Hidetaka “Swery” Suehiro’s delightful looking The Good Life – a game of cats, dogs, journalism, and murder in a small English town – has been delayed into next year. But it’s not all sad news; there’s some fresh footage, highlighting the overhauled art-style, to watch in the meantime.
The Good Life, you might recall, is “daily life RPG” following the adventures of Naomi, a New York photojournalist who moves to the English town of Rainy Woods in order to pay off a massive debt. There are plenty of options on the work front, with developer White Owls previously revealing that players can earn money through the likes of photography, gardening, sheep shearing, jam making, milk delivery, bartending, casino dealing, even cryptocurrency.
All of which brings to mind a slightly more elaborate spin on the likes of Stardew Valley and Animal Crossing. Or at least it would if Swery, best known for his cult classic thriller Deadly Premonition and last year’s well-received The Missing, hadn’t also elected to toss in a grisly murder mystery and townsfolk that can magically transform into cats and dogs.
When The Good Life successfully reached its Kickstarter goal last May (securing £464,060), the expectation was that it would release in Q4 this year. However, in a new post to Kickstarter backers, Swery has announced that the team will be delaying launch into Spring 2020, as it wishes to “[prioritise] the quality of the game above all else.” He added, “We sincerely hope you can understand our feelings on this issue, and will continue to support us”.