Night School Studio`s Afterparty captures the same colorful graphic novel art style--complete with speech balloons--as the developer`s first game, Oxenfree. Its hilarious writing is brought to life through an excellent assortment of voice actors as well. However, the simpler mechanics in Oxenfree have become more complex in Afterparty, and the world feels larger and more alive. The writing, though still humorous, is definitely intended for a more mature audience as well.During GDC 2019, I had the opportunity to talk to Night School co-founders Sean Krankel and Adam Hines, as well as see 20 minutes-or-so of gameplay from early in Afterparty`s story. You can read my interview with Krankel and Hines below.Gameplay wise, Afterparty handles a lot like Oxenfree, with the major mechanics at your control being walking around and choosing dialogue options during conversations. Afterparty does shake up the formula a bit with mini activities, like beer pong, sprinkled throughout and a system where getting drunk opens up new dialogue options--such as angrily insulting someone or flirting. You also have access to hell`s version of Twitter, called Bicker, which gives you insight into what people are thinking or feeling.Afterparty is currently scheduled for a 2019 release on Xbox One, PS4, PC, and Switch. The game launches day one on Xbox One Game Pass.Note: edits were made to the interview in order to make certain parts of it easier to read.Night School Studios GDC 2019 InterviewSo one of the best parts about Oxenfree was that--even though it wasn`t a short game by any means--it was short enough that you could easily play through it a few times and get the different endings. Is that going to be the same for Afterparty?Sean Krankel: [Afterparty is] a lot bigger, but a single play through probably is six to seven hours in this one. But you`re gonna miss stuff no matter what, whereas in Oxenfree it was a very set sort of linear story that the player was given a lot of agency how ...
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