Review: LATER ON

Developer/Publisher: Penumbra Games

Release Date: January 26, 2018

Version Played: PC

Copy purchased for review

There’s a definite hole to be filled where once stood classics like Silent Hill, Siren and Alone in the Dark.  Those seminal works of the survival horror genre knew better than most how to toy with audience expectations, using a synthesis of cutting-edge audio-visual technology and compelling writing to scare the living crap out of you.  Everything from the underplayed cosmic horror of Lovecraft to the familiar yet grotesque extremes of Barker was drawn upon for inspiration, and it enriched rather than undermined these vital entries in the genre.

Later On doesn’t quite hit that same level of quality or cultural relevance, not by a long shot.  It’s constrained very much by the tools and scope of its construction, and feels like it pulls punches or avoids essential detail where such elements would do the most good.  Yet there’s a hard-to-resist allure to its central mystery and its offbeat world that I couldn’t help but appreciate, even as the limits of those aspects were drawn in sharp relief.

We begin in the shoes - and troubled mind - of David, an office worker in a seemingly mundane beach town out on the edge of wilderness.  He’s got a clear chip on his shoulder regarding his situation, lacking drive to do much beyond work and go through the most routine of activities.  There’s not many people in town he knows, even fewer that he’s friends with, and his existence is generally a dour one (hammered home by the game’s early usage of a blue-grey colour scheme and muted lighting - it’s viscerally depressing).

OH! And also he’s perturbed by repeated dreams of a screaming person… which turns out to be a VISION that comes true one night.  David’s soon in the company of two women - one of whom’s status as a human growing increasingly (and intriguingly) LESS certain - and drawn into a citizen’s investigation of bizarre shit happening around town.  Because when a horror game plot comes a-knockin’, the gore and surreal visions and other spoiler-related material comes along for the ride.

Saying anymore would give away the ghost (even acknowledging to what degree that’s NOT a metaphor is more plot-relevant than I’m keen on revealing), so I’ll leave the specifics there.  What works best in Later On is its commitment to using the inherent weirdness of horror iconography as essentially one big red herring, without tipping its hand too early about its actual intent.  The initial mystery plot is compelling, going from location to location at a decent pace and letting some sharply-written character interactions play out reasonably organically.  And once the underlying business comes to the surface, the shift in purpose and even (sort of) genre is handled with care.

It’s also not shy about delivering on gnarly sights, especially as the climax rolls around.  There’s a stretch dedicated to David’s childhood home which shows off some of the game’s most unsettling sprite and background art design, and little details sprinkled throughout the game (a bin full of detached limbs, for instance) help to foster a growing feeling that the town’s true nature may have been obfuscated well beyond our initial impression.

That said, I do harbor the notion that a particularly pertinent reveal late in the story could’ve been better set-up early on, as it does come seemingly out of nowhere yet overtakes what appeared to be the game’s central focus.  The way in which the actual climax pans out - with a dramatic confrontation and a series of conversations which make use of Later On’s severely underutilized dialogue-based choice system - is well-staged and fits with what we’ve learned of David’s character up to that point.  BUT it’s also predicated on a character relationship which isn’t referenced until well past the two-thirds point, and isn’t clarified as being the key to understanding the plot ‘till right near the end.  

Some other issues crop up that hamper the effectiveness with which Later On tells its morbid tale.  There’s a handful of item and environmental puzzles, ranging in quality from “reasonably clever” to “fairly obtuse”.  As mentioned, the dialogue system doesn’t really come up much apart from certain telegraphed story turns, and even then it railroads the player into picking particular options or else risk death.  And while I dig Penumbra Games opting to use RPG Maker in a decidedly non-RPG fashion, I do wish they’d gone more offbeat and weird where aesthetic is concerned. Things do pick up visually once we move out of the city streets and into certain indoor locations, but it takes some time.

Clocking in at under two hours for me, Later On is certainly functional at its chosen aims but not a great deal more.  It’s in such a hurry to get to its big reveal that it forgets the lesson earlier horror titles have to teach: sometimes, it’s best to slow down and let things sink in.  What works, pacing-wise, in horror films doesn’t always translate one-to-one in video games.

Still, if you’re itching for some solid if mechanically unremarkable horror fare, this certainly fits the bill.  It can’t quite reach the heights of the classic games that it seems inspired by, but then few things can.