Everlasting: Tomorrow

This is a review copy. I'll buy one copy for a friend to support the game. With the completion of the final chapter the game has about 6 hours of content plus some optional achievements, kinda reminds me of many cult classics from RPG-Maker, for better or worse it probably has the most complex story that I experienced in years, perhaps you might like it, or perhaps you will find it a bit overwhelming. I thought the writing was very nuanced and I think the characters had good depth to them, although the pacing of the game kinda suffered across many of the chapters, often feeling like things are happening too fast, too slow, or somewhere in between. The biggest thing I didn't like is that some puzzles were put together too close, although there are sections where I think you did it much better. I would say the best puzzles were around the area where you could travel between the zodiac doors (the one I made the fan art for) because you had to put things together between multiple locations, and after that a lot of the puzzles were forced into individual rooms, or sometimes the puzzle solving itself as you go. I also found it weird how little or how much you would focus on puzzles, sometimes you would go 30+ minutes without a puzzle, and sometimes they would not stop coming, so that is that something I wish was more consistent. On that note, puzzles have always been kind of a tradition with horror games, so I get that you wanted to have some, but honestly I think the writing and building up the tension are your better attributes, and the puzzles should be more complementary, I felt like you forced them into the game a lot of the time. ................... I didn't mind the visuals for the most part and overall I enjoyed taking screenshots across the game with many surreal locations, I like that you are being resourceful and only drawing just enough to convey the scene, that being said I also thought the visuals were not consistent. When I look at details in some of the shops, and I compare it to some sections in the sewers for example, it's like night and day, I would much rather you do a shorter game that maintains a certain level of detail, as opposed to having many sections where they feel empty and there is nothing to look at. That being said, the 5th chapter was my favorite in terms of visuals at least, you went back to drawing more surreal locations and I liked how the visuals contrasted the psychological themes within the story. For the most part I didn't know where the story was going, there may have been just a touch of SIlent HIll but it turned out to be something very different, if anything the mystery is what kept me playing the game, and to be honest, even by the end I was not sure what happened, I think you can take many themes in this game and take away your own interpretation, even despite all of the crazy things you see, you could still maybe make some kind of mental argument, the game almost has a lesson in acceptance, it's less about horror, and more about understanding yourself, or at least that is what I got from it. [h1] Pros: [/h1] (+) I liked that the narrative had a slow burn, at least until the last few chapters where maybe it got a little too heavy, I think the game had a good mystery going for it, the characters had a lot of depth to them, and I think overall it had an interesting look into understanding yourself, who you are, and how you should treat people that are close to you. Actually, a relatively interesting and unique theme for the story, if you not being too nitpicky, it's a bit different from similar games which I liked. (+) Even though the quality of artwork and detail was not consistent, the parts that were good were very enjoyable to explore, I took a lot of screenshots playing the game, and I think you were very effective at conveying many complex ideas with simple drawings, with the 5th chapter I think being the best with the visuals. (+) For the most part I think the soundtrack and ambiance was good, except of the song in the chapter 4 during the fight, I thought it was a very odd choice. (+) Puzzles like the visuals were not consistently good, there were a couple of good puzzles, I think the one with the zodiac doors was the best, and maybe a few decent puzzles spread across the chapters. (+) Some optional achievement support* [h1] Feedback: [/h1] - So with the puzzles, sometimes you would have too many puzzles in one location, kinda making me feel like you just adding them for gameplay, in contrast to having a puzzle that supports the theme of the game, and has something to do with the characters. You have a little bit of both, but I would say, don't try to beat the player over the head with the puzzles, try to design them with exploration in mind, sort of like those zodiac doors, and even if the puzzle itself has interesting conclusion, like that flower moment with the doll. - The pacing of the game was a bit odd, I don't really mind the slower moments, but sometimes it felt like you would have too many themes and ideas happening at the same time, for example in the 5th chapter I felt like you had like 30 different ideas where a similar game probably would have 5 at most. I don't mind the complexity of the story, it's just that I think you can get the same results with only a few reveals, you don't need like 10 different layers on what is already a story with plenty of depth. It's almost like the game would never end, it's probably the biggest plot landing I have seen.... ever. - Wasn't a big fan of the arrow elements and QTEs there, sometimes they were pretty fast, and sometimes just annoying to repeat. - I didn't like that one song during the fight in chapter 4, felt very random. - The artwork was decent overall, just not consistent with detail, I would prefer if you made a shorter game where each location is heavy on detail like those buildings and stores, less empty areas like the sewers with solid lines and generic texture. [b] Overall Thoughts: 7/10 [/b] The pacing was not the best toward the end, but the narrative gave me a memorable experience, it was not bad by any means, I still think the characters were very complex and I liked the overall conclusion and where the characters end up in terms of their understanding of who they are. I think it's just a focus thing, you have some good parts, and some parts that probably didn't need to be there, which honestly isn't a bad problem to have, you probably could have been more effective making the game a little shorter. Enjoyed my time overall, just wanted to be a little more consistent with the detail, and the pacing, I thought at times it got a little too deep, like it has 10 layers to the plot if not more. [code]Niche, obscure and underrated games: http://store.steampowered.com/curator/31294838-Hidden-Gem-Discovery/ [/code]

