https://store.privatedivision.com/game/after-us
After Us (Multi, XPd on PS5) As Gaia, explore the ruined Earth on a quest to retrieve Mother's life force/rescue the souls of the vessels housing the life force and bringing them back to Mother's Ark.
TL;DR: Play this game.
After Us is a 3rd person platformer. It's hard to call this game pretty. The Ark certainly is, and only gets more so as you progress. The "Earth" is very much the opposite. It's a somewhat surreal representation, one that's covered in refuse, grime, and oil. It's quite depressing, honestly. The vessels holding Mother's life force are all dead. So be warned, there is rather true to life depictions of dead animals. There is hope at the Ark though, and that kept me going to see the end.
It's a fairly mechanically standard 3d platformer in most aspects. Double jump, hold jump longer for higher jumps/to float for a short time. Sprint/air dash button. Not standard: a "throw your heart/hold to charge life force" button. Throwing your heart is for collecting spirits, as well as interacting with switches/doors. Life force clears oil slicks/grows plants in specific areas.
For the most part, this game is generous with the check points. Also good about letting you engage with a switch/collectible and then "die" without taking back the action. Only came across a couple sections where you have to "do thing" in a limited time with a reset to the beginning if you fail. They weren't long or otherwise super frustrating, which was appreciated.
It's not super difficult, but there's some sections that require precise timing/rapid button presses, and with no accessibility options this may be a challenge for some players. The map is weird, but you have a dedicated "ping collectible" button that sets loose a trail of butterflies you can follow. I was able to 100% the game without outside help. And they do make it obvious where you need to go.
This game was an interesting experience that I hope more people play. 👍👍 #ShareYourGames #Gaming #PS5 #AfterUs #VideoGames