After Us Review (PlayStation 5)

by Jim Smale · Published May 23, 2023 · Updated May 25, 2023

For our After Us Review, we explore the corners of a surrealistic post-human world to give life on Earth a second chance in this touching story about sacrifice and hope. We play as Gaia, the Spirit of Life, and navigate stunning platforming environments in an abstract world to salvage the souls of extinct animals. Revive these creatures after learning their final fate: the last whale harpooned, the final eagle caged, the last deer hunted down, and more, while you survive encounters with dangerous, oil-covered Devourers that roam the wasteland in search of remaining life.

After Us Review Pros:

Decent graphics.
26.04GB download size.
Platinum trophy.
Graphics mode – performance (2K/60fps) and quality (4K/30fps).
Controller settings – Invert axis.
3 save slots.
Action adventure gameplay.
In-game cutscenes.
A fully 3D world with 360-degree camera control.
Tutorial pop-ups as you play. (optional)
As you run through this empty desolate world, you leave a trail of flowers and grass behind you.
Find collectible Spirits to have them show on your life link to then eventually be released into the world.
Singing will have orbs come out to help locate missing Spirits.
Charge up your ability to momentarily change the space around you to lush fields of green, flowers, vines, etc.
Overall the world is just a big empty dark space.
Greet the free Spirits with emotes.
Free Spirits may and can let you pet them.
You have an Orb of life that shoots out in front of you and returns. You use it to collect Spirits but also push back the darkness.
Quick restart upon death or being grabbed into the dark underbelly.
Supports the use of the touchpad.
So much of the story and the world can be interpreted to your own imagination.
Autosaves regularly.
It’s a game all about exploring the world and trying to repopulate it with Spirits.
A lot of platforming.
Actions – jump, dash, double jump, air dash, shoot orbs, Orb overcharge, and air glide.
The rescued Spirits can help with navigation but only if you find them first.
Fast travel can be unlocked and allow you to revisit old areas.
You unlock new abilities as you progress through the story.
The game is split into zones where you find spirit animals to fill in the constellation and eventually, you find the vessel of the zone animal.
Enemies within the game are called Devourers and you can redeem them with your life Orb.
Redeemed Devourers can have a chance of dropping memories.
89 collectible memories to find.
Memories are hand-drawn photography of a time long since passed.
Oasis is a place of life you create and is what you use for fast travel.
Eight vessels to find.
The game has a total of 100 Spirits.

After Us Review Cons:

Cannot rebind controls.
No sensitivity sliders.
The opening cutscene is Unskippable and not voiced, instead it’s just text.
Movement is very fluid but it’s almost overly sensitive and it can cause a lot of issues when platforming or trying to be precise.
Knowing where to go is not always clear.
Not very good at helping you navigate the world in terms of direction or progression.
The tutorial is just in terms of the controls and not what is happening in the world.
You cannot skip any cutscenes.

After Us:

Official website.

Developer: Piccolo Studio

Publisher: Private Division

Store Links –

8/10

Graphics - 8/10
8/10

Sound - 8/10
7/10

Accessibility - 7/10
8/10

Length - 8/10
8/10

Fun Factor - 8/10

7.8/10

Summary

After Us is a game where the world has been turned into a dark empty shell of a place, you have the power of life but only in a limited way, and that way is finding and releasing the Spirits of the animals and creatures that inhabited the world. As you do this the world starts to feel a bit more alive, the animals will roam in packs, birds will fly to help guide you in a direction and some will just look cool and content sitting o a ledge watching you fall off a cliff for the millionth time. Now After Us is a slow starter, you slowly learn what needs to be done and how to do it as the tutorials are more controlled and focused than gameplay. As you play more you get new abilities and it makes the gameplay smoother and more enjoyable. I honestly felt like I was playing an open-world more in-depth Journey 2 game. There is no actual voice work and it’s all just emotes and text. The main struggle I had was with the world and its layout because you I could never fully commit to a direction as it’s not always great at helping with the guiding but man the game is actually kind of cool. When you start getting the ability to fight Devourers and wall ride the game has a lot more going on and piles the fun in. After Us is not perfect but it is enjoyable and if you ever wondered what a Journey 2 would look like then check out After Us.