Note: This review has been undergoing from December 9th, 2015 till the date this posted. Reason was that I was playing while writing this review, and editing it repeatedly, so as to keep things fresh and not allow for any spoilers to seep in my writing of this review for your reading pleasure.

There are reasons why I took up this game. After watching a video walkthrough of it on Youtube, I decided to play the game for myself and give it a shot.

The concept of a video game being “so [technologically] bad, it’s good” was a first for me and so I had to try Deadly Premonition (Red Seeds Profile in Japan).

There is only one other video game that really sits up in high regard in that category of “so [technologically] bad, it’s good” which was Vampire The Masquerade - Bloodlines. But why is that? Why the free pass despite the technical flaws that would make other games be tossed to the side along with the likes of E.T. or, more recently Ride to Hell? And this is the question that served as the common denominator shared between both Deadly and Bloodlines with both being incredibly buggy; it’s beloved by a cult following, assuring it’s continued appreciation and guarantee of newer audiences being introduced to it.

There are some similar properties that both games have as they feature something that is often overlooked: a make up for the sometimes apparent lack of things to do in the game in favor for an arguably linear direction given the stories it wants to share with you about that world, providing a semi-open world that the game itself uses to evoke an understandable amount of freedom that’s to be expected (I’ll get to that later) and use as a vehicle in order to transition you to the sub-plots it wants to show you while tying it all together to you later with the overall general story arch. As we were: both games have a good story to draw incentive to engage in the role play that it provides.

This is important because there does exist a dichotomy, which works in gradations, that is provable in video game development and that’s that either your game will focus on gameplay at the sacrifice of a complete storyline or you’re going to focus on story with a basic or minimal emphasis on gameplay (after a degree which it stops becoming a game as much as a “virtual” art piece or, dare I use the questionable nomenclature “art game”). Perhaps you’ll have some vignette of what is going on in the world depicted in the video game if the case is that of the former usually.

This can be seen in fighting games around twenty years ago when you had the story of the characters in the game to seldom be explored and just have a two to three sentence description of what their motivations were so as to justify their being in the game or what else about them is explainable given from their appearance and design.

This is what made Mortal Kombat, and not Street Fighter, quite interesting for me. And this another reason why Deadly Premonition gets a pass despite it’s, again, game-breaking bugs.

But here’s the only kicker for Deadly in compared to that of Bloodlines, and that it’s story lines and sub-plots featured in the main quest line and side quests, are all lifted from the television series Twin Peaks.

It’s the same or is it?

Twin Peaks is a show that debuted in 1989 and was co-produced and written by David Lynch and Mark Frost. This show only lasted for two seasons due to low viewership. But, this show ended up garnering a cult-following that is enjoyed even to this day. It’s quite entertaining and is argued to have been very influential to where it’s sometimes argued as being a preview of what television shows involving law-enforcement would become in subsequent years; both in style and substance.

Typically, during and before Twin Peaks, shows about police, agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, sheriffs, and just about any type of law executive agent that has direct contact with the general public on television were very formulaic and have a dry, no-nonsense approach to introducing a case, the protagonists doing their jobs, and showing as very little of the personal sides of the series’ agents as possible (They’re “just doing their job”).

In the case of Peaks, the show went further into places that would be more than appropriate; it delved, as literally as possible, into the psyche and imagination of the show’s protagonist, FBI special agent Dale Cooper.

What we find is that agent Cooper has, in compliment with an eccentric personality, an almost near-clairvoyant ability to investigate and profile the suspect(s) that are committing the crimes in the show.

But unlike Peaks, the protagonist in Deadly is not really so much as queer without self-awareness: he is queer and knows it. In fact, Deadly Premonition’s protagonist, FBI special agent Francis “York” Morgan (or York, as he likes to be called, because that’s what everyone calls him) is fully aware of not just his eccentricities but openly flaunts it and tells people to not question it. And unlike his Peaks counter-part, York is in semi-control and aware of the manifestations of his mind and how this so called “Other world” helps him find intuitively everything he’ll need for the case he’s working on, but with the condition that he has to fight to survive the “Other World”’s psychic environments to acquire them whereas Agent Cooper only has to navigate loosely with the visions he’s provided in his sleep and intuitively interpret to then act upon them.

And this is where the differences, small or large start changes in the game in comparison to the television series, summing to something that is definitely looking like Twin Peaks, while not being Twin Peaks - and this is the despite the loans that get so heavy, that one could be tempted to accuse out-right theft.

But because of these story loans, this helped in giving Deadly a story development that would ultimately lead to the discovery of the character developments, both big and small, to be observed by the player as the game went on, and with it, the story that goes to a deliberate alternate direction than from where its story source.

