Until I Have You

67%
Game Brain Score Based on 121 reviews
  • story
  • gameplay
  • graphics
Until I Have You Game Cover
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"Until I Have You" is a challenging pixel art platformer with puzzle elements. You play as a hacker trying to escape from his past, using your wits and tools to outsmart enemies and overcome obstacles. With its tight controls and clever level design, it offers a satisfying and thought-provoking experience.

  • Mac OS
  • PC
  • Windows
  • Linux
Genres & TagsPlay Modes

Reviews

67%
Audience ScoreBased on 121 reviews
story33 positive mentions
stability4 negative mentions
  • The game features a captivating cyberpunk aesthetic with beautiful pixel art and a compelling soundtrack that enhances the overall atmosphere.
  • Gameplay is fast-paced and challenging, with a variety of mechanics and unique boss fights that keep the experience engaging.
  • The story, while somewhat cliché, is emotionally resonant and adds depth to the gameplay, making players invested in the protagonist's journey.
  • Controls can feel clunky and unresponsive at times, leading to frustrating deaths and a steep learning curve for players unfamiliar with precision platforming.
  • The game suffers from technical issues, including bugs and performance problems, which can detract from the overall experience.
  • Some levels are overly short and repetitive, lacking the variety needed to maintain player interest throughout the entire game.
  • story98 mentions

    The game's story has received mixed reviews, with some players finding it engaging and emotionally impactful, while others describe it as clichéd and poorly executed. Many appreciate the cyberpunk aesthetic and the narrative's ability to evoke interest, though some criticize its coherence and depth, suggesting it could have been more compelling without the added voice acting or complex mechanics. Overall, the story is seen as a significant aspect that enhances the gameplay experience, despite its flaws.

    • “The story, while there may be similar narratives elsewhere (we all pull from the same story pool), is told with a good deal of emotional oomph, and I found myself moved on more than one occasion.”
    • “The visuals are amazing, the story is compelling and changes in ways you don't initially expect.”
    • “Great atmosphere, fast and challenging platforming, surprisingly great voice acting, amazing soundtrack, and a story that makes you want to keep playing to see what happens.”
    • “The story is cheesy and melodramatic.”
    • “The story is pretty incoherent, which is okay for the cyberpunk genre: after all, most of the classic works have unreliable narrators, unhinged characters, lots of drugs and/or mental issues, amnesia, hallucinations, and cryptic symbols.”
    • “The story of the game starts out alright, and remains relatively interesting throughout, but was confusing at points, and ultimately left me feeling unfulfilled.”
  • gameplay93 mentions

    The gameplay of "Until I Have You" is characterized by its challenging platforming mechanics, including one-hit deaths and a focus on speed, which can be both rewarding and frustrating. While the game introduces a variety of mechanics and environments across its levels, many players find the controls awkward and the gameplay inconsistent, leading to a mixed reception overall. Despite its stylish visuals and engaging story, the core gameplay often detracts from the experience, with some mechanics feeling underutilized or poorly implemented.

    • “Each level brings something new to the gameplay by adding new environmental mechanics, giving you new weapons, and unlocking your abilities.”
    • “Intense speedy action platforming with a unique mechanic, this game oozes gorgeous cyberpunk aesthetic goodness.”
    • “An unforgiving platformer with one-hit death mechanics and a contrarian gameplay approach where you are encouraged to go super sonic speeds, but you actually shouldn't unless you have studied the level layout and are a master at pixel-perfect platforming.”
    • “Sadly, it fails in the most critical aspect - the gameplay.”
    • “The mechanics simply aren’t there to keep the action engaging, even as they add cool-sounding stuff like time dilation and a hysteria meter.”
  • graphics66 mentions

    The graphics of the game are a mix of nostalgic pixel art and vibrant cyberpunk aesthetics, with many reviewers praising the stylish visuals and immersive art style. While some appreciate the retro charm and variety in environments, others criticize the sparse level design and occasional performance issues, such as lag and stuttering. Overall, the visuals are seen as a strong point, enhancing the game's atmosphere despite some gameplay shortcomings.

