Until Then

This game destroyed me by the end in a way I didnt even know was possible. Do yourself a favor and give it a chance. /edit Realized there are two more acts but I genuinely dont think i can handle it lmao.

This game. This frickin' game, man. This made me cry like a little girl. I'm not even going to say anything else just buy this game it's on par with OMORI, Undertale and OneShot. Maybe even above them.

Thought this would be a cute game. Now I'm crying at 3am and questioning my whole life choices. 10/10 game. Never doing this again. Highly recommended 👍

no notes, ill remember this beautiful game for eternity, and every day until then

I'm roughly 9 hours in but I've reached a point in the game that has me standing like Anton Ego by the windowsill and I just had to get this out. This is coming from someone who doesn't play alot of indie games, much less VNs. I'm the farthest from a cozy gamer. I've been reading through all the reviews both good and bad and I can understand that this really isn't for everyone because of the pacing and decisions regarding the story. But that's a good thing, because I can also see how deeply it resonated with those who like it. Just as I do. If a game was for everyone, this would just be another COD, or another Fortnite. The pace of the game lets you take it all in. The way the characters joke around, the everyday school life. You laugh with them, cry with them, its deeply personal. It captures the feeling of nostalgia that's hard to put into words, that no amount of graphical fidelity can manage. From the moment you click start, and go through those first 15 minutes, you'll know if this game is for you or not. It's okay if it doesn't, but if it does, you're in for a ride. "It's the slow blade that penetrates the shield".

If you are someone who pays attention to EVERY detail in a game, you will LOVE this. The graphics, the way that basically everything you see is alive and interactive, the mix between pixel graphics and 3-d, it is too wonderful. I was invested ever since hitting the "start" button; you will see why. This game is so funny, had me laughing in the first 10 minutes. I'm amazed that someone created a game so jam packed with authentic detail and character. I haven't gotten into the depths of the game yet, but I can say I am truly impressed, and every penny was worth it. Developers, you did a stellar job.

This game is truly a work of art—pixel art seamlessly blended into both hand-drawn and 3D assets. From quiet moments of the main character doom-scrolling the internet to the soul-crushing relationships that had me in tears by the end, it felt like something I had lived, not just played. I’ve played many story games—from The Life and Suffering of Sir Brante to old-school Flash games—but none of them hit quite like this one. I found myself relating deeply to the characters, and by the time the credits rolled, I was ugly crying. I used to be part of a close-knit friend group: Sean, Pauline, Colin, Login, Ben, and me. We’d known each other for years. From swimming at Sean’s house to playing Minecraft LAN servers at Pauline’s making minecraft youtube videos.(yes, we really thought we could’ve been the next big Minecraft YouTubers" yet are star never shined still have alot of our old videos though. But life, as it does, eventually pulled us apart. Pauline moved back to France during middle school, and I never really got a chance to say goodbye. Being the youngest of the group, always a grade behind, made it harder to keep up as we got older. By high school, it was tough just to find time together. Then, at the start of Junior year, something unexpected happened: Pauline moved back to our hometown for her senior year. Suddenly, we were all together again—one last chance to make the most of it. We tried to fit five years of missed time into one, and we did. making that year fly by in the blink of an eye. As Prom approached, we hit a small snag: only seniors were allowed. But there was a loophole—anyone from the high school could escort a senior. So I did, and I got to go to Prom with one of my closest friends. It was a night I’ll never forget. When you blink you have to open you eyes to blink once more and the year was over. Sean, Colin, Ben, Login had went off to college, and Pauline moved back to France, and I was left behind for my senior year. Most of them never really reached out as they had become to busy. Except for Kody—my online best friend and, honestly, the greatest friend I’ve ever had. He helped me get through losing everyone else. But even that couldn’t prepare me for what came next: the pandemic. My senior Prom never came. COVID-19 hit. And the “Just two weeks” turned into the last memory I have of high school. But the world didn’t end, not really. Even after losing my childhood friends to distance, change, and time, and after living through a global crisis, life kept moving. And it made space for healing, for growing, and for meeting people who would change everything again. One of those was my close friend, Mint, someone I saw as a sister. who helped me get out of a rough period of my life. Today, I have a fantastic group of friends who are like a second family. And looking back, I’ve learned how to let go of the grief I carried for those I’ve lost and cherish the memories we all share Writing this review has taken me down a road I didn’t expect. I wanted to review how this game quietly opened the floodgates of emotions I left stagnant in my mind. But I also wanted to write this as a love letter to the friends I’ve had over the years who shaped who I am, and it makes me want to reach out to some of these old names to see how lifes treated them. Play the game has made me cherish my friends more then ever. I won’t name names. But if any of you are reading this, you know who you are. I love you more than I ever say. the names in the review were changed from the real people. This will probably be the only game review I ever write. I highly recommend anyone to atleast give this game a try even if you arent big on visual novel type games. idk I just really related to this game. sorry for grammar wrote this right after finishing the game Until then, thank you for reading.

