First details disclose The Cost of Recovery

Written by Jack Allin — August 27, 2020 at 13:32

If there's one thing the world needs more than anything right now (besides a vaccine), it's empathy – the ability to understand and appreciate other people's perspectives even in difficult times, no matter how different they are from our own. Hopefully indie German developer Off The Beaten Track's upcoming narrative-driven adventure The Cost of Recovery will help us learn to do just that a little bit better. 

The game explores the "different perspectives and emotional journeys of four protagonists when one of them suddenly suffers a stroke." When the worlds of Abigail, Noah, Hailey, and Liam are unexpectedly turned upside down, they all have their own ways of coping. Players will be able to step into the shoes of each family member to experience how they're personally dealing with things through "exploration, puzzle-solving, dialogue, and contextual vignette games that are designed to evoke specific emotions."

Described as a third-person narrative adventure "about empathy and understanding," The Cost of Recovery promises as a "mature, personal, and nuanced story that goes deep into internal conflicts." The struggles of a vulnerable family trying to with a painful "new normal" are increasingly exposed, and each person will need to decide "what sacrifices [they] would be willing to make to keep [their] family together." The answer to this difficult question will ultimately determine whether "they all get through this together or everything [will] start to fall apart."

The Cost of Recovery has no firm release target just yet, but is on schedule to be launched on Steam for Windows PC, along with the Nintendo eShop for Switch sometime in 2021. In the meantime, you can follow its progress through the game's official website.