Estimated reading time: 7 minutes
“One that is wise to wait, has no hurry”
Humble Games has published a wonderful title with the development team at Memorable Games focused on the protagonist Diana Caproni as she hones her writing skills learning empathy, overcoming apathy, and meeting a slew of characters in the world of “On Your Tail”.
We start the journey in Turin Italy.
Diana is listening to her teacher, Professor Vecchi, over
a conference call as discussion regarding the topic of talent springs
up. Lost
in thought, Diana is quickly brought back on track as Professor Vecchi
will be one of the judges in an upcoming writers competition Diana
has entered. Professor
Vecchi is concerned about the lack of emotion and feeling in Diana's
writing. Though well structured, her writing tends to come off as if written by
Artificial Intelligence: emotionless and lacking in his expectations
of her potential skills.
The
blunt and honest feedback is our first hurdle as Diana has to decide
on what response to give her professor via a choice tree format. This
mechanic will pave the way forward into the world around her.
The
criticism weighs heavily on Diana and the discussion carries on as the Professor reassures her that his intentions are not to diminish her efforts but
to provide some feedback on areas to improve.
After
the conversation wraps up, we are awarded a "player card"
giving information on the person we just had an interaction with, as
well as one of Diana herself. These
cards are stored alongside the other, at this time of writing, eight
hundred and thirty one cards you will be discovering along the way
stored inside the "Mind Palace" of Diana. Cards will range
from culture, leisure, characters, and more. Information and
background is written on each card giving insight to each topic
discovered.
A bit of self pity and moping over criticism later, we rise up from the desk and begin the adventure before us: to get more experience in the writing field. Setting her sights on Borgo Marina from a postcard her Nona had collected in the past, Diana takes her trusty “Vispa”, a reliable non-trademarked Scooter, a pilot jacket, and starts her adventure.
I found myself immediately enchanted by the music emphasizing the world around me, drawing the player in with a very suitable and melodic score. Sound design of captivating a first impression lands me optimistic in what I will discover in the lands ahead. Voice acting is a series of reactive noises such as grunts and gasps. Conversations are dialogue driven with unique character art and silhouettes in place of some lesser important roles. The presentation is subtle but not a fully voiced ensemble for the characters. This is not a negative aspect however, as the attention remains on writing and keeps one focused on the information being gathered as the story is unfolding.
After a small tutorial on how to operate the Chronolense, a magical device left to Diana from her Nona, you are deducing a crime scene layout to aid in retrieving important clues. Diana's first case is aiding a feline graduate find her car keys, which opens the pathway down a peaceful coastal trail to some abandoned railway tracks. Fate takes a turn as the train tunnel is longer than anticipated and Diana arrives later in the evening, managing to wrangle her Vispa up the path to Borgo Marina amid heavy rainfall.
Crashing in an attempt to not collide with a shadowy figure in the night, she is rescued by Orlando De Montoni and given a place to rest. After a brief introduction to Orlando's wife Beatrice, Diana is informed the shadowy figure she almost ran over was a thief stealing from the couple's villa. Being ever the optimist, Diana takes on the investigation in order to improve her writing skills amid a burglary mystery in the township, aiding those effected and bringing the criminal to justice as an amateur investigation journalist.
A
good thing to keep in mind is that you are primarily here for a holiday
escape. You do not play the role of Batman, but a laid back and
social type of Bruce Wayne, without money, or Bat-mobile, or Bat
anything really. Point is, the game is centered around social
interactions and experiencing the world around you day to day, all while aiding in a mystery plaguing the townsfolk as a side objective.
Reminiscent
of the area of Cervia Italy, the landscape and architecture show love
and care placed into every texture and model depicted along the way.
The coastal view is a simple and sweet setting giving off the allure
of a peaceful and reserved town. The
foliage is well made with unique plants and flowers decorating the
areas, making the town feel alive and flourishing with personality.
The stone walkways and architecture shine vibrantly as the design
team clearly did plenty of research, and I found myself admiring the
many paintings and art on display throughout the world. Classical
paintings recreated in the anthropomorphic style to fit the animal-like depictions was a beautiful touch to the game environment.
Some of the vegetation and fruits can be collected on a daily basis, once you acquire a shopping bag from a local shop near the photography studio along the beach that is. Collecting raw ingredients prompts a mini-game where accuracy is key as one missed click will cause Diana to collect nothing and need to wait for an in-game day before attempting to harvest again.
Events unfold as you inquire more with the local residents on the recent thefts, from meeting love interests to finding a place to stay in town, discovering pass-time activities, fishing, and even photography. Within the second day I was slinging gelato, delivering parcels for the post office, and found a great joy in the restaurant mini-game to earn currency in the township for various purchases. Skipping stones and playing Marbles on the beach with locals between traveling around the township sets the laid back mood of easing into a fine finished presentation about a holiday adventure without the constant bearing down weight of the thief mystery. Patience is key in this game as things will take time. It's good to sit and reflect every so often.
I found myself finishing important dialogue with characters only to check in on side jobs. I was eager to earn more lira to buy fresh groceries, allowing me to experiment with the kitchen mini-game to perfect certain foods and drinks. You will need to read a recipe book or two in order to unlock certain dishes though. Maybe it will impress Diana's love interest if I manage not to spill all of the coffee, or burn it by accident. Progressing into the days ahead unveils more investigations all around the area, and events to take part in as you enjoy your escape into the lives and mysteries of the residents of Borgo Marina.
The controls of the game are simple and sweet with a polished user interface, where the graphical presentation has moments of the gameplay feeling as picturesque as a cutscene. The travel around town is by foot, or hoof as the characters are anthropomorphic. With the trusty Vispa out of commission early on, traversing from one location to another is often times met with a casual stroll amid the infrastructure and buildings or a sprint that at times feels like a gentle jog. Once you earn enough Lira the rental boat becomes a seaworthy form of transportation, however the length of time in-between islands is a test of patience as there is no fast travel option for the player to speed through the fairing of the sea. Inverted steering will be a test of skill for many climbing aboard their boat for the first trip.
With it's slight drawback of rendering and optimization issues that are being patched by the development team on a regular rate, any issues encountered will be nothing but a memory as the team behind the title have put hard work and dedication into a fully fleshed out release.
Some will dive right into the Adventure/Puzzle solving aspects with absolute ease as there are times even when I felt lost; the gameplay did little to hold one's hand but felt rewarding every time a mystery or investigation was solved in succession.
In grand summary, “On your Tail” lands in a special place of my heart as it has enough charm and content to draw in even hard-set players of different genres, enticing the discovery and deduction skills of a amateur investigator. On Your Tail presents it's traits to an adventure game appeal to keep the pace and experience, always yearning to unravel more about the world ahead of you.
Pros: The Game feels whimsical and easygoing, a pick up and play for casual and advanced mystery solvers with a keen eye for clues and deductions. Development team is releasing patches and fixes on known issues very swiftly, truly a labor of love title.
Cons: At times the camera controls can lead to complications and jolty movements, some barriers of invisible walls are a small setback to the full game experience.
On Your Tail lands a wonderful 8 of 10.
Score: 8 / 10
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