Someday You'll Return (2020)

Image Credit: CBE Software

This is probably the first time in my life that I am writing about a game that was released just last month; if you didn't know already, I almost never play games upon release. I might catch up with some a year later, or a decade - my habits are simply too erratic in this matter.

Someday You'll Return is a game that starts off really well - it checks all the right boxes; music, setting up the story, a beautiful environment. But the closer you look, the cracks start showing up, until they're impossible to ignore. And then, the only thing you can do is marvel at how something that seemed so unique and promising simply failed to live up to its appeal. It was an uphill battle finding the patience to see it through to the end. 

Simply put, it's buggy - I couldn't get a decent framerate at anything but low settings even though my machine more than meets the recommended specs. There are audio issues. The voice acting is average at best. But worse than all of this is the fact that you play as someone intensely detestable. It is not at all a bad idea to have flawed characters in your game; after all, wasn't TV ushered into a new era by the likes of Walter White and Tony Soprano? But what humanizes them - and makes the viewer want to be around them more even though they might act in a morally depraved manner most of the time - is the display of their more vulnerable side from time to time. This is completely absent from the game - Daniel's an asshole, and an asshole he remains without showing a shred of regret for most of the game. It's hard to relate to your character when he's the type of person who sells the house without ever consulting his wife, who along with her daughter, has to face constant belittling from him. This would be my main complaint with the game: the main character is not someone you enjoy being with and the more you play as him, the more you grow to hate this person. 

Another is the enjoyment and satisfaction the story offered compared to its lengthy runtime (20+ hrs) - personally, I didn't find it worth all the hours. There are some really interesting ideas in terms of game mechanics and a couple of chilling horror sequences, but there's little to no explanation for why you witness all the weird things you do. The story is told in a bizarre manner and things don't make sense for too long until most players have probably given up already.

Play this one only if you have too much time on your hands, it's definitely passable otherwise. For a title that alludes to a return, it's ironic that I don't ever wish to replay Someday You'll Return.