REVIEW: ‘Afterimage’ Is A Beautiful Fantasy Adventure (PS5)

Afterimage is a 2D action-adventure platformer developed by Aurogon Shanghai. While it doesn’t reinvent the wheel, it does present a complete package that is worth the price of entry. Afterimage tells the story of Renee, a young woman who has lost all of her memories. Her story takes place in the land of Engardin, which is quickly shown to be in absolute ruin. It’s a fairly standard fantasy game setting, featuring a protagonist with amnesia tasked with saving a world on the edge of complete destruction. The approach can sometimes feel predictable, but the familiarity helps make it more approachable.

Renee herself is an interesting main character. Her motivations and growth as a hero drew me in more than I expected. She is accompanied by Ifree, an adorable magical creature that helps her along the way. The writing for their relationship is great, but the real highlight is the voice acting from Kira Buckland as Renee and Christina Assaf-Costello as Ifree. The performances made me care more about how Renee was struggling to rediscover her past by bringing the duo to life in such a great way.

It is not just Renee and Ifree that bring the world to life, though. There are over 50 unique non-playable characters scattered throughout the game that really help flesh out the story. I was surprised a platformer game included so many extra characters in the world to help build things out. It is not a typical approach for the genre, but it made the experience even more special by including ways to explore how the events of the story were affecting the other residents of Engardin.

Gameplay in Afterimage is enjoyable, even if it isn’t revolutionary. The actual platforming experience is quite fun, and there are some unique movement options used by combining attacks with jumps that open up more options for how to travel. There is a good amount of backtracking required which can be frustrating at times, but that is par for the course for the genre. There is a map you can use, but it doesn’t always update without using certain in-world points to update the map with what you have discovered. It would be nice to have the map updated in real-time to cut down on some of the extra back-and-forth searchings.

Things do start to break away from the typical platformer genre when it comes to the role-playing game aspects. There are character upgrades that are earned by leveling up that increase things like attack damage and player health which are vital. The trade-off with that is that different areas have different levels attached to them which affects enemy difficulty. The developers have already addressed some of the mid-game enemies hitting a bit too hard and it will be fixed when the game launches, but my larger issue is with the concept of having to spend some time grinding out experience points in order to be strong enough to take on the later stages. Refreshing the same areas over and over again just to level up takes away from the fun and the magic of Afterimage, so those moments were disappointing.

A neat feature that Afterimage implements is the ability to have multiple weapons equipped at the same time. Since different enemies have different weapon weaknesses, the ability to seamlessly attack with two different weapons without entering a menu is vital. It also allows players to be able to experiment with different load-outs instead of resorting to using the same weapon and progressing by brute force. The weapons themselves also feel quite different and have different ranges and attack speeds. The differences are not so jarring that it makes swapping trickier, but I appreciated that they were not just the same exact movements with a different coat of paint.

Speaking of paint, one of the best things about Afterimage is how gorgeous it is. Every frame is hand-drawn, and that attention to detail is obvious from the start. The fluidity of Renee’s movements in action as well as the unique enemy types and the way they look and move was amazing. Every single backdrop is dripping with detail that brings the world to life in a breathtaking way. Scenery ranging from ruins engulfed in flames to a beautiful field blowing in the wind etched an image in my mind that I will not be able to forget. It’s fascinating how much the art direction of a game can enhance the quality of the experience.

Afterimage is a truly beautiful experience, one worth taking the time to enjoy. There are some frustrating moments like a lack of clarity in direction or forced moments of experience grinding, but a compelling story and fascinating world kept those from ruining the experience.

Afterimage releases April 25th on PS4, PS5, Xbox Series S|X, Nintendo Switch, and PC.