 Well, it's a post-suck, right? Would it be insulting if I said that I'm kind of surprised they still have all my teeth? Oxen 3 was great. Wasn't it just? I remember playing it in two sittings. That's how great it was. A spooky, compelling mystery with a taste of the X-Files furnished with teenage drama for good measure. From the same studio comes After Party, which decides to dump the good old suspense elements for a generous helping of crude demonic humor and also many sex jokes. It's actually better than it sounds. I promise. Lila and Milo are in hell. Only they don't know what they've done to deserve it. They don't even remember how they've died. So of course they're going to look for a way to get out and when they realize that the only way to do So is to out-drink and out-party Satan himself. Well, the course is clear. After Party took me five hours divided into three sittings. Does that say something about the addictive quality of the game or maybe about its length after all I did play Oxenfree in just two sittings. It might have taken me a little bit longer. Or is it a commentary on my own gaming habits? Well, lengthwise, this one, as I said, doesn't pack too much of a punch. But it is one of those games that you can easily spend three even four times the amount with replays. The lack of suspense, however, is the reason why this didn't grab me nearly as much as Oxenfree. Like its predecessor, After Party 2 is best described as a walk-and-talk simulator. Gameplay consists in moving from one place to the next while in the middle of a sharply written conversation with other characters. And in this case, as with Oxenfree, the characters are the absolute strong point of the game. The dynamic between Lila and Milo, used to play a control one or the other at different points in the game, is an excellent hook that introduces you to the internal worlds of these two loners real quick. And is the perfect gateway to their hellish adventures. While there are seemingly less dialogue options here than in Oxenfree, this would be a good place to mention the alcoholism mechanic. You get a drink and you have quite a few types to choose from. At least for in the bar, you will be hopping to and fro about 20 to 30, I think, which unlock different, often hilarious dialogue choices. The names of the alcoholic beverages themselves are often laugh out loud funny and so are the ingredients used in their making. The change in Lila and Milo's voices and even the accents under the efface of some certain cocktails got me time and again. It's quite funny all. Certainly, there are aspects of after party that struck me as unnecessary or out of place. A dancing minigame whose responsiveness felt off in terms of sound cues was every bit a return to the worst aspects of the quick time event craze of the previous console generation. And the one before that. You all remember that? Yeah, it was the worst. Also, a few too many minutes spent in silence as I walked from one point to another. Conversations are so much fun. They're the literal live blood of the game, so why not have a few more of them just to make certain the oppressive silence doesn't cut into the experience. And don't even get me started on the beer pong. I'm bad enough at drinking beer in real life, I don't need to be reminded of how crap I am at throwing ping pong balls at in party cups too. And if the quality of writing wasn't enough, the delivery of the sharp dialogue is helped along by a cast of excellent voice actors. Protagonists Lila and Milo are voiced by Janina Gavanka. He has the one from Star Wars Battlefront 2. She had a fun, fun time at E3 2017, didn't she? And Koidao voices Milo once again, respectively. And both of them do such an amazing work. The one who probably got to have the most fun in the boot might have been Erin Yvette in the role of personal demon sister Mary Wormhorn. I think you're supposed to say it this dramatically. Carnation, are you, man? I'm just so excited to be working with you with anyone, really. It's just I am so ready for this ship. We're going to be a team, a real partnership. I want you to know that... Oh crap, there's two of you? I'm so sorry, little lady. I didn't see you there. But let me start over, okay? I'm Sister Mary Wormhorn and I will be assisting you guys with your mental anguish here in hell. We're going to be brain bunkmates. You're hungry, I'm hungry. You're sad. I mean, that means I'm doing my job. Yeah, hi. Hi! I imagine it was fun for Erin to abandon the teenage angst she performed so well as Alex in Oxenfree instead making fun of it at length. And of course, you have got to have Ashley Birch there. Playing the voice of demonic cabbie Sam, staunch ally and mentor of our pair of idiotic dead college kids. That was more than she first appears, so keep an eye out for her. But the biggest and most pleasant surprise, to me at least, was hearing the devil's voice and realizing it's Dave Finlay, the VA behind Telltale's Walking Dead's Lee. It's great, really. I can get together with some of Adventure Gaming's most beloved voice actors. Now I only need to hear Troy Baker playing some gruff, earnest, mid-western fellow and my 2019 voice actor's bingo card will officially be punched out. It's funny. This is the second game in a row I play with Ashley Birch playing a loyal, supporting character. It's also the second game I've completed in a row that's got a lot of peers of Fun House, IGN and YouTube fame. Doing minor voice work. The previous one being Gears 5. I really hope she takes on a major lead role at some point. Alana's got plenty of voice talent and I want to see her explore it further. Night School Studios taken hell is. I took to this interpretation quickly, where demons and humans intermingle as soon as they punch out. In the words of one demon, This makes for this ultra-violent, ridiculous atmosphere of camaraderie in the face of eternal butchery. And I unashamedly love it. There's also a touch of breaking the fourth wall, but without the gravity it had in Oxenfree, it's a lot more on the nose and played off for laughs, in particular when Sam takes you from one island of hell to the next. With both Lila and Milo wondering what the hell the cabbie means. This is a game on a budget. Models are reused with disturbing frequency, as it's clipped through other assets, characters passed through other character models, in a way that made me seriously conscious of my own need for personal space. Nothing bad in that, well, you know, nothing too bad. There are allowances to be made for small game developers who spend much of their budget on more important things, such as delivery and writing. What the studio did well in Oxenfree, it does just as well here, or even better. And it does play with your expectations. I never thought Milo and Lila would bear witness to the part funny, so much sad final 20 minutes of the game. I won't discuss them here, since spoiler is obviously, but I might return to that scene in a couple of months. There is something to be said about the common good versus personal freedom choice. Something else that's done quite well is the audio design, from the soundtrack to the ambience to the sound levels in general, while balanced the dialogue always on the forefront as it must be. There's plenty of replay value, as I said. I can take of no less than five big decisions that would have changed the story up in interesting ways, or if there is an element of illusion of choice here, I did not see through it. I will be coming back to this title eventually. Not for a while, I've had quite enough of its cheeky, crude humor for a few months at least, but there's plenty more to explore, and I've grown fond of these characters, I really have. It's an imperfect game, but for someone addicted to interpersonal drama, the continual exploration of different versions of hell and the underworld, and even of the dangers of alcoholism, after party has a whole lot to offer. My score for this game is an 8 out of 10. I had a great time with it. Perhaps the fever I had when I began playing really added to Lila and Milo's experience. Or maybe it was just fun. At any rate, thank you for watching. If you enjoyed this video, check out some of my other content, and of course I would be grateful if you subscribed, if you liked this video, leave me a comment, tell me what you thought about after party, maybe about Oxen 3 as well. Until next time, BYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY