Amid February’s swath of releases, Afterlove EP humbly strikes a chord with its heartfelt narrative about love, loss and overcoming the universal struggle with grief. Developed by Indonesian indie studio Pikselnesia, the game carries an added weight as its founder, Mohammad Fahmi, unfortunately passed away in 2022 before its completion. Since his passing, the team has diligently worked to honour his creative vision for Afterlove EP. After playing it, I can truly say that it’s such a wonderful testament to a beloved creator that the team at Pikselnesia should be incredibly proud of. 

Visual novel first, adventure and rhythm game second

Afterlove EP is, first and foremost, a visual novel. While it incorporates narrative adventure and rhythm game elements, its core strength lies in its expertly crafted storytelling. Its narrative unfolds through character dialogue text primarily, and there is a lot of it. With only one specific character’s lines being voiced, reading is a key part of the game’s experience. Fans of Fahmi’s previous works, most notably Coffee Talk, will feel right at home here.

For those who are less familiar with visual novels and panic at the thought of a paragraph, there’s no need to worry as Afterlove EP does a lot to keep things engaging. The presentation of dialogue itself is key in not overwhelming the average player. As each character speaks, their dialogue pops up in a little speech bubble next to their portrait or above their head like in a comic or manga, which works to generally keep things easy to parse. Alongside this, the light adventuring and exploration you do as you hoof it through Jakarta also helps to break up long stretches of reading, while adorable, manga-like panel cutscenes provide occasional visual storytelling without the use of dialogue. Together, these elements ensure the game never feels like slog after slog of text.

Also helping to break up text-heavy segments are the funky rhythm game moments, which occur naturally as you progress the story. These sections are set to music by Indonesian indie band L’Alphalpha, whose tracks range from upbeat pop melodies to sombre, melancholic tunes—all featuring that distinct indie rock feel. The music is truly great, and fits the vibe of Rama and his band perfectly.

Gameplay-wise, the mechanics of the rhythm segments are very simple. Press the corresponding directional keys as the notes reach the middle of the rhythm game interface and hold down the directional keys when longer notes appear. Sure, it’s nothing groundbreaking, but it was enjoyable just jamming along to the music nonetheless. If rhythm games aren’t your thing, Afterlove EP also offers different difficulty settings to help negate or completely remove any challenge. You can choose between normal, easy, and automatic difficulty modes, and you can choose to skip sections at any point regardless of where you are in the song or what difficulty you are on. That being said, I do wish you could crank the difficulty settings the other way and choose a more challenging option as I found the rhythm portions to be a bit too simple.

What happens after love?

Afterlove EP’s heartfelt story opens with scenes grounding the player in Rama’s current reality and setting the tone for the game to come. Rama’s removing photos of him and his girlfriend, Cinta. A flashback takes us to a cute moment between the two, where Cinta hands Rama a top secret package to open only after he finishes his EP. That night, after a successful gig with his band, Rama stays out drinking to celebrate, with Cinta heading home, feeling ill. The next morning, he wakes to a flood of missed calls. Rushing to the ICU, the scene abruptly shifts to a funeral. Cinta’s funeral. 

This opening sets the stage for Afterlove EP, contrasting the playful warmth of Rama’s memories with Cinta against the crushing reality of her passing. His once-vibrant moments with her, now reduced to just the memories he has of her, haunt him both emotionally and, as we soon learn, literally. I mentioned previously that only one character has voiced lines in Afterlove EP and, of course, it is Cinta’s dialogue. Cinta manifests in Rama’s head as a character and always has something to say. She’s witty, silly and a terrible yapaholic, constantly chiming in and pushing her interactions with Rama to points where you really start to question whether this is a healthy way to process grief…

Besides Cinta, Afterlove EP features a small but vibrant cast of characters, each of whom is written impressively well. They all have their own unique stories and personal struggles which you can learn about as you spend more time with them over the month. There’s Rama’s bandmates, the constant workaholic Tasya and the seemingly carefree Adit, whose relationship with Rama is, understandably, in an uncomfortably rocky spot. You can befriend Adit’s girlfriend, Regina, and her friend Mira, a poetry enthusiast, as well as the local enigmatic café owner, too.

There’s also Satria, the music store clerk, who happens to be my favourite character out of the whole bunch. Without giving too much away, his story is a beautiful, genuine portrayal of a queer experience that highlights not only his journey but also his extended local queer community. He is an incredibly thoughtful addition to the cast and his scenes include some of my favourite dialogue in the entire game.

Finding Rama’s rhythm

Afterlove EP ebbs and flows as you progress through the month of September. As you guide Rama through his days, each one brings him closer to the pivotal moment of the game, Sigmund Feud’s big comeback gig. After withdrawing from the world and going completely off the grid following Cinta’s death, Rama now has a month to prepare himself and his band for a performance that will make or break them.

The game’s core rhythm lies in guiding Rama through his days. You’ll use both the morning and evening of each day to do whatever you feel most drawn to. You have a few options to choose from, but typically they can be categorized into meeting new and old friends, busking, working, reflecting on memories with Cinta and going to therapy.

One of my favourite parts of deciding how I was going to get Rama to spend his day was receiving cute text messages on Rama’s phone, which reminded me of the ones you’d get in Persona 5. The short message chains between him and whoever he was texting were equal parts charming and cheesy, paired with an incredibly adorable phone UI that made it ridiculously easy to decide what to do next. If a friend messaged wanting to hang out, you can bet Rama was going to hustle to their location post-haste.

Unfortunately, the game feels almost too carefully railroaded in the early days of the month, with a lack of freedom of choice (or at least the illusion of it). This feeling of restriction carried over into later weeks, where I felt dialogue choices had very little impact on how the conversation was going.

Home sweet home

Running through the streets of Jakarta in Afterlove EP is an absolute delight. The manga art style is adorable. Every location is packed to the brim with authenticity, capturing the essence of a city that feels real. Each corner, alley and backdrop has details that really work to make the world feel rich and immersive. When the developers said the game is set in the streets they’ve lived in, it’s clear that they really meant it. 

I love the details in Rama’s neighbourhood. Down the road, there’s a convenience store beside a basketball court, while heading the other way leads to residential houses, a small snack shop, and a food vendor advertising traditional Indonesian dishes like lele goreng, ati ampela, and tahu. It’s so easy to imagine Rama going about his daily life here in this little neighbourhood.

In addition to the setting, the NPCs that inhabit the world help further immerse you in the setting. NPCs have unique dialogue that changes as the days pass and while they serve no mechanical purpose, they breathe life into the setting. A delivery driver waits outside Rama’s apartment, busy on the job. A sweaty tourist complains about needing a fresh shirt. A girl excitedly shares her love for Cuban tree frogs. A food vendor offers Rama pempek, mentioning that it’s his weightlifter wife’s favourite. These moments are inconsequential to Rama’s personal struggle, yet they add a layer of charm and believability that makes Jakarta feel all the more alive.