Someday You’ll Return is releasing later this year on PS4, but it’s already had some major changes since releasing on PC not long ago. The narrative horror game received some negative feedback on some of the content, and the developer (brace yourself) listened to that feedback. Behind closed doors, that’s not really new. A lot of devs do. This seems to be a very quick change and a fairly transparent response.
Some of the content and puzzles in the second half are being completely removed, because it didn’t add to the experience. This is reportedly eliminating hours of content. The stealth section is no longer mandatory. You can use a potion to make your character mostly invisible. Some of the cut content is still there, but you’ll have to look for it.
READ MORE: Listen to a Beautiful Moravian Folk Song from Someday You’ll Return
CBE Software Co-founder Jan Kavan released a statement about why the company chose to cut the content and make changes by saying:
“After reading feedback from our customers, it became clear to us that some parts of the game, mostly in the second half, were not enjoyed as we had expected them to be. We took a hard look at the game and asked ourselves how we could make it better. While it is very important for us to remain true to our vision for the game, we felt if there were ways we could make improvements without compromise, we should do this even if it means sacrificing months of hard work.
We realized that some of the content and puzzles were not adding any value to the main game story. It is very important to us that our players have the best game experience, so after careful consideration we cut away hours of superfluous content, making the game better as a whole. Ingenious explorers out there shouldn’t worry, though, as they would still be able to access some of the “missing” areas by careful exploration and doing additional tasks well off the beaten path.
One of the features some players didn’t enjoy was stealth. To aid those players who dislike stealth, we’ve added a new, in-game potion called “Devil’s Pact”. This potion turns the player almost invisible to enemies during stealth sequences. Now players who dislike stealth sequences can drink the potion and through them easily, while players who enjoy being stealthy can keep playing the original version. We strongly believe that offering this choice is the best option for both types of players.”
It took CBE Software five years to develop Someday You’ll Return. After all that time, it would have been easy and understandable to become defensive about criticism. It’s nice to see they listened, and, hopefully, that means the game will be a tighter and better experience when we have a chance to play it later this year.
If you don’t know the concept, it’s a psychological horror game set in the Moravian forests in the Czech Republic. The main character Daniel is looking for his missing daughter Stela. He’s searching a place he never wanted to come back to with some secrets that he wanted to leave buried. It’s a foreboding description filled with plenty of potential, and we look forward to getting our hands on it whenever that might be.
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