Scavengers Studio is set to finally releaseSeason: A Letter To The Futurethis fall after several years in development. From what’s known so far between press releases and trailers,Seasonwill follow the player as they travel through an open world and record everything and anything they choose to along the way, whether it will be interviews with characters, photographs of people and places, or even recording the sounds they encounter.
However, in line with the game’s namesake, the world the player travels through with the people and places they will see will be gone by the journey’s end, as some unknown cataclysm awaits them when the season ends. The game’s premise hinges then on the player’s choice and agency, deciding who or what is worth preserving in their journal before the season is over, with a mysterious story to explore and uncover. If this sounds familiar, that may be because there’s a current trend emerging from the gaming scene, especially fromindie games, that deliver on experience over action.
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A Season For New Outer Wilds
The set-up of an open-world exploration game with the freedom to travel and determine one’s own path is a new style of game that’s cropped up in recent years. Going back to the 2010s and beyond, games were emerging that steered away from a mainstream stereotype of providing linear sequences peppered with action, combat, and perhaps even a few puzzles and platforming segments.Games such asFirewatchandOuter Wildshave opened a door to game design that allows players to drive their own experience instead of holding their hands, games which encourage the player to stop and smell the flowers instead of pushing them on to the next scripted sequence of events.
It is interesting thatOuter Wildsis an excellent comparison forSeason,as they both follow the same ethos in terms of game design and narrative. Both take place in vast, rich worlds populated by all manner of people with their own stories to tell before some cataclysm. Though there are some distinctions that could be made, from the contrast of space travel to biking around the countryside, beat for beat these two games appear to be singing from the same hymn sheet. But whileOuter Wildshas already been and gone,Seasonappears set to take its place and carry the torch of indie studios fornon-traditional gaming experiencesaway from the mainstream.
However, whileOuter Wildwas rooted in the idea of uncovering a mystery,Seasonseems to be offering a more nuanced, introspective take on existentialism and perseverance. Currently, all the trailers forSeasonfocus on telling the stories of people and places, documenting them so that they last beyond the end of the season. To this end, the player is invited to photograph, record, talk, and journal anything they’d like along their journey through the game. Through the player’s agency, it is only through them that the world is recorded and saved so that the collective memory might survive, something which theState of Play trailermakes very poignantly as only what they saw.
Though there’s still some wait left beforeSeasonis released, the game is already highly anticipated by fans, especially those who are coming off theOuter WildsDLChigh. However, many seem all too happy to wait a little longer considering it was first announced back in 2020, meaning Scavenger Studios have had ample time to refine and polishSeasonbefore its launch. If trailers are anything to go off, the game already promises a charmingly stylized world full of vibrant places to explore and fascinating people to meet, all contained within the ethereal, melancholic vibe it seems to be aiming for.
Season: A Letter To The Futureis set to release in fall 2022 for PC, PS4, and PS5.
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