Afterthought

This game has probably the most intricately designed movement ever made. It has such a high skill yet it's also accessible for casual players. While I'm writing this review, the game is still in early access, therefore the story isn't fully implemented, but it's shaping up to be rather interesting. I'd strongly recommend this game in general, it really is great.

[h2]Afterthought[/h2] [h1]A Game Meant for Speedrunning[/h1] Speedrunning has become a gaming tradition. There are so many people who try to speedrun almost every game. Well, Afterthought is a game made with these speedrunners in mind. But it’s not made only for them, anyone can play it due to the presence of a stress-free gameplay. [h1]About This Game [/h1] [h2]Storyline[/h2] The game has a storyline but it was too sudden, confusing & very irrelevant for me to keep track of. All I remember is your character moving from one place to another in a series of cut-scenes & some irrelevant dialogues that made no sense to me. I am sorry, I wasn’t able to keep track of the game’s plot. The charm of this game is in its gameplay rather than the storyline, so don’t worry if you can’t follow the narration! [h2]Gameplay Mechanics[/h2] As I mentioned in the previous segment, this game is gameplay intensive. Think of this game as a 2d platformer with parkour & a handful of movement abilities. When you first start the game, it offers you a choice to choose between two playstyles; A casual playstyle or a Speedrunning one. These aren’t the actual names of the modes but you get the idea. The game is very generous with the number of tutorials it offers. There’s legit a tutorial for almost every mechanic involved. If I am right, there are a total of 5 abilities at your disposal. If I am being honest, I found some of these tutorials hard to complete 😭. I was stuck in some of the tutorials longer than normal. Onto the main gameplay, you are expected to go from point A to point B as fast & stylishly as you can (In the speedrunning game mode) using a combination of the abilities you have. I have one big problem with the core gameplay. Your character is supposed to be “sprinting”. But your character’s sprinting speed is so slow that it feels like they’re jogging or something. I mean, they do have a lot of abilities that give you additional speed. So, I think it might be intentional but it just feels a bit off. There are a total of 8 episodes (Known as Cycles in this game) & each of these has a certain number of levels. The game has a high replayability rate since there is no fixed path to finish each level, you choose your own way to finish it as fast as possible. The game has cosmetics too! You can unlock skins for your player, your ghost & ability effects. This adds a lot to the visual appeal of the game. To wrap up this section, I can say that the game needs a bit more polishing & it will be flawless! It’s a really good concept that can be implemented a bit better. [h2] Visuals & Audio [/h2] The game has an amazing hand-painted-like art style. It’s really appealing. Everything looks like a perfect paint brush stroke! They also have a huge ass collection of music. It’s so good! Their playlist is amazing. [h1]Pros[/h1] [list] [*] The game has amazing gameplay! [*] A lot of abilities for you to use on your run. [*] The game is friendly to non-speedrunners too! [*] Has a very high replayability value. [/list] [h1]Cons[/h1] [list] [*] Game needs a lot of polishing to be done. [*] For some reason, although this game gives me 200+ FPS, the loading times are long asf. [/list] [h1]Conclusion[/h1] An interesting & challenging game to play although it requires a bit of polishing. Well, it’s a new game, so the developers have a lot of time to fix the mistakes & make the game better. I do recommend giving this game a chance! Try to grab it at a sale! [b]Reviewer:[/b] Midplayz I am Speed [b]Rating:[/b] 8 /10 [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/38888018-United-Critics/] Please follow [b]United Critics[/b] for more quality reviews.[/url]