I loved this game and strongly echo what most other positive reviews mention. The art is sublime. The music was great and complemented the game's emotional tone splendidly. I loved that small things and choices I made actually were referenced again within dialogue, even something as simple as liking someone's post, it made the narrative feel more personal and it got me more emotionally invested. The game legit made me both laugh and cry. The friendship between the characters really felt genuine and [spoiler]the way grief and acceptance are portrayed felt so relatable, I really had a lot of feels when the characters opened up to each other.[/spoiler] I also really liked the slow-pace of the story (I'm a slow burn girly), I don't think the emotional impact of the game would be as great if it didn't focus on slice of life moments to build the relationships between the characters as much as it did. As much as I liked that aspect of the story, I cannot say it is flawless. I found the "big twist" in act 3 required way too much suspension of disbelief to actually work [spoiler]and honestly, what the hell is up with teasing that Marc and Nicole will find each other again in the other lifetime and then they never do??? I understand the Ruling doesn't happen, so Nicole never had to move to Marc's town; that part makes sense. But they don't even have a fateful encounter later on in life after all they've been through together?? SMH[/spoiler] Another annoyance were the mini games: many of them are not created equal. Some feel straight up janky and others will pop up on you without warning and without telling you what you're supposed to do/which button to press. But aside from this, Until Then was a pretty great game and I'm glad I played it. Cathy is my homegirl <3

This is the first game I’ve ever reviewed on Steam, and Until Then did not disappoint. The game hits so close to home. The locations, the details, and the whole atmosphere just felt so real. It brought back memories when I was still in the Philippines and made the story way more emotional. The pixel art is beautiful, the music fits perfectly, and the story?? Chef’s kiss. Major props to the local devs for creating such an amazing game and for capturing our culture. Kudos!!!

Amazing visuals, characters, and soundtrack. Didn't really like the sci-fi plot towards the end though... that was pretty confusing. Definitely ruined the original impression of this game being more "rooted in reality". Give it a shot.

Holy crap, this game is a storytelling masterpiece. It stands comparable to an excellent movie in terms of writing, visual storytelling, shot composition, storyboarding, and the pure quality of the art. Made me cry a few times! If you enjoy a big story and a lot of sappiness, you'll eat this game up. My only gripe is that I was used to the pacing of the first major arc of the game, and afterwards it does feel a little faster. Those who have played may understand what I mean. I should also mention that the game is not ONLY story - there's a few decent minigames sprinkled in to keep you engaged. Definitely not the craziest in terms of gameplay, but it was good enough to keep me engaged, and since they usually involved more than one character, they were memorable moments in their own right. Overall, I give it a 9/10. PLAY THIS GAME.

I initially bought this because I just want to support local devs, but this game hit me like a truck. I've been thinking about it for weeks after that ending. I will go to my 2nd playthrough now.

My all-time fave visual novel. Cried like a baby when it ended. 10/10, I wish I could forget and play this game all over again.

This game is a beautiful cinematic journey that will suck you in innocently and then shock your reality. The story and characters are complex and at times slips into a slice of life sim, but all the while slowing burning towards something bigger. Gameplay is very approachable and even minigames demanding a bit more key control are very forgiving. You can also revisit chapters after you've completed them to see what you missed later or simply to re-experience moments. You'll want a cozy blanket, tea, and tissues for this game.

