After Us Review: Saving Ghosts One World at a Time

After Us asks you to save the world one ghost at a time, and it mostly earns that ask. Piccolo Studio’s platformer, out now on Xbox Series X|S, PC and PlayStation 5, puts you in the role of Gaia, the Spirit of Life, tasked with reviving the souls of extinct animals across a ruined Earth. The result is a quiet, often beautiful puzzle adventure that lands somewhere between a nature documentary and a meditation on loss.

Trailer, via Private Division.

Gaia’s Job

Gaia moves through eight connected worlds, each a distinct pocket of the dead Earth. You fly, jump and glide between ruins, searching for the spirits of creatures that vanished from the planet. Finding them means solving small puzzles tied to memory and movement — tracing a path, timing a fall, avoiding a hazard — before releasing the soul and sending it back to a central sanctuary. The game rarely explains itself in words, preferring gesture and image over text boxes, and that restraint works in its favor.

Extinct Souls

Each animal carries a story about how it died. One spirit tells of the last whale harpooned, another of the final eagle caged, another of the last deer hunted down. These tales land harder than any lecture could manage, because the game lets you see the ruin first before hearing the cause. That design choice — showing before telling — is the engine of After Us, and it drives the emotional core of the whole experience.

The Devourers

Not everyone is pleased with Gaia’s work. The Devourers are the ghosts of humans who destroyed the planet, and they roam the wasteland looking for life to consume. They are the game’s only real enemies, and they require you to use a boomerang-like attack to defeat them. These fights are simple, but they break up the puzzle pace nicely, giving you a chance to react rather than plan.

Eight Worlds

The eight areas are linked, and moving between them is part of the fun. Each world has its own look and feel, from sunken cities to deserts of ash, and the transition between them is smooth. The game does not waste time loading screens, which keeps the flow intact even as you move from one ruin to another.

A Wordless Story

After Us tells its story without speech. There is no dialogue, no narration, just images and the occasional text card explaining a new ability. This choice forces you to pay attention to the environment and the animations, because that is where the meaning lives. It is a bold approach, and it mostly pays off, though some moments feel thin without context.

What Works

Here is what stands out:

1. The visual design of the dead Earth, which mixes familiar landmarks with strange, abstract ruin.
2. The animation of Gaia herself, which sells her grace and determination in every step.
3. The puzzle design, which rewards patience and observation over brute force.
4. The emotional weight of the animal spirits, which lands best when you know the creature before you hear its fate.
5. The absence of clutter — there is almost nothing here that does not serve the story or the gameplay.

What Falls Short

The game is not perfect. Some puzzles repeat ideas you have already solved, and the combat can feel dull against the more engaging platforming. The lack of dialogue also means the world never feels fully alive, since there is no one around to explain it to you. And the final stretch, while emotionally satisfying, does not push the mechanics anywhere new.

Final Verdict

After Us is a thoughtful, quiet game that respects its subject matter. It is not trying to be loud or fast, and that restraint is both its strength and its limit. The puzzles are clever, the worlds are memorable, and the emotional payoff is real. It does not reinvent the platformer, but it delivers a focused, moving experience that sticks with you long after you put it down.

game review · Indie Games · PC gaming · Platformer · PS5 · Xbox