State of Play

Stunning Indie Game Season: A Letter To The Future Coming This Fall

by Jill Grodt on Jun 02, 2022 at 06:08 PM

We haven't seen the jaw-dropping, peaceful-seeming indie since last year. Just a few months after its debut at The Game Awards, the title seemed to be stalled after several hostile workplace allegations. However, today's State of Play proved the game is still in development and aims to come out in Autumn. The unexpected release window is coming up quickly, but the gorgeous new trailer suggests Season: A Letter to the Future will be ready.

Season won't task you with fighting monsters or saving the world. Rather, the game puts the player in the shoes of a traveler named Estelle, who is recording everything around her for posterity. There are hints that Season's sweeping vistas, sun-drenched fields, and flowing waterfalls won't be around for future generations. The trailer explains that no one knows what will happen when "the season" ends, which makes the job of documenting the world for the future so important. We see the protagonist going about this assignment is various ways, like writing in a journal, taking photos, and recording audio. She also stops off to speak with the people around her while exploring the landscape on her bike.

As the narrative designer, Meg Hutchison explains:

Your time spent with other people is crucial. You help them through moments of quiet crisis. In their lives, the change coming to the world is not abstract, it is immediate. They are trying to navigate, to survive, to find a way to live. You help them. You remember them. The choices you make reverberate and the importance of what you're doing becomes increasingly tangible. Showing your recordings to these characters you meet can also yield useful pieces of information or a moment of connection.

The title looks like it is shaping up to be a pensive and beautiful experience when it comes out on PlayStation consoles and PC this fall.

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