Despite the developer being called slugstart their game doesnt start sluggish at all. However, that cant be said for later chapters. Im not big on narrative driven games, they are usually really boring in nature, but this one right here had a very intriguing and mysterious premise from the start, coupled with its amazing artstyle and visuals that are aesthetically similar to some obscure classics, like Demonophobia and The White Chamber. Quite difficult to get into it without spoiling the twists and turns it has, but I try my best. You play as Alice and are invited to a trip to a desolate town by your friend Adrian, as he wants to visit a mysterious cave there. She suffers from bizarre and fleshy dreams that seem very random, but you wont take long to notice that everything in this game is in some way connected with each other. The first 3 chapters are all about exploration, talking to townsfolk and finding clues. Theres little details thrown about that make you question whats going on. Alices dream sections have puzzles in them and sometimes even quick time events. You can find a lot of optional content as well, which expands the games playtime by a few more hours. At the end of chapter 3 everything comes together and there arent really many questions left. Chapter 4 feels like a filler and basically just dumps you with exposition you already know, just from a different angle. The last chapter comes in two parts and is quite slow, the majority of it is internal dialogue, but Im satisfied with the conclusion. It kind of fell off for me after chapter 3. Quality or writing didnt decline, but it went a way I wasnt so keen on anymore. With the conclusion of the third chapter there just wasnt the lingering feeling of mystery anymore. It could have basically ended then and there with an addition to end the story. Chapter 4 could have been almost scrapped entirely and it wouldnt have made a big difference. The exploration and puzzle sections I grew to really enjoy ended up being almost completely replaced by just walking and talking. The balance between exploration and dialogue/exposition was perfect prior to chapter 4. I overall ended up being conflicted about my opinion, despite its great ending. It should have stayed with its initial mix of gameplay. I still had a good time for the most part and can only recommend it to its target audience. [b] Horror/Surrealist centered Curator: [url=store.steampowered.com/curator/43071910/] KuriKuration[/url] [/b]

Did a first playthrough of Everlasting: Tomorrow, which left me with a rather positive impression, moreover for an early access game. You play during the 90s as Alice, a student travelling to a weird remote countryside town with her friend Adrian; Alice will have some breakdowns / dreadful visions, which will bring her into a world of nightmare, where she must resolve some puzzles in order to return to the real world. The settings of the game are well created, with gloomy retro-like music and simple graphics, but which convey well a feeling of unease and dread. The puzzles aren't too hard, and rely on pure logic, not crazy / absurd one such as for some other games of the genre. Nothing really bad to say about Everlasting: Tomorrow, it was a fun pastime for me and I would with no hesitation recommend it to any spooky / dark / horror-ish point n click fan, the job is well done for a one-man dev. My only complaint would be about the controls, which were made for qwerty keyboards - as I use an azerty one, I had some little trouble during some events requiring to push on some touches, but managed still to get through, it wasn't progression hindering either. Will be eager to see more about this game and its followup, good luck slugstart 👍

classic gaping hole of pulsing flesh... but seriously this game was amazing. the first 3 chapters were so cozy to me despite all the horror elements. last two hit hard and there was a ton of reading, not that i mind. the writing felt very natural and not awkward at all + the art style is cute. 10/10 (was that a little yuri sneak with the lip gloss?)

Love the dark and moody vibe of the game. The story is really interesting so far and I'm excited to see it unfold. I love the different puzzles too!