So what is Deadly? It’s the Twin Peaks that could have possibly existed if David Lynch didn’t go for elongating the Lisa Palmer murder case and actually had a follow up story for the next season or had enough negotiating muscle to go up against the executives at the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) for extending the Lisa Palmer case to become an, ever more surreal, elongated story arch. But my guess is that CBS didn’t want to have another Dallas soap opera programming instance that ultimately lead to disappointed angry audiences that possibly led to audiences switching to other networks such as the American Broadcasting System (ABC) or the National Broadcasting Company (NBC).

This makes the game itself is a alternative take to season one of Twin Peaks and some bits of season two, expediting more or less well enough to have the game’s plot be considered it’s own original piece in it’s own right by the virtue of creative redirection and interpretation given employ, however large or very small, by SWERY65 - the game’s lead director and producer.

Enough of “Peaks” what’s in the valley?

The Side Quests

The gameplay is something that I would caution to approach slowly. And the reason for that is because Deadly subverts all expectations of what you’d expect to be for certain portions of the game according to gameplay design conventions.

To clarify: the side-quests of the game are in a seeming order from 1 through 50, but in reality, the game’s side quest listing is an array of clusters of, sometimes chained, quest-lines. There is also loose connections between individual side-quests with other side-quests that lead possibly to a chain of side quests.

If that didn’t make sense, that’s completely fine. To break it down further and plainly: the side-quests are out of order and it’s your job to figure out what leads to what other side-quest after that.

An example: When you start the game, you can start side-quest No. 027 which will lead to the start of side-quest No. 028 (which the game will announce), which will lead to side-quest No.001 (of which you have to initiate as the game won’t announce to you), which leads to side-quest No. 29. Therefore making side-quests # 27, 28, 01,and 29 - in that sequence, to be a cluster of linearly chained side-quests (going according to the story plot shared among those side-quests in this example).

And there’s more: the side-quest missions are sometimes only accessible at certain times of day and in certain types of weather; this game has a climate system that alternates between sunny, cloudy, rainy, or non-rainy patterns.

And this is the bulk of the game: because by side-stepping from being led on by the game, you can learn more about the lives and interests of the denizens of Greenvale, the setting to Deadly. Not to mention obtaining collectable cards (which is part of chain of side-quests) and special weapons and items that will make your investigation go a a lot smoother.

And although sometimes you’ll feel like you’re just looking at a seemingly empty world map, there’s a certain “zen” quality to it - something akin to looking and working on a stone garden.

The Fishing

Although, and this seems to me a sort of odd thing really but I guess it adds garnish to the game’s side-quests, is that there’s a fishing mini-game as well that plays out a bit more like a game of slots than a simulated fishing game (make sure to buy the fishing rod and have bait with you in your immediate inventory). You’ll be surprised the things you can pull from the waters. This is really a hit-or-miss with people as some thing it’s great mini-game to pass the time when you just want to play a bit of Deadly but not really do anything but play the mini-game.

The Rides

The version I played was the “Director’s Cut” version that came on the PC. This means that the game comes with a little special “goodies” that can make the gameplay, and assuming you are going to be making subsequent replays of this game, easier.

These additions include a set of cars that you can select from of which, in-game, you can summon to be brought to you (mysteriously - because this is a David Lynch “not-at-all-inspired” game), via a special flare that you can use infinitely whenever you need it.

You see the stock sheriff’s department provided vehicle given to you in the game is not that fast, handles terribly, and requires you to put up with it unless you do the side missions that, by then, you’re likely to have put in around 6 to 8 hours by them accumulatively. Did I forget to mention that the gas mileage isn’t that great either? And did I also forget to mention that there’s only one gas station in entire game world map?

Yeah, those “Director’s Cut” content add-ons, despite the game breaking nature of them, are really tempting to use.

I wont go into specifics but one thing that you get an advantage four important things from these add-on vehicles: speed, speed, speed, and handling. There’s really nothing else that you’ll benefit the most than having to be able to travel back and forth without any worry or need to having to stop by the gas station for gas and clean/repairs; just make sure to not make any sudden turns.

But there is this one vehicle add-on that only adds an anime skin decoration onto the sheriff’s department sedan vehicles which, unless you’re a weeabo, you’re not going to really get any performance benefits out such an add on; it’s like when JDM fans think that by putting a “Type R” on a Honda Civic hatchback is going to make it run like an Formula One racing car.

Emily alternate costumes

The “Director’s Cut” of Deadly is a set of extra costumes for Emily to dress up and this doesn’t unlock the, simple yet attractive, blue white polka dot dress she has on when at home. For that, there’s some user mods that you can go ahead and check out for.

But as for the ones that you can use already, they’re nothing more than what you’d expect for what would be considered alluring to Japanese players (my guess than presumption).

