YesterMorrow is a 2D platformer developed and published by Bitmap Galaxy, set to release on PC and Mac on November 5, 2020. As part of PAX Online, a demo is available to the public on Steam. Based on the demo, YesterMorrow is a fairly straightforward 2D platformer that’s fun but doesn’t innovate the genre.
In YesterMorrow, players control Yui, a girl living in a small, peaceful village. One year, at an annual festival, Shadows take over the land and blot out the sun. The game then skips forward in time to when Yui is an adult, traversing the land to find a solution to the Shadows and find her missing father.
The demo is roughly the first 30 minutes of YesterMorrow, introducing players to the characters, general story premise, and gameplay. Like most platformers, players can use wall jumps, dodge rolls, ropes, and other abilities to make their way around the map.
Unlike most platformers, however, there was not any combat in the demo. I could jump on some enemies, using them as a height boost for platforming, but I wasn’t able to attack anything throughout the opening section. However, I’m not sure if this is how the final game will be since the Steam page does mention taking on seven bosses throughout YesterMorrow.
Because of the lack of combat, the gameplay was interesting, but the platforming wasn’t particularly challenging enough for it to feel unique. The levels were fairly straightforward, only tripping me up when I needed to dodge an enemy in a tight space.
Additionally, the story seemed to move at a strangely fast pace. Even though the demo was only around 30 minutes long, I played through the opening cutscenes, meeting the Guardian that teaches Yui how to defeat the Shadows, and time traveled into the village.
Overall, as a fan of platformers, I had fun with YesterMorrow but there was nothing about this game that particularly struct me in as unique within the genre. YesterMorrow runs well and looks phenomenal, but in terms of gameplay, it didn’t feel like anything I hadn’t played before. That said, I could see the full product standing out more than the 30-minute demo. YesterMorrow may be a title to keep an eye on, but as of now, it seems like a fun but slightly generic 2D platformer.
YesterMorrow will release on PC and Mac on November 5, 2020.