More information about Swery65’s (also known as Hidetaka Suehiro) newest game has been made available after news broke that he would he holding a panel at PAX West. Swery65’s newest game will be an RPG named The Good Life, according to Fig, a funding platform for indie games.
Here is a portion of the blog post about The Good Life from Fig:
“Our newest campaign is a mystery RPG by SWERY (Hidetaka Suehiro), the creator of the cult classics, Deadly Premonition and D4: Dark Dreams Don’t Die.
Welcome to The Good Life. The game is set in Rainy Woods, the self-proclaimed “happiest town in the world.” Here, you’ll play as Naomi, a photographer from New York who finds herself stuck in this small town in rural England. She’s found a way to pay off the massive debt she’s accumulated, but she soon discovers that the town is hiding a very bizarre secret…
At night, all of the town’s residents turn into cats. Why does this happen? Is this why everyone in town is so happy? No one seems to remember what they do at night. Naomi is here to find out what’s going on in Rainy Woods.
The townspeople aren’t the only ones who get to roam around at night as a cat – Naomi does too! Once the sun sets, you’ll get to explore Rainy Woods and collect clues and important items connected to the events of the story. The town becomes a very different place at night, as certain secret paths, rooftops, and attics can only be accessed by cats. Take a peek at the campaign page for more gameplay details and be sure to leave your feedback in the comments! Also, we’ve lowered the minimum investment amount – Fig Game Shares for The Good Life will be $100 per share!”
I’m looking forward to this new game, considering Suehiro’s past titles Deadly Premonition and D4: Dark Dreams Don’t Die are known for their eccentric but intriguing story line. This story seems to be just as interesting as his previous games’ stories, putting the player in the role of a newcomer who transforms into a cat at night and given the ability to take a deeper look into the town she moved into.
“This game will inherit the spirit of Deadly Premonition, my most representative work, but it will also feature a brand new style of gameplay. It’s a mystery game based on the framework of a ‘daily life RPG.’ I’m positive that the happiest town in the world and the most bizarre townspeople in the world will capture your heart and pull you deep into their world. Please support The Good Life and help us bring this game to life,” said Suehiro about The Good Life in the Fig blog post.
As mentioned in the Whizord article about the PAX West panel, Suehiro left Access Studios (which published his game D4: Dark Dreams Don’t Die) at the end of 2016. He ended up creating his own studio, White Owls, Inc. and this will be the studio’s first game.
Looking back at Suehiro two most well-known games (Deadly Premonition and D4: Dark Dreams Don’t Die), he seems to be taking a similar story approach but a completely different artistic approach to the game. The art style used in the blog post shows a much more cartoonish style, reminding me (sort of) of the Professor Layton franchise. It will be interesting to see how Suehiro combines these two approaches, with the story approach being the one he is most known for.
I’m assuming that Suehiro will discuss more about The Good Life at his PAX West panel. Currently, the game’s campaign page is not yet available and will be on September 2 at 7pm on Fig’s website.
Featured image via the blog post from Fig announcing The Good Life.
Torie Jones
February 5, 2019 at 1:41 am
Can’t wait to see what the gameplay will look like.