I don’t know what it is, but Japanese developers have this thing about being weird. Most do that thing of making a game that is just a little strange, such as Persona, Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy, Mario, Sonic, and just about every Japanese game you could think of, including Metal Gear Solid. However, two developers take it a bit further by referring to themselves with pseudonyms and numbers. Suda 51 and SWERY65, both make strange things but do so in such auteur fashions that we just accept it.

The latter of whom announced his latest game, The Good Life, back in 2017 before the release of The Missing: J.J. Macfield and the Island of Memories. Oddly enough, as much of a car crash title as they may seem, the game was moderately well-received for a puzzle-platformer that traversed LGBTQ+ issues in a coming-of-age drama mixed with horror. Though that was not Hidetaka Suehiro, often referred to as SWERY or SWERY65’s first game. In fact, he’s been around for a while, and his first major release as a director was the strange open-world survival horror from 2010, Deadly Premonition.

The latest game, The Good Life, is the second game with his latest studio White Owls Inc. Set in Rainy Woods, a typical idyllic English village as imagined by a non-British person, you will play as photographer Naomi Woods from New York trying to clear your debt and solve the murder of a woman found in a lake. So far, it sounds simple and reasonable for a game, but we’re talking about SWERY65 here. So of course, the people turn into cats at night. No, I am not joking. The trailer you might have skipped over to get to the second paragraph notes “People become cats at night…” as if that’s a normal thing to do.

Finally, on Steam and with a new publisher, (The Irregular Corporation) the game is set to release in the summer of 2021. We know a bit more about it as well. It is an open-world immersive life sim with Pokémon Sword and Shield style cartoonish graphics that have a slightly more realistic look about them. It seems you’ll be doing more than just solving the murder. Seemingly featuring survival mechanics too, you (much like the village occupants) also appear to transform into an animal and fight badgers. Brian May will be upset.

Though the game was announced in 2017, it was followed by a failed Kickstarter aiming for $1.5-million in backing that could hardly hit halfway before it ended. In 2018, SWERY tried once again to get the game funded. He succeeded with a smaller target this time, though through most of 2019 there was radio silence. Then we got a brief announcement of a 2020 delay, which of course, now stands at Summer 2021. Now with publisher The Irregular Corporation, the game may be on track to release next year. The Good Life is set to release on Steam (PC), PS4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch in 2021.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LxcVhx6FpjM

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