Afterlife
is an RPG Maker VX Ace Explorer Horror game by lost6soul, aka SOUL ART STUDIO. It takes inspiration from games like Ib, The Crooked Man, and The Witch's House. You play as Victoria Vamentie, a white-haired girl who wakes up in a strange underground crypt with no memories. After escaping, she meets Evan Wolf, a mysterious man who agrees to help her explore and find out what happened. As they venture through, they discover that a horrible calamity has destroyed most of the world, and survivors are being hunted down by humanoid monsters, while the Governor rules the city with an iron fist.
The game received a remake, Afterlife: The Second Dimension, with a similar story but several major differences. The protagonist in this game is Yuna, a white-haired schoolgirl who finds herself in the year 2154 in a world that has been devastated by World War III. With nearly all technology banned so nature can regrow without human interference, the city seems to be the only part of the world where technology is still in use. Yuna, who wakes up in her classroom, meets her best friend Kazuki right as one of their other friends is killed by a humanoid monster. The two of them decide to escape and figure out what is going on.
In addition to the changed story, the game's world has also been greatly expanded with several new areas.
This game contains examples of:
- After the End: Both versions take place after the world was devastated by some apocalypse. In the original, it is explained that this happened when resources ran out, causing a global shortage, while the remake specifies the apocalyptic event as World War III.
- Decomposite Character: In the original, Evan Wolf is revealed to be the amnesiac Big Bad William Vamentie near the end of the game, whereas their remake counterparts (Kazuki and Seiji) are two separate people.
- Fluffy Cloud Heaven: In the original game, this is what is shown of the Gates of Heaven, being a lush garden in the clouds.
- Not His Sled: In the original game, Evan is revealed to be an amnesiac William, Victoria's father. The remake, while still having a similar story, removes this twist and has Kazuki and Seiji (the remake's counterparts) be two different people.
- Notice This: In the remake, every object you can interact with is indicated by a glow or some other indicator to prevent you from having to check every single sprite like in the original.
- Old School Building: The first area in the remake is Yuna's school, now empty of everyone except the monsters patrolling the area.
- Our Souls Are Different: According to Willaim/Seiji, our human life rests not with our organs, but with our brains and thoughts; as long as humans can think, they are alive. This is why he decides the best way to achieve immortality is to freeze the body at time of death so even if the body shuts down, the consciousness can remain.
- The Pearly Gates: The original game has The Gates of Heaven, which are shown in the ending when Victoria and Fiora ascend from Earth. The gates themselves look fairly normal but are in front of a pretty, serene garden and fountain.
- The Very Definitely Final Dungeon: Yuna's memory of her house is the final major area in which you have to solve some puzzles to open the doors on the second floor that give The Reveal.
- World War III: The remake explicitly takes place after such a war broke out and nuclear weaponry devastated the world.