[h1] One of the greatest visual novels you'll ever play [/h1] This game was originally on my backlog for quite some time, and I regret waiting so long to play it. I have read probably every review for this game at the time of writing this (yes including the one in Russian), and can confirm that they all have some merit to them. In my honest opinion, no amount of words is enough to describe the rollercoaster of emotions that this game was. At its core, Everlasting Tomorrow is a [b] narrative [/b] driven game. The gameplay loop is especially fun in the first few chapters, having a good balance of plot progression/foreshadowing, along with some exploration and puzzle solving. As you progress the story however, the game shifts its focus primarily to that of the story, and doesn't have you do as much in terms of gameplay (outside of quick time events and maybe the occasional puzzle). This leads to what was possibly the slowest feeling chapter in my opinion, being the 2nd to last chapter of the game. Make no mistake however, I still enjoyed the story for chapter 4, and thought that the finale for the game more than made up for its shortcomings. This game has everything you could want from a story driven psychological-horror game, with gorgeous art, an incredibly well-fitting soundtrack, and well-written characters with layers upon layers of depth. The 90s aesthetic along with the bleak atmosphere gives the setting this eerie vibe, yet feels almost nostalgic at times? All in all, this is the video game equivalent of finding a show/series that's only a season long, yet leaves a lasting impact on you, and leaves you wanting more. I look forward to seeing what this creator makes in the future, and cannot recommend this game enough.

**EDIT: AFTER THE FULL RELEASE AND PLAYING THROUGH THE ENTIRE GAME** The game no longer has puzzles after the 3rd chapter as it transitions into more of a visual novel by the end with some quick time events and walking sprinkled throughout. Although I don't want to go into too much detail to avoid spoilers, I felt that this change helped unpack a lot of story content in a meaningful, moving, and particularly captivating way for me. I didn't realize how much I had bonded with the characters until the heavier pats of the story in chapters 4 and 5. To me, this is what made Everlasting: Tomorrow such a memorable game -- the characters felt very human and almost real to me, to the point where it felt like their experiences and struggles were those of someone close to me. Some of the things said in the game are things that I feel like I myself needed to here as well, and I'd like to bet that this game will cause players to reflect on their own lives and experiences as much as it did for me. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ORIGINAL REVIEW AFTER CHAPTER 1: i was pleasantly surprised by Everlasting: Tomorrow's pixel art, sound design, puzzles, and storytelling -- especially for a solo developed game. i'm not an avid visual novel or point-and-click player but had a lot of fun with the first chapter! i especially enjoyed the quirkiness of the characters (daniel is me fr) and the amount of personality the game had to it. can't wait to see what the next chapters have in store!

Fantastic game! I was able to get the full experience of Everlasting: Tomorrow on my first playthrough, so, as I see that some of the reviews aren't updated to cover all the chapters, I'll do my part! Also I understand how important is exposure for indie works, in particular when their devs are just starting, so I hope this helps in that regard too! Everlasting: Tomorrow is a horror game with a heavy focus on story, in particular in the last two chapters -it has 5 in total-. What starts as a slow burn mystery game regarding a cave and some visions in an eerie town, turns into an incredibly poignant psychological exploration of the main characters. The first three chapters felt like a some sort of "intro", like the foundations needed for what's to come. Not gonna lie, after the big exposition at the end of the third chapter, I was starting to feel a bit disappointed, because I thought the game was going to "close on itself" -or "on its own mythology" if that makes sense- instead of harnessing the potential of what was said and estabilished so far, but... I'M GLAD I WAS SO WRONG: instead, the game went full power and, in particular during the long fifth chapter, started to do an incredible and thoughtprovoking psychological deep dive of the characters! I was glued to the screen because of how good it was and how realistic it felt! The writing is, definitely, the strongest part of this game. Really, if you enjoy psychological games, please give this one an opportunity, it won't disappoint! The gameplay is quite varied, in some ways it felt like "different games glued into one". Personally I didn't mind, because it seemed to me that the dev was kinda experimenting with it and I think that's a cool thing to do! Maybe it sacrifices a bit of cohesion, but it felt varied and, in the end, the execution worked for me at least! The first three chapters have puzzles and, in general, they were alright -I had problems only with one that was already mentioned in the forums-. The fourth chapter have QTEs and... tbh, they could be better. They aren't hard and the game is quite forgiving, but most of them were just pressing repeatedly one key instead of... well, being QTEs of pressing fast different buttons lol. In the last chapter -the longest one by far-, it plays mostly like a VN with few QTEs and, personally, I liked the shift! However, it was a bit annoying not being able to pause during dialogue, so if I had to leave or something, I just had to close the game manually. Luckily the game auto-saves quite frequently and there are a lot of auto-save slots, although one can't save manually. The game, in some aspects, is kinda rough and there are some parts and things that could be improved, but, still, to me it feels like a strong start! The vibe was definitely there! I think it has only one ending, so the replay value isn't high... unless you're hunting achievements -it has a high amount of them btw-. However, I don't think that's a problem, because a full playthrough takes about 10hs, which is... quite a lot considering that these games tend to be quite shorter, so that's a plus! So... yeah, I definitely recommend it! Also kudos to the dev for being able to do all this solo! I'll be waiting for more games! Good luck!