Disclaimer: I played the demo a lot and on a friends account. This Review is during the early access Mode, so some things may change: Before I start with the pros and cons I have to say this game is a lot of fun to play. It was a blast for me and having a good time with a game is key for me. Looking forward to the final release. Pros: Artstyle: This Game has an unique Artstyle. You may not like it, I love it, but its definitely unique. Soundtrack: You have over 100 tracks or so. There are a lot of Genres in it, which underlines the Immersion. Story: The story is kinda cryptic, you know “SOULS LIKE”. Jokes aside, you can dive deep into this, I’m sure a lot of thoughts went into this. It’s mysterios, filled with symbols, beautifully drawn cutscenes and great dialog. Even the German one isn’t bad. But if you don't like stories and want some tight Gameplay only, you can skip it and well… Gameplay: First Time ever I had this much fun speedrunning a platformer. I’m not even that good in the Game (but it has an easy Mode, if you want to feel good instead of getting good). You have a lot of tutorials which help you to learn and practice the mechanics. This really helps a lot, because the mechanics are probably even deeper than the story. You have so many possibilities to rush through the Levels and ways to play that time flies by. You may not score so well, but still have a lot of fun. Can’t really talk enough about the Gameplay, you should try the free demo and check it out =) The Levels are fantastic. Every Level is unique and still part of a larger Theme. I lost myself completely in this game, without even thinking too much about it until now. More Mechanics: You can see the runs of others like ghosts while you are running, wich is a nice feature for not feeling too alone and getting inspired to try harder routes. Cons: The Tutorial is already pretty hard, it can get frustrating if you can’t even finish the tutorial. You may skip it, but it leaves a sour taste in your mouth. On the other side, you can alway stick to the easy Mode. I want more content!! A very one sided pro and con List, but as you can see, this game, for me at least, is totally worth your money. Can’t wait for the next update to arrive.

Absolute banger if you love difficult yet rewarding platformers. Highly recommended!!

Very good speedrunning game. The movement system is complex but very rewarding once you understand it.

Some of the best designed and most fun movement I have seen in a platformer ever! :o

Great game, challenging but very fun mechanics and substantial amounts of thought put into the levels. The game is quite beginner-friendly, and offers a lot as you get more acclimated to the levels and learn how to better tackle familiar situations. Earlier levels will be able to be completed faster as you unlock more through the story, which gives it a great amount of replay-ability. This game is very much oriented towards competitive-level speedrunning, and it does it well. It's simple yet expansive UI helps you see what's important easily such as your the time, an overlay of your inputs and your speed in the horizontal and vertical. Only complaint I have is of the weird preachy meta messages ♥♥♥♥ in one of the worlds. Just a warning if you don't want stuff that you deal with in the real world being told to you when you're trying to play a video game. Other than that and some understandable / occasional glitches nothing really. The game is frequently on sale so I recommend picking it up.

[h1] A Unique Indie Gem [/h1] The unique art and soundtrack in Afterthought captivated me multiple times. Some of the sceneries are a must-see! Also I am very impressed how much care was put into the mechanics, though I still suck at some of the skills (especially getting that Displace Chain). And holy duck, you just have to see the boss fights! Some of them were a struggIe in the beginning, but I can't wait to beat the first boss without taking damage, no matter how many tries it takes haha!! If you are a fan of Indie games, this one will definitely make your heart beat faster!

[h1]Smashing Balls in Cyber City[/h1] Check out the full [b][url=https://youtu.be/t1DxVx1GQ-A] YouTube review on 2 Headed Hero HERE! [/url][/b] EDIT: Review update! The points made in Early Access still stand, but now there's EIGHT TIMES the content - several more MASSIVE bosses, cool artwork, and interesting cinematics. Much more value for the price, and bumps up the recommendation. Every so often a game finds its way into our inboxes that seems just strange or unique enough to take for a test drive. Afterthought is a speedrunner full of amazing surrealist artwork set in a bizarre cyber-industrial dreamscape. Also, the soundtrack is fantastic! If you're the type of gamer that lives to replay levels and find routes, shaving fractions of a second off at a time while crawling up leaderboards, then this is the game for you!

Afterthought is one of the best 2D-platformers out there with an aim towards speedrunning. The amount of control you have over your movement is insane and the precision it requires to get good times on it's level is extreme! Would easily recommend it to anyone who likes time trials/individual level speedruns or if you're crazy enough to speedrun all levels in one go!