Visual novel based on Philippine culture released by Indie developers, Polychroma Games

AN irritable alarm opens the game for the player, Mark Borja. The digital clock repeatedly buzzes, formally starting the day by waking you up to start preparing for school. 

Until Then is a visual novel that tells a story of love, loss, and friendship through interactive gameplay that immerses the player in Filipino culture. The game was officially launched on Steam and PlayStation 5 on June 25, 2024, four months after the demo was released back on February 5.

The game banks on nostalgia for the typical Filipino high school experiences, settings, and interactions between characters. The player gets to play out your adventure in the choices and conversations you have throughout the gameplay. 

Jess Reyes writes for IGN Southeast Asia, “…It reminded me of summer breaks when I would visit Manila, but with a fondness that outdid any discomfort I would have from walking under the sweltering heat and dodging cockroaches on the sidewalk. From colored chicks to bits of Tagalog, Filipino culture deepened the immersiveness of the story between the playful characterization and mini games,” in her game review titled “‘Until Then’ Wants to Become a Portal to Filipino Culture For Everyone.”

The graphics of the game present a 2D-pixel art in a 3D space where you can explore and see the details of the streets of a Manila-inspired setting with stock characters like a “Mang tataho” and “Marites” yelling out or nagging in the background. It provides a cinematic visual experience, taking the players to the story’s environment without them having to leave their rooms. 

Users on Steam, a video game distribution platform, share their sentiments for the visual aspect of Until Then. They state that the illustrations are amazing whilst the mix of 3D and 2D pixel art was a stunning use of literary devices. 

The visual novel’s musical score titled “Memories” is a compelling piano piece used in the original soundtrack aids in the storytelling aspect of the game.

“…haunting and melodramatic music adds to the emotional punch, and even made me tear up at certain points,” stated Jason Rodriguez in his review “Until Then review – friendships, fears, and Filipinos” on Eurogamer. 

A player named Rai states in their review on Steam, “…I played the demo of this. The art and music of the trailer hit me enough to try this and the demo just convinced me even more to wait for this and buy it the moment it came out…”

Moreover, Until Then’s demo dabbles with high school puppy love, mini-games catered to explore the minuscule day-to-day activities, the theme of the character’s mental health, as well as the air of the “unknown” with glitches that appear in random parts of the story. It teases what more is to come in the full version of the game. 

Polychroma Games is a Filipino indie game studio that focuses on interactive games and stories. They developed Until Then with the aid of Maximum Entertainment, a global entertainment company that develops indie and AA games as well as licenses through partnerships, as their publisher.

Other games developed by Polychroma are Seen, Outpost on Syrinx, and Let’s Go There And Wander Nowhere. 

With reports from Catherine Jules C. Juvida