There's just something about this game that sets it apart from other games for me. I will admit, i thought I had fully finished the game once i reached the end of the first cycle, and I thought there was no way it ended like that. GOOD NEWS! it didn't. There was so much more to it. One of the aspects of this game I love is the characters. I actually care about the characters in this game. They feel real to me, their relationships and dynamics feel real. And the game takes time to build them up, flesh them out, and make them have depth. I think the slow reveals of what these characters are actually going through is well done. Ive always loved following a character that has that turmoil inside of them and has difficulty facing reality, especially when it gets revealed to us, the player, once the character starts to confront it and process it. We learn along side them, not ahead of them. The art is amazing, there were so many times throughout the story where I just stopped and stared at the scenery they created. The style remains the same throughout, with different types of media put in here and there, but it never felt out of place for me. It just added to the story, and helped me to understand. It was a little hard for me to keep up with the scientific theories and reasoning throughout each cycle. each new reality offered new ideas so it was hard to track what the characters believed was the truth, but even with that the story didn't feel muddled. As you move along, it begins to make sense and fall into place. But hey, science isn't my best, so that could just be a me thing. While I do love this game, it's story, characters and art, The game does move quite slow at the start. and by slow, I mean you're gonna need to take a lot of breaks to get back into the groove of reading. While cycle 1 does a good job of setting up characters personalities and relationships, it also spends A LOT of time with it. And it will often be placed between 'plot moving' scenes, so it can feel like its taking ages to get back to the main plot. But, I promise you IT IS WORTH IT! I would 100% recommend this game to anyone interested in rich characters, interesting and difficult themes, and facinating story.

watched a full playthrough and the story was just so good i had to get the game for myself

a damn masterpiece for sure i highly recommend 11/10 like srsly i aint gonna lie i shed a few tears from this game and it was truly an amazing masterpiece n i enjoyed every singular moment of it. wow.

We'll never truly understand someone. Not entirely. But that's part of understanding, To misunderstand... To writhe... To struggle... To fail... Until then, The world hasn't ended yet.

After playing the demo for 2 hours, I decided to buy this game because it had been in the desired state for a very long time. The demo version was just something. After playing the full version, I can say God, I've never played a game so emotional... The game is very catchy with its plot, thank you so much for making such a wonderful game! I was crying.

is the best story games ever i play i my life with a heartfelt experience that’s as visually beautiful as it is emotionally powerful. REALLY RECOMMENDED YOU CANT JUST PLAY, U NEED TO BECOME THE GAME.

I am not often one to believe in the idea of perfection, but what Polychroma games has done here; I struggle to find any other way to describe it other than perfect.

Such a wonderful game with so many details that make you realise in an instant how much love was put into the world- and characterbuilding..

beautiful game love cath best character play this game

just finished the game its beautiful 10/10 isnt enough

I dont even know what to say. I expected a short but beautiful and funny slice of life story. In the end I got an emotional rollercoaster of a story which caught me off guard multiple times with its twists and turns, had me on the edge of my seat after the first third and it didn't let go until I finished it, which had me go through the emotional equivalent of getting a kick to your stomache. An utterly beautiful and creative game with memorable characters, locations and story moments that will stick with me for a long time. Worth every penny, even if you are not the biggest fan of visual novel style games.

I literally never write reviews but this game had me ugly crying I have no words. Im not gonna spoil anything its best you play the game yourself, also it takes place in the philippines go pinas!

Steam Sale be breaking wallets AND hearts now apparently. The gameplay consisting of mostly reading and mini games might not be for everybody, but if you give it a shot and immerse yourself in it, it is truly magnificent. If you don't want to become even more heartbroken DO NOT press continue after the credits roll. Things will get MUCH worse to bear. Not in a bad way of course but it does get way more emotional. My first ecperience with this kind of game and it was an immaculate one. 10/10 on the emotional part, especially in unexpected ways. The mystery about quantum physics leaves you with enough room for speculations, even after the true ending. Nicole gotta get an award for being one of the best female characters OAT, considering her being in 2d pixel art and still having more quality than 90% of any female cast ever. Same obvioly goes for Cathy and espcially Junjun. The 100% are a bitch tho... all the harder achievement took me at least an hour each. "Jumong" being my least favourite even as a seasoned Dead by Daylight player.

imo one of the best games i have ever played. it has very good story telling,art and soundtracks

I don't leave reviews often but this is an amazing game. The developers really did an amazing job on this capturing such emotion and depth in this game. Also I personally love this art-style and form of pixel art which really deepened my love for the game as I often found myself just admiring the art instead of the story which was just as good. 100% worth it and will be playing it through a few times and maybe trying to get all achievements.

This game is an amazing one. It has emotionally impactful storytelling and character interaction that really catches you. The characters are important, and you want to do your best as Mark, the boy you play as. This game engages you in friendship, love, grief, loss, and more. On top of all that, it has amazing pixel art, animation, and scenes that make these characters lively and real. If you're down to play a game for the experience of connecting with characters, this is the best game for you. Even if you're not, this game is still an emotional smash hit you would enjoy.

finally picked this up during a steam sale and couldn't put it down. the game covers multiple heavy topics, but I don't think they are handled poorly in the slightest. absolutely loved my first play through and I look forward to playing more.