I might replay because I really did enjoy a majority of the game and its story, but it was getting significantly harder to enjoy near the end, the 5th chapter in particular, since there were a lot of moments at that point where I was just skipping through dialogue because I had grown insanely tired of dragging my eyes through text-after-text on a still screen. It's nice to see the immense amount of sincere love being poured into the game and its story, seeing how deeply they wanted to elaborate on the character's personalities and thought processes - but at the same time, a lot of those moments of clarity/enlightenment could've spared a bunch of sentences, or maybe the writing could've focused less on explicitly stating every single line of thought that the character is experiencing, and leaned more into a 'Show Not Tell' approach.. it started to feel kinda tortuous at times with the endless dialogue.. Like staring at a flatline for ages and hoping for it to pick up a pulse - the story's genuinely great, and it's clear that there's plenty of substance to these characters to keep the player delving into them - but this is inevitably eventually blindsided by me just wanting to get past the walls of text being tediously placed brick-by-brick in my face. On top of that, the Quick Time Events [spoiler]in the fight scene ESPECIALLY, as well as other parts of chapter 5, like the elemental battle between Aerius and Alice,[/spoiler] were really bleh. Although the fun little puzzles kinda make up for them in a way.. Those downsides aside - I love the build-up of the story and how the game gives you these slight hints to a bigger picture unfolding, that are stored in the back of your head until the finale of it all, where you can then finally connect all the dots and truly make sense of everything that you've seen up until that point. The characters were so well-written. I loved the depth that they held, the game really takes the time out to make sure that you really get to indulge in their personas, pick them apart and tie them to what we've seen of them first-hand, to then make sense of their behaviours and to see what motivates them, as well as what obscures and abstracts their reason. I love the honesty in the writing, none of the characters are fundamentally good people, all of them are morally-grey in one way or another. This really working in favour of being able to seriously flesh them out and gain a rooted perspective. Seeing what stirs within them, to see why they act in ways that naturally would be seen as inherently abnormal or plainly despicable, then you are shown their personal experiences and how they had moulded them to view their ways of living as the norm or acceptable - it doesn't excuse anything or make them suddenly purely likeable, I just really appreciate the absence of black and white writing, it's so much more enjoyable, and a sincerely intriguing form of immersion, when the characters talk, act, and think like real people being affected by heavy emotions that are conflicting with their reason - experiencing insane ambivalence in this otherworldly context. The dialogue was a highlight of the game - the variety and versatility of even the minor characters made a lot of the interactions, no matter their importance, so fun and genuinely memorable, and really encouraged me to keep an eye out for minor digressing details that may lead to some hidden interaction being revealed. I also loved the settings, a lot of the places you end up in are eye-catching and do a lot to build this ominous sense of awe, or curious intrigue, with even the morbid and grotesque scenery being so pleasing to observe and pick apart - both of these aspects had me exploring and interacting with my surroundings way more than necessary, just for the fun of it. I probably would've enjoyed the game considerably more if I could pause while they're talking. That final chapter was such a pain at times when I would just want to turn the game off and go to sleep - but couldn't, or else I'd have to go through some long piece of dialogue alllll over again. It likely wouldn't have been as bad in that regard if I could have just saved and exited the game whenever I felt like it. Would still recommend the game to whoever's interested though, because the settings, character writing, and dialogue are some of the most crucial aspects to any piece of media for me to truly enjoy it, and this game really does so well in all 3 areas. Everlasting: Tomorrow offers a really unique yet nostalgic experience, with an abundance of potent encounters that leave an inspiring impact, and a story with layer upon layer of powerful thoughts and feelings that keep you thinking on it long after you've finished.

