Until Then: Afterimages Review Summary

Sophia's touching story and base-game-quality moments win fans over, but the DLC often feels pointless and tonally off, with a shallow story that disappoints.

DLC widely praised: The DLC is overwhelmingly well-received, with many calling it a masterpiece, emotionally moving, and worth the price. It is seen as a beautiful continuation that exceeds expectations.

Sophia's story touching: Sophia's chapter is described as meaningful, bittersweet, and well-written. Her character evolution and romantic relationship are particularly moving.

Matches base game quality: Players feel the DLC builds perfectly on the base game, reaching or even surpassing its quality and expanding its story and themes successfully.

Emotionally impactful narrative: The DLC delivers a powerful emotional experience, often described as a rollercoaster that rivals or exceeds the main game's impact.

Good value for price: Many reviewers find the DLC reasonably priced, offering solid content and good value for money.

DLC feels pointless and disappointing: Many reviewers question the DLC's purpose, finding it adds little to the base game. They describe it as unsatisfying and a letdown compared to the original.

DLC story lacks depth and impact: Reviewers feel the DLC's narrative is shallow and fails to capture the emotional weight of the main game. It does not expand on characters or story and is considered brief.

DLC diverges from base game's tone: The DLC feels very different from the original, lacking its charm and emotional resonance. It is seen as a downgrade that bogs down the base game's experience.

Disappointing and confusing ending: The DLC's ending is frequently described as rushed, unsatisfying, and nonsensical, leaving loose ends and failing to provide closure. Many found it ruined the experience.

Confusing and poorly written Mark's chapter: The chapter focusing on Mark is criticized for being confusing, melodramatic, and lacking meaningful character development. Many found its script incoherent and its length excessive.

DLC Split Into Two Stories: The DLC is divided into two separate chapters or stories, often named Homecoming and Sparks. Each chapter focuses on different characters, typically Sofia and Mark.

Continues Base Game Narrative: The DLC expands the narrative of the base game, continuing the story with new chapters and character development. It is a story-driven expansion that follows from the main game's events.

DLC Set After First Ending: The DLC's story takes place after the first ending of the base game, not the final ending. It explores an alternate timeline or aftermath following that specific conclusion.

Sofia Chapter Deals With Grief: Sofia's chapter focuses on her coping with the loss of her sister Cathy (or Katie) and her return to the Philippines. It explores themes of grief, memory, and moving on.

Includes Mini-Games: The DLC features various mini-games, such as a cake-baking minigame, which are part of both chapters or specific sections. These add interactive elements to the narrative.

Performance issues throughout game: Players experience lag, stuttering, and low FPS in many scenes, including festival crowds and chapter 2. The game is poorly optimized despite simple pixel graphics.

Random freezes block progression: The game freezes at various specific moments, causing hard locks that prevent advancing. This issue is reported across multiple chapters and storylines.

Crashes at DLC ending: Multiple players report consistent crashes during the final chapter of the DLC, including the opening cinematic. This makes it impossible to complete the DLC content.

Ending chat crashes: Crashes occur specifically during the ending chat and near the credits. This prevents players from seeing the conclusion.

Scene transition problems: Freezing and lag occur when switching scenes, with transitions sometimes being jarring. Loading may also freeze or be too quick.

Highly Recommended for Base Fans: Many reviewers strongly recommend the DLC for players who enjoyed the base game, especially for its backstory and additional content. It is described as a must-have for fans of the original storytelling.

Disappointing for Story Continuation: A significant number of players do not recommend the DLC, particularly those who loved the base game's ending. They feel it fails to meet expectations and is not worthy of fans of the original story.

Worth the Price: Reviewers frequently mention that the DLC is definitely worth its price, especially given its low cost. Many say it is a no-brainer purchase for those who enjoyed the base game.

Strong Positive Recommendations: Many reviewers give the DLC high praise, with ratings like 10/10 and strong recommendations. They consider it a phenomenal addition to an already great game.

Skip and Watch Instead: Some players recommend not buying the DLC and instead watching a playthrough or let's play online. They suggest avoiding the DLC and just playing the base game.

Community fair range: $10.00 - $20.00.

Game completion: 5.0h.

Story completion: 5.0h.

Session length: 5.0h.

The reports mostly indicate the game never clicks for these players, who cite repetitive scenes, odd pacing, short chapters, and boring mini-games. A minority find specific mini-games or story content enjoyable, but mainly if they are already invested in the characters or story.

Friction: Repeated scenes; Off-kilter pacing; Pacing feels too quick; Absurdly short chapter; Too many boring mini-games; Missing tutorial for the cooking minigame.

Emotional Continuation Seeker: Plays for narrative and character-driven moments, treating the DLC as more of the base game rather than a standalone sequel. Motivation: Reconnecting with beloved characters and extending the emotional journey of the base game. Stance: buy.

Disillusioned Canon Purist: Evaluates the DLC as a narrative continuation, focusing on timeline placement, thematic consistency, and whether it honors the original story. Motivation: Preserving the base game's true ending and canonical character development. Stance: no buy.

Sofia Arc Enthusiast: Prioritizes character-specific side stories, especially Homecoming, and often recommends only the first chapter or a discounted purchase. Motivation: Experiencing Sofia's personal story and seeing her grief and growth given more screen time. Stance: buy.

Windows users report broadly playable performance overall, but the middle VRAM cohort shows the most serious instability. The lowest and highest VRAM cohorts are mostly positive with noted stutter, freezes, or lower-than-expected FPS.

Windows <8GB VRAM: positive. All included reviewers recommended the game, though they reported lag, crowd-related slowdowns, occasional loading freezes, and a late-game crash.

Windows 8-11GB VRAM: negative. Reviewers frequently reported freezes during scene changes and specific story moments, with two not recommending the game due to performance problems.

Windows 12-15GB VRAM: positive. All included reviewers found it playable and recommended it, while noting occasional stutter and lower-than-expected FPS.

Monetization: The reviews focus on an inexpensive, optional story DLC for Until Then. Users commonly praise its price-to-content value and describe it as a way to support the developers. No review provides evidence of real-money gacha, loot boxes, pay-to-win purchases, convenience items, currency obfuscation, aggressive FOMO, or an in-game cash shop. Negative feedback is limited to subjective story quality concerns, which are not monetization issues.

DLC is Expansion Add-on: The DLC is an expansion to the base game Until Then, requiring the original game and adding more content. It is not a standalone sequel but a follow-up.

Two-Chapter Story Structure: The DLC is divided into two distinct chapters, Homecoming and Sparks, focusing on Sofia and Mark respectively. These chapters are independent tales with different tones.

Affordable DLC Pricing Praised: Reviewers consistently highlight the DLC's low price, often under $5, and consider it excellent value for the content provided. Many thank the developers for the reasonable pricing.

Short Playtime Around 4-5 Hours: The DLC offers about 4 to 5 hours of gameplay across its two chapters, which some reviewers consider short. The length is often mentioned in relation to its low price.

Desire for More DLC: Several reviewers express hope for future DLCs or additional content from the developers, indicating satisfaction with the current offering.