The biggest gaming surprise of 2019 has surely been the announcement of Deadly Premonition 2: A Blessing In Disguise, a sequel to one of the most beloved and reviled and wonky and bestest best games. I adore Deadly Premonition. I can hardly believe publishers are funding a sequel. The announcement came last week during a Nintendo Direct presentation and only a mentioned a release on Switch, so I’ve been nudging PR people for an answer to the question which justifies an RPS post: a PC release?

“No other platforms. Coming to Switch in 2020!” a rep tells me. Oh. Well. Oh.

You, an avid Deadly Premonition fan, are doubtless wondering how a sequel can come after the ending of the first game (which features some of my favourite revelations in video game storytelling history). Well! Deadly Premonition 2 is set in New Orleans 2005, starring Francis York Morgan before the events of the first game, as well as after it in 2019 with a different protagonist. One set of murders, two FBI agents, an investigation across 14 years, a whole lot more open-world survival horror antics. Or so trailers suggest.



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I do like York’s 2005 haircut. He “used to dress like a hardcore punk rocker” in high school, remember, and this is closer to that time. I am therefore delighted to also see him skateboarding in the Japanese cut of this trailer.



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I am sad to think that we won’t get to eavesdrop on York talking with his imaginary friend Zach about seeing Tony Hawk spin a 900 at the 1999 X-Games, or going on about the revolutionary style of the Z-Boys. Oh god I’m writing fanfic aren’t I.

For why I adore Deadly Premonition so, I refer you to Adam and me declaring it one of the best PC games, Adam’s Deadly Premonition review, and my usual imploration that you buy it when it’s on sale.

I don’t know if I want a sequel. I don’t know if it’ll muddle my memories of a game I adore (which are already muddled by how buggy it is on PC). I think it needs to do something big and bold to be worth risking that. It can’t be retreads and references. But I want to believe. And I want it to be on PC.

“No other platforms,” sez the PR fella. Oh well.

Deadly Premonition 2 is again written and directed by Hidetaka “Swery” Suehiro, though this time it’s being developed by Toybox rather than Access Games. I obviously am living in hope that “no other platforms” is just a PR line until they can talk about other platforms. They have given no indication that is the case. It really might just be for Switch. Damn.

At least PC will be getting The Good Life, Swery’s upcoming game about an American photojournalist stuck in an English village where spooky murders are afoot (sounds familiar) and everyone turns into cats and dogs at night. That’s due in spring 2020.

Nuts to this, I’m outta here.