesia)

Gameplay mostly involves walking from place to place down bustling streets and talking with your peers, with the occasional guitar rhythm minigame. With it being a year since you last spoke, there’s some tension with your old band. Not helping matters is Cinta’s running commentary, always looking on the pessimistic side of every encounter and eager to share her thoughts. Whether her presence is spiritual or psychological remains to be seen. There is one effective moment where a poetry reading melts into her voice, perhaps indicating how much she still dominates Rama’s thoughts, but her being the only voiced character in the demo got grating fast.

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Sometimes a spade is just a spade, Cinta… (copyright Pikselnesia)

Given the context surrounding the game and the authentic exploration of its setting, I hope this game will stick the landing despite how overtly frustrating Cinta’s comments were in the demo.

In a word : Rama.

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Hit or hold the right arrow keys in time with the music in rhythm minigames. (copyright Pikselnesia)

Afterlove EP is an upcoming narrative adventure developed by Pikselnesia and published by Fellow Traveller for PS4/5, Xbox Series S/X, Nintendo Switch and PC via Steam, targeting a Q3 release later this year.

This article is part of the Summer of Demos series, where I’ll be releasing a Demo Diving preview article each day in July. If you liked this article, be sure to share it with a friend or enemy. If you back me on Patreon, you get access to articles one day before they release anywhere else. If we reach £25/month before the end of July, I’ll extend the Summer of Demos into August.

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