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Hidetaka Suehiro (or Swery65, as he likes to be called) has established a cult reputation in the world of video games, and for good reason. He’s the brains behind flawed classics such as Deadly Premonition, The Missing: J.J. Macfield and the Island of Memories, and now - The Good Life. Named after the classic BBC sitcom, it is a bizarre photography sim/murder mystery set amidst a quiant British town where all of the inhabitants are capable of turning into animals. No, I absolutely didn’t make any of that up, the game really is that batshit.
Above all of its unusual themes and characters, The Good Life is a love letter to the British countryside, depicting a scarily accurate picture of the many towns I grew up exploring as a little girl in rural Wales. The shops are local and run by eccentric personalities, while all of the roads are winding and nonsensical, mixing together adorable cottages and fields awash with cows and sheep like they’re inseparable. There’s even a couple of classic red phone boxes and regional accents that make it clear that Swery did his research. Not everyone sounds like The Queen, with major effort being placed into each character and how they represent the region I grew up in.
Swery has clearly been to the United Kingdom, making an unexpected pilgrimage to towns like this as he found himself falling in love with them. The fact that the setting is so unexpected is exactly what makes it so exciting. The town I grew up in had a broken bus schedule and local shops that were constantly closing down, either as a victim of continued austerity or the fact that not many people were coming to Llanbedr Pont Steffan for its local bakeries and fish tackle shops. I loved it, and can close my eyes and walk through its streets like I never left, but goodness me it was boring. I remember one day Keira Knightley was filming something in a tunnel near the local Sainsburys and that was the highlight of the decade if I’m being perfectly honest. Very exciting times in ol’ Cymru.
But Swery leans into the mundane, making it a product of fascination as you freely skip through empty fields and across cobblestone walkways simply basking in the atmosphere. Local townspeople might sprint past as they begin engaging in their daily routines, or the skies might open to welcome a sudden downpour as the afternoon turns into evening. While a murder mystery sits at the centre of The Good Life, with the exception of a few quests, you never feel pressured to do anything about it. The town of Rainy Woods is yours to explore, even if you’re just chatting with locals, browsing shops, or taking pictures. I felt like I belonged as someone who grew up in a place like this, even if the populace was far too multicultural for it to be truly believable. Trust me, there’s a reason places akin to this one all voted for Brexit.
Protagonist Naomi Hayward is the perfect juxtaposition to this peaceful little town. A journalist hailing from the bustling streets of New York City, she constantly labels the town a “Goddamn Hellhole!” as she’s forced on myriad fetch quests and tied up in a morbid murder mystery alongside a debt of millions she’s forced to pay off until she’s allowed to leave. She hates this place and everyone in it, but she comes to tolerate them throughout the campaign. Always waltzing around with a grimace, she does what’s asked of her purely so she can eventually escape, but you can't help but feel she’s warming to this strange place just as you are. It isn’t so bad, they sell Guinness at the pub and you can turn into a wild animal whenever you like to bark, meow, and take in the good vibes.
She doesn’t traditionally belong to this place, but she’s welcomed with open arms despite all of the oddities that greet her. All of the town’s inhabitants are friendly and outgoing, even if some respond to your presence with a scowl as you start digging into their personal affairs to uncover exactly what Rainy Woods might be hiding. I won’t spoil anything, but The Good Life is immersive because of how unusual it tries to be. It isn’t afraid to make you turn your head in confusion, or laugh out loud at the sheer absurdity of it all. There has never been a game like this before, regardless of all its flaws, and I wish more people were paying attention to it.
To me, it’s a little glimpse into my childhood, at what this country used to be like before I became aware of its politics, bigotry, and eagerness to punch down. Rainy Woods feels like the sort of town the Tories would canvass in desperately before the election, telling blatant lies to senior citizens and blissfully unaware farmers about the benefits of voting for idiots like Boris Johnson. Places like this are victims of Tory rule because they’re ultimately forgotten about, not worth the investment that goes into major cities because they aren’t bringing home the bacon, even when so many of the fields are filled with pigs. Towns like this are inevitably forgotten, left to rot into irrelevance.
Naomi Hayward would absolutely kick the shit of a Tory if she ever saw one, I’d personally pay for an expansion where she’s tasked with tracking down canvassers as they patrol the town. Maybe she can turn into a dog and piss on them or something. The Good Life is so peaceful because it reminds me of a moment in time that isn’t possible to replicate in the modern era. As a Japanese developer, Swery was able to depict the British countryside with a level of detachment that allows its charming aesthetic to shine above all else. He wasn’t worried about Brexit, Tories, or food banks, he was just infatuated by a rural existence so far removed from anything he had ever seen before. There’s something beautiful about that, a radiance that has been lost to societal cynicism that makes it hard to appreciate the little things.
The Good Life is so peaceful, and relaxing in a way that I’m not sure the United Kingdom is anymore, or ever will be again. Division has torn us apart, and the country continues to descend into the gutters. But there's moments of brilliance amidst the ruins worth savouring, and this game brings those to the forefront and helps them shine. It’s silly, saccharine, and brilliant in a way that few games this year have been. It’s Vicar of Dibley meets Deadly Premonition, and if that doesn’t convince you I’m not sure what will.