Japanese game designer Hidetaka Suehiro, better known as Swery, has unveiled his newest game. The Missing is a 2D action-adventure with a mysterious setting and is planned to release this year for PC, PS4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch.
Swery is a unique character among game designers, especially Japanese ones which are usually reserved. Swery is special and such are his games. Deadly Premonition and D4: Dark Dreams Don’t Die firmly put Swery as a creative mind on the scene, with his games usually feeling “weird” with strange characters. This made Swery a cult favorite among a niche group of gamers. Technical problems in his more popular Deadly Premonition also contributed to Swery still waiting for that big breakout success.
Very similar to Yoko Taro, game creator responsible for the surreal and weird Drakengard and Nier games, who only after collaborating with Platinum Games on Nier: Automata fully managed to realize his vision in a polished game. Who knows, maybe it was that experience which led to Swery teaming up with Arc System Works for his newest project.
Arc System Works is Japanese publisher and developer which usually focuses on hardcore fighting games like BlazBlue, Guilty Gear series and the recent Dragon Ball FighterZ. From the announcement video, we learn that while Arc System Works is involved in The Missing, it is in a publisher role. This should leave Swery and his studio White Owls the necessary creative freedom to create his usual blend of quirky weirdness.
Sadly, Swery didn’t reveal all too much about The Missing. All we get are a few screenshots and a rather cryptic attempt to set up the atmosphere of the game. As the title alludes, themes of missing persons and objects will play a role but also rather strange concepts of feeling lost in life or loosing a love.
Whatever The Missing will center around in the end, Swery assures us that the game “will blow our minds“. The Missing is planned to come out this year for pretty much every platform, PC, PS4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch.