Thanks for the masterpiece developer 🙏 The graphic too good, the lighting, story, pacing, character development, everything was so peak! At this point, it is a perfection to quality over performance, combining low poly 3d with pixel texture, pixel art layering, lighting, ambience, its all bring immersive to the point of perfection. The audio too! Its too good! the mono sound is perfect. The first time i saw that setting could affect a pixel art graphic and immersion, and it is here. I dunno what to explain this game with if it should be one word, cuz it is beyond perfection, i never seen a word in vocabulary that explain this game perfection!

To be honest at first it was just from recommendation. But after finishing the game this is a masterpiece that can make you really emotional. 10/10 would recommend

Greatest of all time. Zenith of the medium. Hallmark of media. Gold standard of storytelling. Apogee of creativity. Vertex of invention. Crest of ingenuity. Acme of imagination. Pinnacle of innovation. Epic of epics. Legend among legends. Peak fiction.

Spoiler-free: This game is so banger and is incredibly well-paced. You play as Mark Borja, a Filipino high-schooler and bad pianist who's just trying to find his place in the world. The story at first is a sort of soap opera adolescent drama that's well-written, but pretty typical for visual novels. However, as Mark grows, you and him realize that something is off with the world around you. There's clearly something paranormal happening, but I can't say much more than that without spoiling it all. What I will say is [b]do not stop playing the game after the credits roll, even though the ending hits like a truck; there is so much more.[/b] This game does a very good job at playing at your emotions, whether that be laughing, crying, or otherwise empathizing with the characters. The only bad thing I can say about the game is that it's more like an interactive movie than a fully-fledged video game, but that's sort of how the genre works. The gameplay is point-and-click-adventure, in the same vein as Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney. There are some minigames here and there, but they're only maybe 5% of the playtime. Treat this game as a movie or a book rather than something like Red Dead Redemption 2 or Half-Life 2 and you'll enjoy it much more. Play only a chapter or two a day and leave yourself on cliffhangers. Until Then is an extremely touching piece of art and it deserves every bit of praise that's been sent its way. It's at 97% positive on Steam for a reason. I can't recommend the game enough; please play it! [strike]Also I might be biased because I have Filipino heritage and I play the piano[/strike]

Playing blindly was the best decision I made. I'm not done with the game yet. But I'll update my take on it when I hit it. [I'll try not to spoil] Ending 1: I didn't even know there's still more to it. But FUCK that ending hit me almost as hard as stubbing my toe. Every character is unique in their own kinda way. And I've always wondered as I went through it, what would've happened if I made a different choice? [Update 01] I still can't believe the ambiance of the game. It really made me peek out of my window if there really was a taho vendor XD Ending 2: Everything and everyone is all over the place. I really thought this was just a simple non scifi or anything supernatural. The narrative changed. It's like I'm here but really, I'm over there? I think? The feels weren't as hard as ending 1 but i wouldn't say it's bad. It felt like this ending was a setup for something else. And I've just discovered the trigger point of the event... how everything would "restart" [Update 02] Ending 3: It was an emotional roller coaster ride. I was kinda surprise at the end though. Even then, I'm glad that I got what I wanted since finishing Ending 1. Not my ideal, still... waaaayyy better than I got on that ending. For a linear visual novel, I'd say I find it phenomenal. Not like "Anohana" phenomenal.... but a "Shigatsu wa kimo no Uso" levels of phenomenal!! I could not recommend this enough to anyway who wants to experience it. And the best way to do it... is definitely through blind play (DO NOT GOOGLE ANYTHING... TRUST ME) 10/10 Holy shit!!!

best game of my life 10/10. only thing bother me a little bit is ending. the rest is masterpiece

even though i already knew this game is an emotional one before i started playing, i was still left crying while playing the last part of act 1 for like 30 minutes. this game is definitely as good as everyone says, it's an amazing and emotional coming of age game with likeable characters that you can easily sympathise with. i don't know if i have the emotional capacity to replay this game again to witness act 2 and act 3, but i definitely enjoyed act 1 a lot already! if you like visual novels, you'll definitely like 'until then'!

So, Theres nothing to dislike (being honest with this), This game is really the best if you enjoy this kind of gameplay, just seeing a story this beautiful even in pixels or whatnot, its just pure emotions that i felt when i played it, not tryna glaze it but its really amazing, i love every part of it, it can be harsh and you can feel n understand each character since im emotional to this kind of stories but none the less, best to play if you enjoy this kind of genre.

