Before we start the review, I would like to thank Maximum Entertainment for allowing us to get our hands on Until Then before the official release so that we could create this content. Now, let's get to the point...

A normal life

The game begins with you immersing yourself in the life of a young high school student who, apparently, has a completely normal existence like ours, the teenager Mark Borja. You wake up, get angry at your alarm clock because you stayed up late last night playing online games, change clothes and put on your school uniform, walk down the street, check your social networks and one of your friends reminds you that you had to do a homework for today that you clearly didn't do, but you are not very shaken because you are almost graduating and go to class in peace... See? An ordinary life, it reminds you of your adolescence, perhaps?

Amidst the slowly progressing narrative, showing the details of Mark's life, you are summoned and immersed into the world of Until Then through very beautiful and pleasant art, which proposes very well-detailed scenarios and environments that overflow with life. The characters, including the NPCs that are there just to compose the background, also do not fall behind and do their job very well (composing the background). It may seem very silly these "background characters", but when you want to represent a context of urban life, it is essential that there is effort to place them in a way that really seems real, because that is what makes our brain look at the scenario and feel a resemblance to real life. So much so that when you explore a game in a city where there are almost no NPCs, there is that feeling of emptiness.

Overall, the graphic setting does a great job of bringing the universe to life, it is truly impressive the amount of details that the scenario shows you and how complete they are.

Another point that Until Then has that further increases your immersion is that, as you go through your life's journey, you will have to perform mini-games and/or animations related to the most basic daily activities, whether buttoning your shirt, buying a subway ticket from the machine or even navigating through your own social networks. They are very simple gameplay and animations, but they add a lot to the narrative and prevent the game from sinking into a monotony of just text and more text, not to mention how immersive it is and sucks you into the game's universe.

An example of this is the image above, where you are accessing a sort of facebook, being able not only to view your friends' posts and profiles, but also to interact with them, whether commenting something or just liking. And the most interesting thing about all this is that many of the interactions you make on social networks end up interfering in the dialogues you have with your colleagues when you meet. It is a very innovative and interesting gameplay.

On the other hand, all of this already exposed, unfortunately, the amount of animations and mini-games that you find at each hour of gameplay is quite scarce when compared to the amount of text you must consume. So, although I said that it is a feature that helps break the monotony of a long sequence of texts, it ends up lacking a bit in the game. I feel that if there were more, it would bring me more fun and keep me more attached to the narrative progression.

Game progression and characters

I would like to talk a little about the narrative of Until Then, but not specifically about what happens in the game, after all that is the main aspect of the game. I think it's worth mentioning only that the mystery of the game involves memory and/or temporal lapses of some characters and, if you are interested or curious about the rest, you will have to play. I am inclined to talk about the quality of the script, the progression of the story and how the characters are being developed over time.

Playing Until Then caused me, many times, a strangeness, because I didn't know what to think or feel. At the same time that it is a relaxing and very calm game, whether by its welcoming art or by the friendly dialogues, the progression is slow to the point where you start to wonder if something will really happen. The relationships between the characters are well developed and each one has their personality very clear, which helps you to take a liking to some and not so much to others. Many dialogues are interesting and help you understand how those characters see themselves. However, I feel that many times some conversations are unnecessary and end up making you tired, since the progression of the narrative and the game is slow.

Overall, I feel that the dialogues are very well constructed and very human. However, the progression of events happens too slowly and, up to about 5 or 6 hours of gameplay, not much happens to even leave you with that lingering feeling. You have some hints and realize that something strange is going on, but still...

Another point that I feel gives the sensation of slow progress is the absence of any sound effects that at least symbolize the characters' speech. During gameplay, you spend hours just listening to ambience sounds, reading text and there is not even a murmur to indicate that the characters are speaking. Thus, I feel that it leaves a void and ends up making the reading a bit monotonous.

Final comments

As I mentioned earlier, I am confused about the narrative and how the game progresses, after all, there is a great beauty in Until Then both in the visual art and in the dialogues, as well as the animations and immersive interactions with the game universe, however, the game's progression is slow, both in the speed at which important events happen and in the absence of sounds in the dialogues and the low number of animations.

Therefore, I think that players looking for a slightly more energetic and/or lively game may have some difficulty in staying hooked and interested in Until Then. On the other hand, for those who seek a tranquil experience, where you can explore a universe full of life patiently, full of history and dialogues, Until Then is the right choice.

Once again, we would like to thank Maximum Entertainment for not only providing us with Until Then, but also allowing us to have early access to it, enabling us to create this content.
 
Also, remember that this game was played on Steam on a PC (Windows).