    • “The pixel art graphics range from practical (in the levels) to downright beautiful (in some still images).”
    • “The art style, despite its retro aesthetic (or maybe because of that aesthetic), is memorable and immersive.”
    • “Authentic cyberpunk atmosphere created through thrilling plot, excellent synth-based soundtrack, and well-detailed pixel graphics, combined with original gameplay makes this game totally perfect.”
    • “The biggest bummer is that the game really starts to lag and bug out on some levels, even when I lower my graphics settings.”
    • “They chose to use obsolete retro pixel 'art' as a substitute for contemporary PC graphics.”
    • “I often experienced a major issue with the game freezing and stuttering like a broken record for multiple seconds at loading points - specifically, the beginning of levels and at the checkpoints.”
  • music62 mentions

    The music in the game has received a mixed response, with many praising its evocative and atmospheric qualities, particularly the synthwave soundtrack that complements the cyberpunk aesthetic. While some players found the music to be a standout feature that enhances the overall experience, others criticized it for being repetitive or lacking the intensity expected from the genre. Overall, the soundtrack is often highlighted as one of the game's strongest aspects, despite some inconsistencies in execution.

    • “The music is phenomenal, evocative, and moving.”
    • “The soundtrack is great, pixel vaporwave sets the tone, and the TV commercials are a nice touch adding to the flavor.”
    • “Cyberpunk platforming, synthwave soundtrack, and noir story make this an indie gem buried deep in the mine.”
    • “Add onto that the lame music, which isn't the hard-edged synth electronica the trailer gets somewhat close to achieving, and instead is like an elevator muzak version of themes from Blade Runner. It lacks bite and doesn't have Blade Runner's gob-smacking visuals to distract from the wishy-washiness of its soundtrack.”
    • “I also felt the sound design and music were severely lacking, especially considering the attention to detail that went into the visuals.”
    • “My last complaint is that the soundtrack is pretty lackluster; this would be a perfect game to showcase retro synthwave artists such as Perturbator, Carpenter Brut, or Daniel Deluxe, for example.”
  • atmosphere22 mentions

    The atmosphere of the game is widely praised for its immersive qualities, featuring a captivating blend of art, music, and voice acting that enhances the overall experience. Reviewers highlight the standout synth-based soundtrack and the authentic cyberpunk aesthetic, which together create a rich, engaging environment that complements the challenging gameplay. Despite some flaws, the game's atmosphere is consistently described as engrossing and well-crafted, making it a significant draw for players.

    • “A wonderful and atmospheric game with classic challenging platforming.”
    • “The soundtrack is pretty stand out too with lots of 80s synth to add to the atmosphere, and most of the voice acting is actually pretty engaging.”
    • “Authentic cyberpunk atmosphere created through thrilling plot, excellent synth-based soundtrack and well-detailed pixel graphics, combined with original gameplay makes this game totally perfect.”
    • “The story seems well layered and the game is drenched in atmosphere, and that's what frustrates me so much that I cannot recommend you get this title in its current state.”
    • “Liked the overall atmosphere of cyberpunk tropes but with some body-horror and weird sci-fi ideas sprinkled in.”
    • “It is also mastered in intentional lo-fi, and that adds a nice touch and goes well with the art style, the plot's atmosphere, and in-game sound effects.”
  • emotional4 mentions

    The emotional aspect of the game is highlighted by its impactful storytelling, which evokes strong feelings of love, revenge, and sacrifice, leaving players both satisfied and reflective. However, technical issues such as frustrating gameplay and poor engine quality can detract from the overall emotional experience. Despite these drawbacks, many players find themselves moved by the narrative's depth and emotional weight.

    • “The story, while there may be similar narratives elsewhere (we all pull from the same story pool), is told with a good deal of emotional oomph, and I found myself moved on more than one occasion.”
    • “It is a dark tale of love, revenge, and sacrifice that made me feel a bit less happy and a bit more satisfied at the same time for every chapter I had finished.”
    • “The slow loading times and inability to skip cutscenes made the emotional moments feel tedious rather than impactful.”
    • “The storytelling was boring and failed to evoke any real emotions, leaving me disconnected from the characters.”
    • “The poor engine quality detracted from the emotional experience, making it hard to immerse myself in the story.”
  • stability4 mentions

    The game suffers from significant stability issues, including frequent freezes and audio stuttering, particularly after level previews, which can lead to confusion during gameplay. Additionally, some cutscenes are reported to be buggy, detracting from the overall experience.