Amazing game, absolutely love it. Playing this game did take a while to finish, but it was completely worth it for the 20+ hours. I resonate deeply with the main characters, especially with Cath, I relate deeply with her struggles and also with Mark's usual attitude and the subsequent change. This game made me rethink and change my perspective on life, and ngl, made me want to live again. Highly recommend this game for anyone who likes story games, ones like Omori or Before Your Eyes or Night in The Woods (based on the ones I've played lol).

Protect Cathy at all costs. This game is great, made me cry and is very emotional. It might as well really did change my life for the better since I guess I've become a better person after this. Really makes me appreciate my loved ones more. I love Cathy Portillo btw Cathy x Sofia forever

absolutely beautiful game, both the story-writing and especially the visuals. continue playing after the credits roll, you won't regret it :) if you love games like omori and to the moon, you will probably love this game too!

It's truly beautiful game. [h3] Visuals: [/h3] As you probably can see from screenshots visually games look stunning (obviously it is not a photorealism, but a pixel, but it is a good kind of one). On the topic of the realism, the setting is pretty down to earth and "realistic", Philippines don't look over glazed, however, it is in weird way what makes it look a lot more comphy and beautiful. [h3] Audio: [/h3] On a music front it also is pretty good, main themes are nice to listen to, background sounds are fine and not overly distracting. [h3] Story: [/h3] The story is the main strength of this game, and I wouldn't say it ever goes stale, it is touching, heartwarming, but not in just cryfactory way, it has its messages which are presented quite in depth from different perspectives (not in some scientific way obviously, more through feelings). There is some point where story can become a bit confusing because of a small science fiction aspect of the game, but considering that it is how it supposed to be and characters theirself are feeling the same way, I think it is fine. [h3] Gameplay [/h3] It is mostly visual novel where you sometimes are given an opportunity to make a choice. There are also some minigames, like rhythm-minigames and so on. However, choices are given here often as in more modern games of the genre, so while the game is pretty cinematic, it is not in the sense that you can just put controller on the table for half an hour. Your choices though affect the story only in small parts the overarching story is going to be the same no matter what. However, I don't think that it is a minus here, you would feel the interaction with the game, but you can not really skip main messages of the story or something.

This game is definitely emotionally challenging. The characters are all written in a very real way, and the main character has some flaws that can be frustrating, but he also learns to overcome them - at least partially. Mechanically, it’s not super complex - there’s not much more to do than walk from screen to screen, look at some objects, or choose dialogues. And even the mechanics that do exist are pretty clunky in places (especially with a controller). But in my opinion, the story makes it all worth it. You have to like the visual style, of course, but I think it’s really well done -> combining 2D pixel art with parallax adds a lot of character to the whole thing. Not much about the story here, but if you like Life is Strange or Night in the Woods or the show Dark, then you’ll definitely find some good stuff here too. Otherwise, it’s a teenager/coming-of-age story with mysteries that happen on top of all that.

It's a masterpiece. It got my heart, very nostalgic, and Intense at the the same time. "Thank you for playing" No, Thank you very much.

Well there goes my happiness... Now ill play it again so I can cry again. 1000/10 game Edit: forever in my "best games" folder

It's a good story about high school life, which at some points make you question the actual genre of the game and the plot.

I genuinely think this is the best game i've ever played. The art is great. The music is great. The Humor is great. Every character feels like they are real People. And how the characters talk and write with each other. It just feels real. And most importantly, the story is really really beautiful. This game touched me in a way, no other did. Made me cry like a b1tch. So play this game! I bought it on sale, but thinks it worth the full price of 20€. You cant do much wrong playing it and i strongly recommend doing so.

Eu quase infartei com o tanto de dor no final desse jogo. Nunca na minha eu vi alguma história que me destruiu tanto quanto essa. Simplesmente impecável. Facilmente entrou pra minha lista dos melhores jogos do universo.

The story of this game is so beautiful I don't even know if I can express it well with words, it takes you for such a wild ride of emotions I needed a week off to process it all, I don't wanna say anything that could spoil new players so I'll just let you know that it is worth your time. At the start I wasn't a fan of the zoom in pixel art of the characters but some hours in I couldn't imagine it any other way, it has it's special charm that give that extra bit of magic to the story and I love all the characters sprites, like a perfect match. The music hits just right when you first hear it but by the end it wont leave your head, I'm gonna add this ost to the list of music that will bring back all the memories just like "Dango Daikazoku" from Clannad, Angel Beats op and "I really want to stay at your house" from Cyberpunk 2077. Thank you Polychroma Games for this masterpiece but also I hate you for making me feel so many things.