The Good Life is exactly what I wanted from SWERY’s new game, with a few small issues. Though there are a couple of annoying moments and some janky performance issues, the charming atmosphere, breadth of side-missions, and overall weirdness of the game make it a truly memorable experience.
The Good Life
Developer: White Owls
Price: $40
Platforms: PS4, Xbox One, Switch (reviewed,) and PC
MonsterVine was provided with a Switch code for review
As a huge fan of Twin Peaks and Shenmue, the original Deadly Premonition appeals to me in a way that few games can. I became enamored with SWERY, the man behind some fascinating and strange games, because of Deadly Premonition, and since the announcement of The Good Life, I’ve keenly followed it. I think it turned out quite nicely, despite some hiccups here and there, because at the end of the day, it’s exactly what I want out of a SWERY game, in the best way.
In The Good Life, you play as Naomi– a photojournalist who’s in a huge amount of debt. Naomi is sent to the town of Rainy Woods, in order to discover why this small English village is known as “the happiest town on Earth.” What starts as a charming little work trip becomes an investigation into a mysterious murder, and a supernatural conspiracy involving cats, dogs, and aliens. It’s a wild ride that is definitely a bit uneven in tone, but I really can’t help but be charmed by it. It’s such a strange and goofy narrative, but it feels fitting for the peculiar world of The Good Life. As long as you don’t take it too seriously, I think you’ll find it quite delightful too.
The biggest highlight of The Good Life has to be Rainy Woods itself. You’ll quickly learn the layout of the town and the basics about its inhabitants because of how unique and endearing they all are. Deadly Premonition did this well too, so I think SWERY just gets how to make a small, intriguing cast in a small town (probably as a result of his love for Twin Peaks.) Certain story beats later in the game are especially effective because of the bond that you form with Rainy Woods and its people, which is the sign of a good setting and cast.
“Small touches like maintaining personal hygiene and eating regularly make The Good Life feel special and truly alive.“
Playing The Good Life is quite reminiscent of Deadly Premonition, and by extension, Shenmue in some ways. A lot of the game simply has you wandering the town of Rainy Woods and the areas just outside of it, speaking to people and collecting objects. You can transform into a cat or dog, which helps in certain missions and allows for faster travel, and you can take pictures of anything around you. Those are the main pillars of gameplay, and they work well. Just interacting with people and taking photos of things immerses you in the setting and feels relaxing, even if time is always passing you by in the game.
Small touches like maintaining personal hygiene and eating regularly make The Good Life feel special and truly alive. No effort feels wasted, as eating at restaurants, collecting items, and taking photos all net you some form of reward over time, which keeps the minute-to-minute gameplay feeling fresh and worthwhile. Midway through the game, I had managed to upgrade my house, garden, clothing, and camera all while just doing fun little side-activities, which felt like a lot of progress for minimal additional work.
“The voice acting in The Good Life is hammy as hell, and I love it.“
There are a couple of bumps in the road when it comes to The Good Life’s gameplay, however. One small one that will hopefully be patched comes in the form of the drinking minigame, where you have to balance a ball on a seesaw for five 10 second sessions in a row. Losing makes you click through a cutscene every time, which can’t be skipped. The main problem is that there’s literally zero room for error in the balancing minigame, which is an essential part of the main story and is unskippable. You’ll likely lose a lot, and hear the same voice lines again and again as you spend another 45 seconds getting near the end only to press the wrong direction for a nanosecond, leading to another loss. I hope this is fixed in the future with a bit more leeway being given, because this is the only major roadblock for the main story outside of a couple time-consuming fetch quests.
The other issue is more forgivable if you’re familiar with SWERY games. There are small bugs and general performance issues all throughout The Good Life, which range from minor to game-crashing. I can handle the frame drops (severe as they are) and the minor glitches, but softlocks that send you back to your save point are a pain and will hopefully be patched out. If frame drops bug you though, be warned that like in Deadly Premonition before it, The Good Life definitely has its fair share.
Now The Good Life isn’t the most visually stunning game of the year, but it has a certain pointy style to it that I can appreciate. The characters and locales are distinct, the animals are adorable, and the backgrounds are fairly scenic. The voice acting in The Good Life is hammy as hell, and I love it. I think Naomi could use a few more voice lines for the sake of variety, but otherwise, the performances are right at home in this delightfully weird little title.
The Final Word
The Good Life is a peculiar and endearing game that some will love and others won’t. I quite like it, as the setting, characters, and various activities are as pleasing as they are immersive. There are a few frustrating parts and performance issues, but they can’t hold back my overall enjoyment of The Good Life.
MonsterVine Rating: 4.5 out of 5 – Great
