With its gorgeous Soviet Union inspired fantasy visuals, social gameplay systems, and hazy late-night electronic soundtrack, the original PlayStation 4 version of The Tomorrow Children stood out as a strange but special game.
Unfortunately, the thoughtful and immersive game envisioned by developer Q-Games was sullied by poorly implemented free-to-play mechanics and a confusing onboarding that left many players scratching their heads. But those who loved it really loved it, prompting Q-Games to buy the license back from Sony for an upcoming re-release on PS4 and PS5. And after spending a few hours with the newly overhauled PS5 version – fittingly subtitled Phoenix Edition – it’s clear that Q-Games is not taking its fans’ devotion for granted.
The core loop of the game is essentially the same. The player takes control of a living wooden doll who must rebuild her town and restore humanity by visiting mysterious islands that appear from The Void, an empty expanse of once-human consciousness, and mining them for resources. As before, you can work together with other players via loose online connections in a similar way to Death Stranding. (The Tomorrow Children did it first, kids.)
The more you play, the more tools you can unlock for mining, along with weapons to defend your town from the invading kaiju-like monsters known as Izvergs. And for every matryoshka doll you find while out exploring, you can revive another jolly human NPC peasant to inhabit your town. It’s a game where you can work to a plan or simply lose yourself in busywork for hours at a time, your mind awash with the game’s dreamy soundtrack.