Faisal Ghaffar 
When you come across the pitch of After Us for the first time, it sounds really appealing, but the wordless and light storytelling does become somewhat inconsistent. Nonetheless, the game has a very simple premise; you take the role of Gaia, a forest spirit who is extra powerful. But, you will find that handling her is not that easy, as some of the platforming moves can be slippery.
Unique Ability
This does not mean that Gaia is not interesting. In fact, the most unique thing about her is the ‘heart of the forest’ ability that allows her to bring the Earth back to life, one animal or plant at a time. This ability can be thrown like a boomerang and the force feedback you feel will give you a jolt. The problem is that this particular ability is used rather infrequently and for some lackluster combat.
When you hold down the left trigger and release it, the heart of the forest ability is unleashed in a radius around Gaia and this creates a rather cool effect when the nearby surfaces are covered in flowers and grass.
The Story
You will find that After Us has a very thin story, with every forest spirit connected via an open world that has lots of corridors, which can be used for traveling between the various zones. There are eight areas that are mechanically as well as visually distinct and you can travel between them very quickly. But, the game does not have a sense of direction, as you are given the freedom to do things in any order.
The story will take you around 12 hours to complete, but it can take longer because you have to figure out what path to take in order to reach the final level. Bear in mind that there is no rise in difficulty in terms of levels.
The Villains
The Devourers are the main villains that you will deal with, which are essentially ghosts of the malevolent human beings who are responsible for the destruction of the Earth due to consumerism. There is not a lot of enemy variety to be found and fighting is not a lot of fun either. This is because you can only use your boomerang orb against the enemies and it does not do a lot of damage.
Most of the battles usually involve Gaia running back and forth and sometimes, the combat encounters come off as completely unnecessary. However, it is the graphics that you will really find appealing because the visual design is outstanding. It uses a lot of bold ideas and everything looks absolutely gorgeous, especially if you are playing the game on a 4K TV. The performance remains quite consistent and you will not face a lot of hitches and stutters, which makes for a good experience.
The Verdict
Due to its platforming, many will not find After Us appealing, but the gorgeous visuals that are nature-focused are certainly worth checking out when you explore the post-apocalyptic world presented in the game.
