[Reviewed v1.0; Last version]
You don’t often play a game as high quality as After the Inferno (ATI). If the premise catches your fancy (and even if it doesn’t), I can assure you that the actual game has excellent visuals, writing, and presentation. Unfortunately, the game sets and achieves such ambitious standards that the game’s few rough patches stand out.
Positives
Story: You play the leader of a mercenary company contracted by a country on the losing side of a war. As the story begins, you and your company participate in a significant battle that ends surprisingly. However, that’s just the beginning of your efforts.
The story of ATI is surprisingly engaging, with some twists and turns that keep you on your toes and a satisfying ending. In addition, the fantasy elements are implemented well and enhance rather than detract from the game’s events.
Writing: The dialogue and prose are sometimes humorous, dramatic, and warm. Although, some of these are handled better than others: I would class the worst writing in ATI as above average, while others, such as the memory flashbacks are masterful in their subtle but effective storytelling.
Characters: The girls you romance are well made. They’re visually appealing and possess solid writing that gives them distinct and endearing personalities. Unfortunately, this quality becomes more threadbare when you go outside the objects of your affections. The writing and designs never become annoying or unsightly, but they sometimes become tedious.
Visuals: Beautiful renders and cinematography with fluid animations. Overall, a great-looking game.
Neutral
Gameplay: You have an open world that opens up as you progress. You read and sometimes make choices. If you’ve played any other Ren’Py game on this site, you’re already familiar with how this game works.
Setting: The story tries its best, but unfortunately, the setting is mostly a backdrop with only a few locations, such as the mine for magical cocaine standing out as particularly interesting.
Sex scenes: Mostly consist of short looping animations. Neither bad nor great.
Negatives
Hanging/superfluous plot threads: Some elements of the story are not as fleshed out as they deserve to be, such as the protagonist being a mage. Other elements are superfluous and just set the player up for disappointment because they never seem to play as significant a role as they should. For example, three organizations are antagonists for the player character, but the game only has enough good ideas for half of one. This lack is a shame because the Isenian Empire seemed compelling at first.
Sex scene placement: I mentioned before that the best parts of ATI make the substandard parts stand out. Nowhere is this more apparent than how the sex scenes are presented in the story's context.
I’ll say it plainly: some framing of the sexual encounters in the game seems more at home in a porn parody than in a game of this caliber. Even more maddening is that this doesn’t always happen. Some sex scenes are intertwined with fascinating character interactions and follow a clear through-line, while others feel like the main character and his partner were secretly roofied.
This is especially noticeable near the ending when you meet two new romantic options. Both romantic options have out-of-place sex scenes, but strangely they also have later sex scenes that are set up so much better. Taken with the short length of the sex scenes, you can’t shake the feeling that the main character and living ona-hole have warped into an alternate universe where their present circumstances, which are sometimes very dangerous, no longer apply.
Conclusion
A great game just shy of perfection. The creator is talented, and I look forward to seeing what his following projects have in store.
You don’t often play a game as high quality as After the Inferno (ATI). If the premise catches your fancy (and even if it doesn’t), I can assure you that the actual game has excellent visuals, writing, and presentation. Unfortunately, the game sets and achieves such ambitious standards that the game’s few rough patches stand out.
Positives
Story: You play the leader of a mercenary company contracted by a country on the losing side of a war. As the story begins, you and your company participate in a significant battle that ends surprisingly. However, that’s just the beginning of your efforts.
The story of ATI is surprisingly engaging, with some twists and turns that keep you on your toes and a satisfying ending. In addition, the fantasy elements are implemented well and enhance rather than detract from the game’s events.
Writing: The dialogue and prose are sometimes humorous, dramatic, and warm. Although, some of these are handled better than others: I would class the worst writing in ATI as above average, while others, such as the memory flashbacks are masterful in their subtle but effective storytelling.
Characters: The girls you romance are well made. They’re visually appealing and possess solid writing that gives them distinct and endearing personalities. Unfortunately, this quality becomes more threadbare when you go outside the objects of your affections. The writing and designs never become annoying or unsightly, but they sometimes become tedious.
Visuals: Beautiful renders and cinematography with fluid animations. Overall, a great-looking game.
Neutral
Gameplay: You have an open world that opens up as you progress. You read and sometimes make choices. If you’ve played any other Ren’Py game on this site, you’re already familiar with how this game works.
Setting: The story tries its best, but unfortunately, the setting is mostly a backdrop with only a few locations, such as the mine for magical cocaine standing out as particularly interesting.
Sex scenes: Mostly consist of short looping animations. Neither bad nor great.
Negatives
Hanging/superfluous plot threads: Some elements of the story are not as fleshed out as they deserve to be, such as the protagonist being a mage. Other elements are superfluous and just set the player up for disappointment because they never seem to play as significant a role as they should. For example, three organizations are antagonists for the player character, but the game only has enough good ideas for half of one. This lack is a shame because the Isenian Empire seemed compelling at first.
Sex scene placement: I mentioned before that the best parts of ATI make the substandard parts stand out. Nowhere is this more apparent than how the sex scenes are presented in the story's context.
I’ll say it plainly: some framing of the sexual encounters in the game seems more at home in a porn parody than in a game of this caliber. Even more maddening is that this doesn’t always happen. Some sex scenes are intertwined with fascinating character interactions and follow a clear through-line, while others feel like the main character and his partner were secretly roofied.
This is especially noticeable near the ending when you meet two new romantic options. Both romantic options have out-of-place sex scenes, but strangely they also have later sex scenes that are set up so much better. Taken with the short length of the sex scenes, you can’t shake the feeling that the main character and living ona-hole have warped into an alternate universe where their present circumstances, which are sometimes very dangerous, no longer apply.
Conclusion
A great game just shy of perfection. The creator is talented, and I look forward to seeing what his following projects have in store.
