A lot of people out there are fans of horror games, and a lot are also fans of crime television. Recently CBE Software released their game Someday You’ll Return and there is a big element of horror and crime. This single player game will mess with your head and take you to some strange places if you’re willing to keep searching. Only one thing may hold you back from this psychological horror game however, the protagonist.
The plot is pretty simple, dare I say, basic. Daniel’s daughter Stela has gone missing somewhere in the Moravian forest. Daniel has sworn that he would never go back to such a place, but now he has to. So, just in many cases worldwide, a father sets off to find his missing daughter. From here the game tends to move more into a survival horror game.
Mechanically, Daniel (you) have to craft and engage with the environment in order to keep searching. This may mean building a ladder or cooking up some potions to keep yourself going. Some puzzles need solving and you will need to use your stealth to get around imposing danger. You can maybe compare this journey to the Blair Witch because eventually the forest starts to mess with you. Unfortunately this is where the game starts to strike out big time.
Since you’re only playing as Daniel, you get a pretty good inside look at what kind of person he is. He seems to be a pompous ass and that kills the entire vibe. In what world would a father care more about getting dirt on his hands over finding his daughter? He constantly speaks in a flat manner and complains about how stupid his daughter is. This is really a guy that you hate the whole time, and that’s no lie. For a game that is supposed to pull you in and get your wheels turning, he pulls you the complete opposite way.
Other than the flat voice acting and bad attitude, the game has some pretty big flaws in the design. There is a lot of lag and stuttering while moving around, the crafting is far and few between and there’s just something off about the background noises and music. For such a nice looking game, the entire environment just screams to run away. The developers are proud, there is no doubt in that, but maybe Someday You’ll Return should have waited a little longer before release day.
Unfortunately, I would have liked to have seen a deeper plot, or maybe a deeper connection to the characters. If Daniel just didn’t speak then that would have been fine too. There was just a perfect storm of design flaws that rips players right out of the game from the beginning, which makes this game frustrating to play. The horror element goes away without strong foundations. If Someday You’ll Return was remade correctly then I would play it. Right now, I just can’t get through it and I recommend playing something else to entice your horror needs.
4/10
Available on: PC, Xbox, PS4