    • “Game freezes after level preview then starts me 1 second late when it unfreezes.”
    • “So there I am sitting on the first mission confused as to how time dilation works (doesn't seem like you even have it on the first mission, to be honest) while the game stutters audio and freezes after each preview ends.”
    • “Quite buggy, unnecessarily hard (likely due to its brevity... like those old NES games), but contains a good story.”
  • optimization4 mentions

    The game's optimization has been criticized for frequent freezing and stuttering, particularly during level transitions and checkpoints, which can disrupt gameplay. While some users report minor bugs and performance issues like FPS drops and audio cut-offs, these do not render the game unplayable, though they can be frustrating. Overall, the optimization appears to be inconsistent, affecting the experience for players with lower-end hardware.

    • “There are still enough performance issues to frustrate, but not render unplayable.”
    • “I'm okay with some minor bugs and performance issues.”
    • “I can't readily tell if it's just my machine with its crummy integrated graphics card - though the puny resolution shouldn't be an issue for such a low-end graphics card - or a broader issue, but I often experienced (and still do, as I'm still playing on-and-off for kicks even after finishing the storyline and getting every achievement but the 'stretch goal' of boss rush mode on hardcore difficulty) a major issue with the game freezing and stuttering like a broken record for multiple seconds at loading points - specifically, the beginning of levels and at the checkpoints.”
    • “But the underlying cause isn't as important to buyers as the result: an annoying stuttering effect that occurs twice per level on average.”
    • “There are still enough performance issues to frustrate, but not render unplayable (infrequent crashes, FPS drops, phantom control input, audio cut off).”
  • humor4 mentions

    The humor in the game is characterized by a mix of dark and absurd elements, with players finding the overly dramatic cutscenes either amusing or tedious. The television commercials and news reports add a layer of grim hilarity, while some interludes, like family life episodes, fall flat. Overall, the humor is hit-or-miss, depending on the player's engagement with the narrative.

    • “Even the television commercials were funny in a horrific-but-realistic kind of way.”
    • “It’s the kind of overwrought drama that’s hilarious unless played straight, and here it’s played woefully straight with some amateur voice acting to give the awkward brooding some life.”
    • “You’re either going to be chuckling and shaking your head at the cutscenes, or skipping them outright to get back to the action.”
  • grinding3 mentions

    Players find the grinding aspect of the game frustrating due to tedious tutorials, repetitive level design, and the annoyance of restarting music after each death, which contributes to a sense of monotony and disappointment, especially with boss encounters.

    • “Levels are short and same-y, and the first boss was tedious and just all in all disappointing.”
    • “It's always amazing when a game makes you sit through a tedious and overexplained tutorial, and then proceeds to drop insta-death traps in such a way as to ensure you die when you meet them.”
    • “- the music re-starts after each death making the first chords tedious.”
  • replayability3 mentions

    The game offers strong replayability through features like time trials, unlockable boss gauntlets, and various difficulty modes, providing players with ample opportunities to engage with its well-designed mechanics and immersive atmosphere. Despite some flaws, the variety in gameplay keeps players coming back for more.

    • “Replay value (unlockable boss gauntlet and hard/hardcore modes).”
    • “Great replayability (getting the best times, etc.).”
    • “Although it has quite a few glaring flaws, this game does a lot right: the basic idea is interesting, the premise is cool, the soundtrack, artwork, and atmosphere are amazing, core gameplay mechanics are well-implemented and engaging, and the game design offers a surprising amount of variety and replayability.”
    • “Replay value is decent with unlockable boss gauntlet and hard/hardcore modes.”
  • character development2 mentions

    Character development is enhanced by strong character design that aligns well with the game's world, complemented by effective voice acting and cutscenes that enrich the overall experience. While some gameplay elements may fall short, the cohesive presentation contributes positively to the game's appeal.

    • “The character design matches the world perfectly, and the voice acting and cutscenes perfectly match the setting.”
    • “But over the gameplay, character design, level design, and such make up for it... pretty good game overall for the price.”
  • monetization1 mentions

    The monetization strategy includes well-produced cutscenes and inter-level TV segments that feature ads, providing both entertainment and insights into the game's dystopian setting.

    • “In addition to the well-done cutscenes, you can watch TV between the levels to get some news about your misadventures, or see some ads that give you insights into the world's dystopian daily life.”
Positive mentions (%)Positive
Neutral mentions (%)Neutral
Negative mentions (%)Negative

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Play time

6hMedian play time
6hAverage play time
6-6hSpent by most gamers
*Based on 1 analyzed playthroughs

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