To be clear on this point, I did receive this game for free, however, it was from one of those sites where you enter in to game giveaways. In other words, I didn't get After The End: The Harvest from the developer.

After The End: The Harvest is a sprawling open-world game with graphics on par with SNES and the Sega CD consoles. It is heavily story-oriented, though, for those who care more about running around & doing what you want the way you want, then you'll be pleasantly surprised with how the game doesn't try to grab you by the arm, yanking you from one story-objective to the next. Do you want to play as a good, altruistic character? You can. Do you want to let loose with your inner Darth Vader? You can. Would you rather walk that grey line between the two while giving the middle finger to Jedi- & Sith-types both? You can.

There are a plethora of quests (almost all optional), pet hunting (a la Pokemon), many forms of weapons, spells, & gear. This includes things like space craft, grappling hooks, swords, laser guns, ship upgrades & gear for your pets. Yes, like Pokemon, you can equip a pet to follow & fight with you on your travels through the galaxy. Also, like the rpgs of the past, there isn't an encumbrance or slot limit for what you're carrying. Both your character & your pets level up while completing quests, slaying monsters,... and by killing the occasional space cop or innocent if you're of the mind.

Also, did I mention that this game has crafting? No? Well, then let me elaborate on this mechanic a bit: This isn't a game where you harvest plants & minerals. Instead, you loot. (There's a lot to loot.) All crafting takes place by combining two items together. For instance, if you need a lockpick, then you craft (if I remember correctly) wood & a steel rod (I've a bad memory, sorry if this is incorrect) & now that pesky door isn't a problem anymore. You have this spell, yet it isn't quite what you want. You can combine it with another spell/component & now you have a hybrid spell.

There are a large number of planets & moons that you can visit via your legally- or illegally-acquired space vessel (which, btw, aren't carbon copies of each other). There are space battles, pet battles with certain NPCs & so much more that I've yet to even stumble across.

I've played this game through most of beta & have seen where the game started, watched it continue to evolve, & where it has ended up. I have to be honest here & say that, in many ways, this game has qualities reminicent of the Bethesda Fallout games & The Elder Scrolls games. Obviously, After The End: The Harvest isn't a 3D game, yet it has some similar game & gameplay elements rooted in its playstyle, options, & spirit.

This game is very reasonably priced considering what you get & the replayability it offers. Also, the developer has written new systems for the RPGMaker game engine since it couldn't do certain things that the dev wanted for his game (e.g., space battles for one). The developer, going by the handle TheSworn, is extremely active on the forums, answering general questions, giving tips, responding to bug reports & quickly pushing out fixes. Oftentimes, these come in the form of small hotfixes (typically an hour or two after the bug was reported) or they are bundled with a larger, scheduled patch if it is very near release.

In short, I greatly recommend this game for those who appreciate a good story, tens of hours of gameplay (more if you do side quests or your own thing, such as catching all the pets, etc.), & if you like story quests that don't have only one outcome, but many based on how you have played the game so far & how you've previously interacted with the quest-giver or specific NPCs along the way.

I know that, at the time of this review, Steam lists my play time at 29.2 hours, however, oftentimes I'm playing After The End: The Harvest (among other titles) offline due to living in the sticks (literally, I'm in the middle of the woods) & the nearby town that I get my internet through is small & doesn't invest much in the phone/DSL lines, thus, my connection & connectivity are rather poor.