If you enjoy anime and games like The Last of Us and Metal Gear Solid, you should probably take a look at this game. There is No Tomorrow is a game developed by Koex Studios based in Singapore.

There is No Tomorrow tells the tale of a young high school student named Leon. He one day finds himself in an apocalyptic world filled with evil beings. With the help of a doll that he discovers at his dilapidated school, he tries his best to find a way back to his original timeline.

While the storyline is pretty cool, what really piqued our interest is the fact that it is made by only one person - yes, Koex Studios is a one-man team consisting of solo developer Choo Bin Yong.

GAMEPLAY

There Is No Tomorrow (TINT) draws heavy influence from different games and I can definitely appreciate that.

The combat in the game is very similar to The Last of Us, where players can “listen” for enemies and spot them through walls and other objects. It is up to the player whether they would like to face the enemies head-on or use a more stealthy approach. Graphics-wise, you can see Life is Strange’s influence, more so on the main character, Leon.

Throughout the game, players will have to be adventurous enough to explore the nooks and crannies of the areas in the game in order to find themselves some useful items that will aid in their journey. However, inventory slots are very limited so players must decide which item will best help them.

Monsters, or the “RA”, can be killed with guns or melee weapons. The fastest way to kill them is obviously with guns but a precise headshot is needed to preserve ammo is it is scarce to find in-game. Melee weapons include metal pipes, wooden sticks, and rocks. However, these weapons break after continuous use and require replacing (you’ll find more of these items scattered throughout the game).

While it is possible to fight monsters head-on, I find that it is actually harder to be overly aggressive. Alerting one monster attracts the rest of the horde, so unless you have fast reflexes for headshots, stealth is the way to go.

You can simply walk up to a monster with any melee weapon from behind and either knock them out or simply kick them off ledges. Players can crouch in bushes to hide from enemies.

During your journey, you’ll encounter slightly stronger monsters that require a little more creativity and patience to kill, as well as unexpected bosses.

Inventory HUD

Remember the doll we mentioned earlier? Leon is able to transmogrify into the doll to get him through small spaces in the game, which is pretty interesting. Speaking of that, the game comes with many puzzles that need to be solved in order to advance through the game.

The puzzle mechanics are quite straightforward. However, as no hints are given for the puzzles in the game, some creative thinking is definitely required in order to solve them. The first puzzle in the game took me a day to figure out before I realised how easy it was to solve it.

STORY

TINT starts off like a typical anime. A shot of a high school, students walking around in Japanese school uniforms and finally a cliché shot of a student in a class, looking out several large windows.

Once transported into the future, the school looks like something out of a scene of a horror movie, which is pretty eerie. The setting is scary enough to give me some jumps here and there when the monsters appear.

But anyways, back to the story. In the school, Leon realises how trapped he is in that realm. At least, until he discovers runes. The runes are able to transfer him to different times and places (explaining the time travel element in the synopsis). It was then that Leon realises that his main objective is to find a way home with these runes.

Throughout the story, Leon will cross paths with friends and unlikely enemies…

Depending on the player’s actions, the game could have different endings, which is an interesting touch to the game.

While I couldn’t really empathise with Leon, I liked seeing the internal conflict he was facing when it came to surviving and not giving up.

THE PROCESS

As mentioned earlier, TINT is a game created by a solo developer. The game took roughly two to three years to develop.

In a recent interview with IGN Southeast Asia, Choo said creating a 3D game had always been his dream. The game’s story was inspired by different animes and fantasy movies. The main character, Leon, is a character that is heavily influenced by the anime series “Code Geass”. As for the villain in the game, he was created when he saw "a stranger wearing short shorts one day".

The developer also mentioned that he decided to develop TINT alone as it was tough to find someone with the same level of passion and drive as he did. In addition, financial constraints were also another hurdle he faced.

Creating a game comes with many challenges and they are amplified when someone develops a game alone. One of the biggest challenges Choo faced when developing the game is game design. He has little to no knowledge when it came to game design as he studied animation.

The level design was one of his main struggles. Besides that, he also found marketing the game to be quite tough as well.

WHAT WE LIKED AND DIDN’T REALLY LIKE ABOUT THE GAME

I’ve always enjoyed story-driven RPGs and this game definitely falls into that genre. The storyline is very interesting and the fact that it comes with multiple endings is definitely a plus as it puts more pressure on players to play the game in a certain way to get the outcome that they want.

The combat in the game is also another thing that I really enjoy in the game. The AI of the monsters is sometimes a little weird and they don’t really see me once they hit a certain distance. However, the different monsters are very terrifying, especially when you think you’re sneaking up on a small fry but you end up meeting one of those toxic gas spewing ones.

The monsters actually look super freaky

I also really liked Leon’s design. While he fits the generic cookie-cutter mould of an anime student, I really liked seeing his struggle and determination to escape from the apocalyptic world.

However, I wasn’t a big fan of some of the character designs in the game. Choo mentioned that some designs and music were purchased assets. As a solo developer, I truly understand why he decided to pick that direction for the characters. But I've seen some of the characters' images float around the Internet before; it sort of sullied the the game's immersive appeal.

The Doll

In addition, I wasn’t very keen on the game's visibility. Some areas were just way too dark to the point that I cannot see anything and I found myself leaning into my computer screen to figure out where I was.

There’s also an area where there is a sand storm and I couldn’t see anything at all due to the sand sweeping through my display. The area was not only very bright but also had low visibility, which makes for some strained eyes. Maneuvring through the area was also a pain since you can’t see which way you have to go.

Besides that, there are a few bugs in the game which are kind of game-breaking. However, we totally understand the limitations that come with developing this game solo without much knowledge of game design.

We asked Choo what he felt about his game. He replied that he had mixed feelings about the game and felt that it could be better. However, he decided to release the game as is as the game had been delayed for a year now and financial issues were cropping up.

Despite that, we will still see updates and patches in the future, which will hopefully improve the game.

There is No Tomorrow is now out on Steam with a 15 per cent off promotional discount. If you’re interested in purchasing the game with the discount, you can do so before January 23, 2020.