But I wouldn’t really particularly would go ahead and change Emily into any of the outfits unless you’re doing another game after your first time playing or just wnat to have her walk about in the world in something just because it’s there and available for make her so.

The Food and Drink

Greenvale is a very odd place when it comes to culinary tastes. And although food items are nothing more than a means to replenish your appetite and rest meter, there’s something to be said about the foods that you can find to eat at establishments.

There are three food establishments in the town of Greenvale: A&G Diner, Swery65, and The Galaxy of Terror. Each have a particular menu that kind of reminds you of the variety of cuisine that is shared between choosing a Sizzler, an Applebee’s, a Chevy’s, and a TGI Friday’s. Where the food is going to taste slightly different only because all four restaurants likely use the same food supplier. But maybe that’s just me.

Conversations Kill

Dialog in this game is what this game is all about. It’s mostly interactions of the non-playable characters with agent York, but sometimes you get small conversations among themselves. It’s not much but it all adds up to give more life to the place that is Greenvale and gives you an idea of what the town is like without agent York around (or at least the likely of what it would be normally if it were not for the murder case investigation pending).

And it’s these kinds of interactions, that you will find yourself be wanting to continue to play more. way more.

Because for all the faults that the game has technically, the game makes it up big time for these moments - it almost emotes the feeling of seeing a graphic or small “animated” sequence in a game such as Number Munchers after playing a few rounds.

To be able to regularly see what I am talking about in the game, at the start of each chapter and/or episode, drive around and check out the conversations that York has with his alter-ego Zach or, between 9:00 to 13:00 (that’s 1:00 p.m.), go to the sheriff’s department and get breakfast/brunch/lunch from Thomas, the sheriff deputy, you will be treated to a small cut scene that often features York, Thomas, George, and Emily casually talking about various topics such as food, their interests, outlooks on things, etc that are sometimes way tangent to what is going on in the investigation.

But despite the tangents, they give both insight into the characters and aid you in your investigation by taking in to build a better profile of your investigative team.

It’s important to take close attention to conversations because, unlike other games where you can dismiss easily anything said because it’s inconsequential to what the gameplay requires you to take heed for you then to proceed and keep in mind.

“So with that being said…”

And that idea that Deadly should have been a point-and-click adventure game sticks in my mind partially because I can’t help but get the feeling that this game would have been better as a point-and-click title. And as blasphemous as that reads, it’s true: there’s isn’t really enough in the game to justify the use of textured 3D graphics after a while. Sure there are certain elements that are undeniable that make it seem self-evident that 3D textured graphics were a good and obvious choice too make for this game’s production. But is it?

Keep in mind that Swery65 didn’t originally implement a combat system at all in the game until his publisher told him to implement one (hence the very awkward attack movements and odd weapon load outs). So what could be suspected was that Swery65 wanted something akin to, if not a point-and-click, then that of a visual novel but in textured 3D graphics with the 3D world map being a graphical stand in for some 2D high resolution map to just point and click with your mouse.

The other thing to take from this is that, given that Swery65 didn’t pay the license for Twin Peaks intellectual property, and thus didn’t make a television series based video game, he ended making a video game that would have otherwise would have languished like any other video game that’s based on an existing intellectual property of some other medium. Because usually it’s hit or miss (with usually misses).

Let’s take Batman for instance: it’s easy to get a Batman video game wrong to where it’s forgettable. Because if you ask any video game playing adult what Batman video game sticks out for them, it’ll be any of the Rocksteady developed Batman video games.

Sure some will remember the Batman the animated series based games or the ones based off the Burton/Schumacher films, but that’s very few - if any at all. And you know why? Because most of those games are having to tackle with an intellectual property that offers so much to work with but instead, for some reason or another, the obvious is focused on and represented in the video game to where you can say it’s really a generic video game but with the skin of X famous intellectual property.

It’s, in fact, the opinion I hold for the Deadpool video game: it’s a very generic third person video game but with Deadpool as the dressing.

But when you avoid directly references to what you’re basing your game, from world creation standpoint, you end up making something unique overall of which can stand on it’s own. Could it be a hack attempt at originality? Sure. Could you say that although most things of expression are going to contain loans and thefts of other previous works from other or same mediums as that of the product, it’s still possible that it can be enjoyed and be good in and of itself? Yeah definitely.

And such is the case with Deadly Premonition.

So in closing I’d like to say that you should definitely look into getting this game because it’s got the trappings of a cult classic. I just bloody hope that some better patch work be made for the Windows OS version of this game because dear lord it needs them. I hope some brave soul can work one out soon in the near future - if ever.

Note: I have yet to finish this game and, until then, I’ll give a further update to this review once I’ve finished the game.