[h1]有汉化6分，没汉化5分[/h1] [b]小众并不代表神作，小众也可能是变态[/b] 本人已经通关游戏的全流程，虽然是生肉，但我也了解了游戏的全剧情。 先说游戏的类型，游戏应该是属于可以[b]“互动”的“纯视觉小说”[/b] 游戏包含着恐怖猎奇，以及宗教成分，但这些无法成为游戏的加分项，作为一个剧情驱动的游戏，下面我会简述游戏的剧情和设定。 [h2]犯一罪，行百善的故事[/h2] 游戏发生在一个真实存在着天神与地狱的世界中，人类社会中的善恶会化为实在的能量维持人间避免升入天堂或是堕入地狱。而在一个偏僻的小镇中，一群科学家意识到了世界的本质，他们开了一家医院，先是用恶魔的力量治疗病人，随着实验的进行，他们发现人类的躯体可以作为困住恶魔，驱使他们力量的容器。 为此，他们选了两位家庭不幸的人作为实验品，一位是科学家的女儿爱丽丝，她体内封入了水元素为主的恶魔；另一名是被家人扭送而来的男性，阿德里安，他体内被封入了名为艾瑞安的火属性恶魔。 可没想到，艾瑞安识破了人类的计策，并在他的观察中，人类社会似乎比过往的时日更加贪婪，并擅作主张的要让人间陷入地狱；他这么做是因为他曾为天使，对人类抱有很高的期待，在看到人类如今沉迷于七大最后，倍感失望。便使人间充满恶能量，使其往地狱下沉。 人间逐渐与地狱重合，全球范围出现了将世界视作[b]“血肉”以及“怪物”的集体癔症[/b]。在医生眼里这是病症，但事实上两者都为现实，不过是同一个事物在人间或是地狱的映射。 艾瑞斯告诉阿德里安，如果他能带来一个勇敢，富有美德的人类来到他面前，他就放过人类。阿德里安选择了爱丽丝，可没想到爱丽丝也是一个罪恶滔天的人，她误杀母亲，为水的性格让她对一切漠视，又因为其母亲早年的教诲，她对任何人都没有信任，表面上的善良也是彻底的伪善。 当她来到艾瑞斯面前，艾瑞斯本来十分失望，想用她犯过的罪去击垮爱丽丝的内心。却没想到，爱丽丝承认自己的罪过，但并没有为此消沉，而是决定去面对，去赎罪。艾瑞斯从人类身上看到了真相，即罪与善并不是分明的，爱丽丝为了驱逐艾瑞斯，举行了仪式杀死了阿德里安，即使她拯救了几十亿人，但她任会因此堕入地狱，这是艾瑞斯说过的，而爱丽丝愿意做这一恶来行百善。 艾瑞斯接受了自己的失败，承诺放弃对人间的侵蚀，他会带着阿德里安的灵魂离开。可这么就还剩下一个问题，那就是恶的积累还存在着，人间虽没有堕入地狱，但已是半个地狱。究竟是谁才能拯救人间，那当然是同时生活在地狱与人间的爱丽丝。 故事也就此结束。 [h2]总结[/h2] 故事或许这么看没什么问题，但要知道，这是我在体验完全流程后总结的，很多信息是在第五章给出的，要知道，第五章是游戏的最后一章。而他却给出了游戏的基础设定，这就让整个游戏十分割裂，就有一种我打到了游戏的大结局，突然让我回新手村过一遍我和史莱姆爱恨情仇的故事。 这不但打破了游戏的叙事节奏，还让主线变得十分神秘。没错，游戏存在着两条主线，但因为剧情的混乱，两条主线都并不完整。 主线1：自我救赎，即男女主从罪人，到自我解脱，化身为“人”，游戏讲述混乱，是我总结出的。 主线2：拯救世界，即医院的人体实验，跟恶魔的对战接近儿戏，在大结局穿插了大量主线一的内容，而在我看来主线一应该是在前四章完成的 再者便是游戏的画面，由于是纯视觉小说风格，游戏的画面并不算精良，猎奇也不猎奇，大量的黑红闪让人视觉疲劳，游戏解密与西方宗教紧密相连，我可以看懂，但解密时让我十分头大。如果有人玩游戏不会解密，可以在该评论下留言，我会给出解答。 [b]游戏最终评价：5.5分[/b]