An Anthropomorphic Goat’s Summer Break Turns Into A Sunny Crime Scene In On Your Tail
Solve a mystery and soak up the Sun on Switch.
We may be living in the best time ever for games that let you feel like a detective. From the hardcore side of games like Return of the Obra Dinn that make bringing a notebook mandatory to the gentler Duck Detective focused more on story and simple deduction, there have never been more games offering the thrill of cracking the big case. One of the best overlooked detective games on PC last year is now getting a second chance on Nintendo Switch, and it’s a great fit for anyone looking for a cozier way into investigation sims.
As On Your Tail opens, protagonist Diana is being told by her college professor that she needs to get a life. Her latest story, she’s told, lacks the originality that can only come from writing about her own experiences, and the only way to improve is to get out there and live a little. So Diana heads out to Borgo Marina, a seaside town that her grandmother once loved, to rest up and find inspiration in the real world.
Diana heads out to Borgo Marina, a seaside town that her grandmother once loved, to rest up and find inspiration in the real world.
Before Diana even reaches Borgo Marina, her beach vacation gets a lot more complicated. On the way, she’s caught in a storm and crashes her Vespa during a run-in with a mysterious masked figure, waking up in the home of a local couple. Like everyone in On Your Tail, the pair are anthropomorphic animals (Diana herself is a goat), which has nothing to do with the story, but does make the whole mystery a bit more adorable, as well as making it easy to keep the rather large cast of characters straight at a glance.
That comes in handy when Diana gets to work solving a local mystery. It turns out a series of thefts has the whole town on edge, and far more sinister happenings are revealed as the story goes on. To wrap that story up, though, Diana will have to solve a number of much smaller mysteries, like helping a lost traveler find her keys or solve petty feuds between Borgo Marina’s inhabitants. Players are free to roam the town as they please, picking up clues by talking to residents, or using Diana’s convenient magical magnifying glass, which gives her a very limited peek into the recent past of any object.
Players are free to roam the town as they please, picking up clues by talking to residents, or using Diana’s convenient magical magnifying glass.
Each clue Diana finds is represented by a card, and when she’s assembled enough, she can solve any given mystery through a board game-like interface. With Diana in mystery solving mode, the game shows players a simple diorama of the scene of the crime, with a full hand of clue cards at the bottom of the screen. Solving the mystery means playing those cards in the right order to recreate what must have happened given everything that’s been uncovered so far. This mystery solving interface is one of On Your Tail’s most interesting ideas, even if it can be a little underwhelming in practice. It’s easy enough to arrive at the right answer through sheer trial and error most of the time, and there’s not much in the way of actual deductive work like you might find in a more intense version of the same concept.
While it might not please players who take their sleuthing seriously, On Your Tail’s laid-back take on investigation does make it extremely approachable, and it fits the game’s vibe well. As much as it’s a mystery story, it’s also a sort of summer vacation sim. As she works on solving Borgo Marina’s mysteries, Diana also spends her time making friends with the locals and indulging in all sorts of low-stakes side activities. Sure, there are crimes to solve, but there’s still plenty of time for fishing, playing arcade games, and taking on a part-time summer job or two.
The whole adventure looks and sounds like a living cartoon.
Even just wandering through Borgo Marina is a treat, thanks to On Your Tail’s cheery art style and soundtrack. The whole adventure looks and sounds like a living cartoon, making it a blast just to soak up the summer vibes as you’re gathering clues or hanging out with new friends.
On Your Tail won’t be the hardest case you ever crack if you’re a fan of mystery games, but it’s a joy to play nonetheless. It’s got a perfect mix of coziness and detective work, letting you chase down clues at your own pace without ever getting bogged down in an unsolvable mystery. Already a great time on PC, On Your Tail’s Nintendo Switch release makes it even easier to pick up now.
