#choya

༻ A WHOLE NEW MAIN PLOT

The story of your afterlife journey has changed.

From the moment you sign your new contract, presented to you by none other than the Grim Reaper, the main arc of TBOTA changes from the ground up. 

Pick your limitless wish, learn about your new employer: the Council of Nine, and discover what truly lies beneath this contract: a binding to something… else.

And this time, you have far greater agency to act on your own behalf and for your staff. 

Should you choose to share what you've learned with them, of course.

If you've played before, you'll recognise the bones. But the story has grown around them into something ready to carry the full weight of what TBOTA is building toward.

༻ YOUR SPIRIT GIFT

The Spirit Gift system has been completely reworked. Not as a shortcut or as a glorified stat check, but as a new lens through which you experience the entire story. Each gift opens unique scenes, unique ways to act, gather information, or stumble into something just effing strange. Think of them less as abilities and more as a personality trait that the bar decided you really needed.

Ring of Chronos: stolen from Itot, the glass-spider god of time. Click your fingers, stop the world, and what you do with those stolen seconds is yours to decide: help your staff, or punch a nightlife critic in the face. 

Lens of Daezur: contraband from a mage who wanted to know too much. Point it at anything, and get your own secret encyclopedia. Learn how old the Raven is, who made the gates to Limbo, and what the bathroom fog is really made of. 

Mask of Shapeless Visage: previously worn by the actors-assassins of Teatru Mischak. Wear the face of everyone around you. But will you remember how to be yourself?

The Necklace of Murmurs: hear the thoughts of inanimate objects around you, and more so, their opinions. Your bedroom table, the jukebox downstairs, a letter from  Pyriphlegethon, or even your own cash register. 

Voidcutter: a sword forged to kill gods, carrying the memories of the civilization destroyed for making it. Fight like a spirit-warrior when the opportunity presents itself. And who knows… maybe one day, you’ll kill a god too. 

Navia's Earring: the mad prophet heard what the gods meant to keep hidden. Now you do too! Just remember: some things, once heard, are very hard to unknow.

༻ RANDOM PATRONS ENCOUNTERS

No two playthroughs of the game will be the same! Each run gives you two out of five possible patron encounters, one in Chapter 1, one in Chapter 4. 

In the future, these encounters will be chosen from a pool of 20 patrons. So, who walks through your door tonight?

Meet Zilas, God of Revelry, and he is very good at his job.

Meet Perpetiel, an Ophanim Angel, drinking a mimosa from a straw. Be not afraid.

Meet Laura, an astronaut who died during a research mission into a black hole, with one terrifying tale. 

Meet Xochitl, Trade Ambassador of Clan Roh'els of the Undead City of Necropolis. A vampiress in your humble abode, coming with an interesting offer for you.

Tomas, a mortal painter. Quiet, unassuming. That’s all.

༻ LOVE AFTER DEATH

Romance has been overhauled from scratch. Be flirtatious or be a complete disaster about it. Choose monogamy, polyamory, or an ace playthrough. Build something slow and tender, or burn bright and chaotic.

And if you want things a little spicier with a certain devilish friend of yours... well. The content is there. You'll find it, I’m sure. 

And random patrons are fair game, too! if you're the type to shoot your shot with someone who walked through your door an hour ago, and might be a vampire or an angel. 

No judgment here.

༻ WHO ARE YOU IN THIS AFTERLIFE?

Introducing a 30-trait personality system. Every choice you make, every option you pick, every response you give quietly builds a psychological profile of your MC. 

Not to gate content or to judge you! Just to reflect who you are becoming in your ethereal form, one decision at a time.

New grief path content is also woven throughout the game. Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression, Acceptance, each path surfaces in new places, in new ways.

You'll also find tons of new career options throughout the game. Some of them can even replace certain skill checks!

The Abyss is watching, and it finds you fascinating.

༻ CHARACTER CUSTOMIZATION AND DEATH SCARS

Choose from a vastly expanded range of career backgrounds, add an honorific, and find a few other surprises waiting in the menu.

Your career also has a greater presence throughout the game now: more moments where who you were in life shapes who you're becoming in death.

And by popular demand, choose a death scar. After all, you died, and you probably have the marks to prove it.

During character customization, you can now choose your death scars, currently cosmic in nature. Full in-game integration is coming in future updates, but they're yours to wear now.

༻ EVERYTHING ELSE

Almost every scene in the existing game has been touched (gently, consensually): Prose, character voices, pacing, and choices. 

If something felt off before, there's a good chance it doesn't anymore! (HOPING) And also, made an absolute thorough bugs & typos sweep. Some of them were present from day one! But I FINALLY SQUISHED THEM!

That's it, for now. I think! Might be others I forgot about, lol. After all, it’s been two and a half years of work just for this update. More love and labour than I can ever put into a release post, but alas.

Thank you for waiting. Thank you for asking after this game during the long silences. 

Thank you for still being here.