On Your Tail Preview - A Wholesome Whodunit

I've always loved detective novels. Sherlock Holmes, Agatha Christie's Poirot, and Nancy Drew all gave me a intense interest in whodunits. When presented the opportunity to play through the first two acts of indie puzzle and whodunit On Your Tail, I hopped at the chance. After diving in and exploring what Borgo Marina has to offer, I can confidently say that On Your Tail is more than just a whodunit game.

In On Your Tail, you play as Diana, a writer looking for inspiration after a bad review of her work. Heading to Borgo Marina, she ends up investigating a series of thefts across the village. The whole game is super cozy, and the town is filled with, mostly, nice people that you end up helping. Even the crimes aren't that bad; a theft without taking something, a cheap item stolen. 

The main gameplay involves collecting clues, putting them in the correct sequence based on witnesses, and conducting interrogations. Investigations get harder as the game progresses by adding in more clues and increasing the complexity of events. The story never has a chance to get dull or go stale. 

The increasing complexity is where the investigations shine. Not only are the clues different each time there's a crime, but putting together the sequence of events is also different. Sometimes you need to talk to characters to gather information, other times it's finding items that have moved, or even a chicken in a hat. The variations in each investigation keep the game fresh, even though the mechanics are the same. I never got bored with the story or progressing through it. 

Along with investigations and interrogations, there are multiple minigames, jobs, riddles, and relationship quests to complete. Fishing, Cooking, Marbles, Skipping Stones, and solving riddles can be done throughout town and on the beach. You can go boating or earn money with three different jobs. There are shops to buy books, movies, and clothes. It's not just a crime-solving puzzle game, but also a life simulation. 

The gelato job requires you to collect ingredients from around town to create new flavors to sell. Being a waitress is similar to a restaurant simulation. Delivering mail introduces you to the various characters of Borgo Marina and is one of the quickest ways to earn large amounts of money. Marbles and Skipping Stones can be played alone or with a companion. Time doesn't move throughout the day until certain objectives are met, so you can relax and explore everything without worry.  

Some bugs did rear their ugly head while I was playing, specifically when attempting the cooking mini game. The game would softlock after losing a life, resulting in my having to close it through the Steam overlay. This happened any time I tried to cook, especially coffee, which is horrid since making coffee for Paun is one of the friendship quests you get. 

There's also lag, swimming back to shore doesn't let you turn around and you swim until you're a decent amount on the beach, and some clipping. These are smaller issues that don't really effect the game in a serious way, but still impact the experience. 

On top of that, a lot of the minigames, how to answer riddles found around Borgo Marina, and how to harvest items don't come with the best, or any, explanation. Harvesting items requires you to press a button on every green segment, but you're never told that, causing you to lose out on a harvest for the day. Waitressing and working for Medeu are the best-explained minigame jobs, but still require playing the game to get a full grasp of what the tutorial was saying. 

A general synopsis of how to solve a riddle, which is done using cards you've collected by meeting people, visiting areas of town, and solving investigations, would help players understand what they need to do to actually complete the task. The directions for Cooking are confusing, but since I couldn't actually get it to work, I can't say whether successfully making something shed any light. 

There's also descriptions that are still in Italian. While easy to understand, in general, a whole quest entry ends up being in Italian. This makes it a little difficult for those that don't read the language to know what they need to do. On top of that, ingredients are labeled that way when making gelato, which can become confusing if you don't have a reference for the item. 

While there are bugs and other items that need to be fixed, my biggest issue with On Your Tail is the camera sensitivity. When first loading in, the camera whipped around with the slightest movement. After reducing all sensitivity for the camera and movement to the lowest setting, I still would get a headache when running through Borgo Marina. I ended up needing to take more breaks than I usually would during a gaming session. This may not be an issue for others, though. 

Overall, I'd love to solve the rest of the mysteries in On Your Tail. It's a cozy way to exercise your brain and have fun, without the pressure of combat, equipment builds, or failure. 

On Your Tail was previewed on PC over 8 hours until the end of Act 2 with a code provided by Humble Games and Memorable Games. Screenshots were taken during the course of the preview.