Hidetaka Suehiro, aka Swery, released a game in 2010 through Ignition Entertainment that has been a cult classic ever since. Released in 2013 in Director’s Cut form, Deadly Premonition is a quirky game that is bizarre and amazing at the same time. With a sequel announced to be in the works, and the Switch being the go-to platform this gen for re-releases of last gen (and earlier) games, Deadly Premonition was recently released on the eShop, standard boxed copy, and in a Collector Edition form. I was fortunate enough to receive the Collector’s Edition which includes six metal pin badges in their own case, two postcards of artwork from Suehiro’s concept notebook, and a 13″ x 15.5″ print out of the map of Greenvale. Anyway, while the name of the game has changed slightly to Deadly Premoniton: Origins (DPO), all of the good and bad of this strange game remain intact.
It’s literally been well over six years since I have walked through Greenvale, back when I reviewed the Director’s Cut version on the PS3. Within that article you will also see my original review of the game. I awarded it high praise for how intriguing the game was, despite the rough visual presentation (clunky, dated graphics, given that this was a PS2 game in development before being moved to 360/PS3). You play a detective named York that is tasked with investigating a very strange and gruesome murder in the tiny, odd rural town of Greenvale. York, and nearly every character in Deadly Premonition for that matter, is not your typical detective type. He has a split personality, and routinely talks with himself to the other personality (Zack). Anyway, all of the gameplay details were something I talked about in the previous reviews, so I would point you to those as they are still accurate for this new release, nearly ten years after the original release.
As far as what makes Origins special, well, there’s not much. In reading online and trying to recall my own past experience, it does seem like Origins is based off of the 2010 original release as opposed to the superior 2013 Director’s Cut, which is unfortunate, but not a deal-breaker. I can’t tell that any enhancements have been made in any area of the game, not just in terms of presentation, but in as far as time of life updates to gameplay or the controls. Quick Time Events (QTEs), a staple of last gen, are still present here. Done right, QTEs can be a pretty good gameplay mechanic if used sparingly, but when done wrong they can be highly frustrating. DPO rides the line in this regard, which isn’t especially great. The general clunkiness of the controls is honestly kind of disappointing to re-experience so many years later, but just as was the case all those years ago, DPO is still a heck of a fun time that out does itself in as far as the overall experience is better than the sum of the parts. That’s a cliche maybe, but it so fittingly applies here I can’t help but call upon it. Bottomline, if your only console option right now is a Switch, you can’t go wrong with DPO, just as long as you go in expecting a dated, but nonetheless very much worthwhile, experience. Otherwise, I’d highly recommend playing the Director’s Cut release from 2013 on the PS3.
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