GoKawiilNothing says romance like the imminent risk of death -- either to your crush or to whom they've targeted for their next kill.
Grave Seasons is the debut game from studio Perfect Garbage Studios, which I tried out at last year's Summer Game Fest with the briefest of looks at the Stardew Valley-like cozy farming game with a serial killer running amok. At this year's SGF, I got my second look at a new demo that revealed a lot more about how the game's more grisly mechanics of investigating and preventing future deaths work.
Naturally, fans of the upcoming game, published by Blumhouse Games and due out later this year, clamor for more than murder. So I asked narrative director Emmett Nahil for everything he could share about what it's like to date villagers in Grave Seasons -- and yes, that includes romancing the killer.
Over half an hour of playtime, a few hours into the game, the second demo revealed a bit more of how Grave Seasons works. As was previously known, it's not a one-and-done story -- you can endlessly repeat the game, with the serial killer randomly assigned among the villagers. This demo revealed a bit more about how these runs will work, though there's still a lot that Perfect Garbage hasn't disclosed, and it's still unclear how a full run of murder, romance, farming and growing the village of Ashenridge will look.
Through the new demo, I learned about the flow of a standard playthrough, which spans four seasons, each lasting 30 days of in-game time tracked on a calendar much like in the Persona game series. During the month, there are some large, unskippable events that round up the whole village, along with others that are optional -- and while you may miss out on chatting with someone cute, it's also the perfect time to do crime.
The game starts with your character alluding to escaping from incarceration, and while lying low, you use a trusty crowbar to break into a vacant farm to take up residence. Thereafter, you can use that tool for other unlawful business -- namely, cracking into townsfolk's homes for some less-than-legal investigation. With a murderer abound, you can't take chances.
At this spring's PAX East gaming event, Perfect Garbage was pleasantly surprised to see that players weren't shy about shady activity, immediately wanting to break and enter, suggesting they're ready "to be a little bit spicy, a little bit amoral sometimes" for a good cause, Nahil said. This affinity for crime should distinguish his game from others with more wholesome, law-abiding tones. Grave Seasons aims to scratch a different itch.
"Everyone likes to learn things that they're not supposed to. I think that sense of eavesdropping on gossip and digging out secrets is something that a lot of people are attracted ot in a narrative," Nahil said. "We are definitely leaning into the drama, even outside of the murders."
Perfect Garbage Studios
Breaking your way into village secrets
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