The Good Life conceived for fall 2021 release

Written by Will Aickman — June 18, 2021 at 12:05

What’s the first thing you think of when you hear the word “adventure?” Easy: paying off crushing debt, right? All right, maybe not, but there’s a first time for everything, and in The Good Life, poised to release this fall, the two ideas might just prove synonymous after all.

Players assume the role of New York photojournalist Naomi Hayward, who, “drowning in debt and at the end of her rope,” accepts a job from the Morning Bell newspaper to uncover the secrets of a small English town reputed to be “the happiest place in the world.” Snapping photos in an attempt to reduce her financial plight, Naomi soon discovers that there’s more than idyllic country living at play in the village of Rainy Woods: when night falls, residents transform into dogs and cats, and what’s more, the same happens to Naomi! And all that is before somebody turns up murdered.

Controlling Naomi in a third-person perspective, players will have to find a way to balance amateur sleuthing with paying the bills. The former will require using all three of Naomi’s forms—human, feline, and canine—and the unique abilities that come with them; the latter means exploring the open-world environment to find picture-taking opportunities based on requests from the Morning Bell, commissions from locals, and what’s trending on social media site Flamingo. In between, you’re free to pursue more leisurely activities, such as tending a garden, honing your cooking skills, relaxing at the pub, or even “riding a sheep across the rolling hills.”

The Good Life is a joint production by developers White Owls—led by Swery, creator of D4: Dark Dreams Don’t Die and Deadly Premonition—and Grounding Inc.—led by Yukio Futatsugi, creator of Panzer Dragoon. It will be published by PLAYISM for  PC on Steam as well as PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch sometime before the end of the year.