While the setting and inspirations are Filipino through and through, the themes of friendship, love, loss, and acceptance in this visual novel are universal.
“Kung sakaling mapadaan baka ikaw ay aking tawagan, dahil minsan tayo ay naging tunay na magkaibigan” (“I might call you if ever I’m in the area, since there was a time when we were the best of friends”). The lyrics to “Minsan,” a song by legendary Pinoy band Eraserheads, kept playing in my head while I was reviewing Until Then. This visual novel from Polychroma Games presents a coming-of-age story, a tale of love and loss, friendships and fears, all sprinkled with life from my country: the Philippines. It’s enough to make me reminisce about my student years and sing the national anthem.
Until Then’s narrative tells of The Ruling, a catastrophe that has caused disasters worldwide. On top of that, there’s an unexplained phenomenon in which people suddenly disappear, while others confuse events from the future and events that have already happened.
It’s interesting stuff, but these supernatural elements would be all for nothing without a memorable cast of characters, starting with the protagonist Mark. He’s a 15-year-old bright-but-lazy slacker, just making his way through high school while his Overseas Filipino Worker (OFW) parents are abroad. Right from the get-go, I felt a personal connection: I grew up in the province of Batangas, raised by my “ninang” (godmother) who eventually became an OFW in Saudi Arabia. Likewise, I’ve had my fair share of scholarships and suspensions over two decades ago when I was still a student. Just like Mark, I’d cram before exams, get sent to the principal’s or prefect’s office, and sleep during class hours (sometimes due to boredom and sometimes due to Red Horse beer).
Until Then – Release Date Trailer
Alongside his loyal classmates and friends, Cathy, Ridel, and Louise, Mark yearns for a spark, something to inspire him to continue with the humdrum rhythm of his daily routine. Then a mishap leads to a chance meeting with Nicole, a transfer student. It’s this encounter that slowly builds to a budding romance. Young love!
We’ve all been there, I think. We’ve all had our share of anxiety and awkwardness as we’ve navigated the social minefield that is high school – and perhaps even college. It’s this premise that makes the formative interactions among Mark and his friends relatable. You’ve got everything from hanging out in convenience stores and joining extracurricular clubs, to being invited to someone’s house to meet the family. You’ve got endless chatting until the wee hours of the night, and the process of starting to understand one’s gender identity. There were enough “kilig” moments (romantic elation or excitement) at certain points, too, that I found myself rooting for the characters.
The experience of being a student is complemented by the inclusion of smartphone and social media mechanics, in which you receive messages from classmates and choose from various preset replies. Even better, you can click on profiles, like posts, and read linked articles for a bit of backstory. The mechanic is quite clever, providing enough information to go by without necessarily bogging you down with too much exposition.
Image credit: Eurogamer / Polychroma Games
Until Then also touches on the effects of depression and the mask we wear to hide our deepest fears, our biggest regrets, and our darkest traumas. These dilemmas are handled with mindfulness and nuance, juxtaposed with the universal theme of finding hope, humour, and resilience. All of this is presented in lovely pixel art visuals, interspersed with anime-esque snapshots. Meanwhile, haunting and melodramatic music adds to the emotional punch, and even made me tear up at certain points.
I completed Until Then’s campaign in roughly nine hours, initially thinking that some of the main plot points were unresolved or only served to detract from
