Draft:Until Then (video game)

Until Then is a interactive story rich visual novel developed by Polychroma Games and published by Maximum Entertainment. It features detailed pixel art and based in the Philippine and its culture.

It has been in development for around 3+ years and released on June 25, 2024 for Windows, PlayStation and Linux. The game was developed in the Godot game engine.

Gameplay
The game follows the main character, Mark Borja, as he goes through his school life with his friends. Throughout the game, Mark may have 2 different options in conversations with a wide cast of characters in person or over text.

At certain points of the game, Mark can scroll through social media to view news articles, make his own comments, and like and share posts. Some of these actions may have impact later on as other characters may notice Mark's comments, likes and shares.

The game has a variety of minigames during the story, such inserting the flashdrive correctly, fighting for fishballs, playing the piano and passing the fare for the jeepney.

The story features love, loss and friendship in the daily life of a student in the Philippine with hand drawn pixel art in a visually graphic 3d environment. Witness Mark's fun times with friends, navigating potential relationship with other characters and immerse yourself in the world of Until Then.

Summary
In a world still recovering from catastrophe, Mark Borja and his friends navigate the joys and woes of another year of high school. Wake up in a typical teenage bedroom, practice piano, race to meet homework deadlines, and build (and burn) relationships, as you reminisce about the daily insecurities of high school life.

That is, until a fateful meeting sets off a chain reaction, upending Mark's life. People disappear and memories prove unreliable. Uncover a hidden truth with Mark and his friends in this narrative adventure and race to unravel the mystery before it's too late.

Development
Until Then was first revealed with a teaser posted on Polychroma Games Youtube channel on Jan 23, 2020.

Then around 4 years later, Until Then opens a steam page and featured a demo on Steam Next Fest. And a announcement trailer was posted on the publisher's Youtube channel, Maximum Entertainment

The game was announced to release May 23rd, 2024, but was delayed to June 25th, 2024.

Reception
Around July 12th, Until Then on Steam receives over 1000 reviews with 99% positives.

Trivia
The main characters, Mark Borja and Nicole Lacsamana share the same first name as Mark Blythe and Nicole Tyler in another game created by Polychroma Games called Seen. Only available for the android.

Until Then is considered by one of the devs to be a sequel to Seen. It can also be seen as the successor.