"I was faced with many personal challenges within my life, which enlightened me to having an open mind and to see things from various perspectives. As a result, the concept of having someone/something “missing” became a sort of an objective within me that held many facets and complexities. This led me to incorporating this concept into the game."

What made you want to explore the concept of something/someone missing in the first place?

The Missing will mark our very first product to have ever been created entirely within my newly established studio, White Owls. With this being our first release, I wanted to create a game based on something which could offer depth and perspective.

I was faced with many personal challenges within my life, which enlightened me to having an open mind and to see things from various perspectives. As a result, the concept of having someone/something “missing” became a sort of an objective within me that held many facets and complexities. This led me to incorporating this concept into the game.

There’s a certain message I have in the game at the very beginning that may already have been read by those who have seen or played the game build. That particular message holds everything that I feel and hold towards the game.

What exactly will gameplay consist of in The Missing?

You will play a character who, for some reason, cannot be killed. You will be navigating this character using your body parts to explore and solve puzzles in a side-scrolling game world. You use various actions, such as using your dismembered arm to reach certain items, or navigate your head through narrow passages, to find your missing friend.

The character is able to use a special ability that allows you to fully recover yourself instantly, so you may encounter instances where you actually have to fall into traps in order to progress through the world.

What brought about the collaboration with Arc Systems for this project?

The very first person I discussed with when establishing my studio, White Owls, was none other than Arc System Works’ president, Mr. [Minoru] Kidooka. We knew each other from awhile back, and spoke about making a game together, so when I made my studio, I decided to go and take his word to make our very first game.

It wasn’t an easy task as I made quite a number of plans, but I wanted to make a game that would hallmark the coming of a “new SWERY,” so I crafted this project to show that I’m not concentrating on the story alone. The game would have to also have depth in its gameplay, but make it very easy for players to understand the game mechanics.

I believe that The Missing is a great representation of what the game world of SWERY is about, with a re-imagination of Arc System Works’ action games added to the fold.

From what we saw in the trailer for the game, it doesn’t seem like it fits neatly into any genre. Still, what genre would best describe the game?

The genre is “SWERISM”!

When can we expect to hear more about this project?

You can be sure that we will be releasing the game within 2018! So we will be making sure that more information goes out to everyone to get to know The Missing. Be sure to check out my Twitter account and The Missing’s official website, too!

What platforms do you plan to release this game on?

I’m very excited to say that the game will be released on all the major platforms – PC, PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch! This game also marks the first time I will be releasing a game across all major platforms, too!

Since the game was first revealed back in February, we haven’t heard much about it. Why have you held off on revealing more to the public?

As mentioned earlier, The Missing marks the very first game to be developed and released by my studio, White Owls. Because of being new to the scene, I wanted to showcase the game closer to completion so that everyone can get a better idea of what and who we are, and to get a glimpse into the kind of games and styles we are adopting.

The game is a bit “edgy,” so to speak, where you use your own body parts in order to clear various puzzles. Because of this, I decided now would be about the best time to start disclosing information by allowing the game to be played by some in the public. I wanted to avoid relaying what the game is about simply through words and visuals.

Are there any challenges you’ve faced during the game’s development?

This is the very first platformer I’ve developed, but I wanted to ensure that the game could be played with minimal cut scenes to keep the coherency of the game world. This led me to explore the concept of depicting emotions and expressions through the character’s movement and actions.

What this meant was that we needed to develop a huge amount of character actions and motions with the proper rigs on them for fluidity. It’s hard to explain, but in simplicity, just J.J., the player character, has 20 characters worth of motions that would be used in conventional action fighting games.

"I researched many other side-scrolling games and asked for advice from many of those within the field. I even got tips from Mr. [Koji] Igarashi, who worked on Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night, on making backgrounds that would scroll smoothly and beautifully in the game."

What are some of the main inspirations you’ve drawn from when creating this game?

I researched many other side-scrolling games and asked for advice from many of those within the field. I even got tips from Mr. [Koji] Igarashi, who worked on Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night, on making backgrounds that would scroll smoothly and beautifully in the game.

I also made the story and theme of the game from various life experiences, extending from my family, my friends, my project team, and of course myself. In fact, you can say that all the games I have made and will make will stem from various approaches in what is found in life itself.

White Owls Inc.’s newest game The Missing, helmed by Hidetaka “Swery65” Suehiro of Deadly Premonition fame, is out now for Xbox One, PS4, PC, and Nintendo Switch. The grisly mystery focuses on J.J. as she navigates Memoria Island to locate her best friend, who’s gone missing.

This isn’t your typical side-scrolling puzzle platformer though. To make any progress, J.J. has to suffer all manner of harm, from dismemberment and immolation to electrocution and being crushed. Due to the island’s mysterious powers, J.J. can seemingly revive herself an infinite number of times. Why exactly is all of this happening? Where did her friend go?

You’ll have to actually play The Missing to find out. Published by Arc System Works, The Missing features a gorgeous art-style to offset the macabre premise. It’s definitely not for the faint of heart regardless, but if yet another unorthodox adventure from the oddball mind of Suehiro interests you, check it out today.

Hidetaka “Swery” Suehiro, the man behind Deadly Premonition (and many other games), has revealed the first trailer for the next game being developed by his studio, White Owls, in partnership with Arc System Works- The Missing, a bizarre, beautiful looking side scrolling title.

The Missing was revealed by Swery and Arc System Works in February this year, through a video where Swery spoke about the game in pretty vague terms, while also speaking about his partnership with Arc System Works. Other than a few words on what meaning the game’s name holds, we didn’t really get much else.

Thankfully, Arc System Works have now released an announcement trailer for the game (embedded below), which shows glimpses of its beautiful art, elements of its gameplay and mechanics, as well as hints of what the narrative will be about- though it all seems to be clouded in mystery, so here’s hoping we get some more concrete info soon.

The Missing launches on October 11 for the PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC.

The mind behind classic games like Deadly Premonition and D4: Dark Dreams Don’t Die, Hidetaka “SWERY65” Suehiro is returning with a brand new game, The Missing. The game is being developed by his White Owls studio and published by Arc System Works.

Arc System Works announced the collaboration through a press release, and while there’s really next to nothing known about the game so far, beyond a 2018 launch, we do know from a short video from SWERY himself that Arc System Works is letting him have full creative freedom, so we should see something really, well, SWERY.

The video, which you can check out just below, shows SWERY talking about the game without really saying much of anything at all. He is rather confident that the game will surprise everybody and really “blow our minds”. Given his previous works, it very easily could. We have no idea what platforms The Missing will launch on, or really even what it is, but stick to Gamingbolt for more information as it comes.