This year has been dominated by talk of the Chinese gaming industry expanding beyond MOBA and Gatcha-style games into the single-player space. Black Myth Wukong is an obvious force but Sony also made headlines with their China Hero’s project backing multiple upcoming games out of the region. This dominating conversation has unfortunately drowned out a bigger dialog worth having, that this is shaping up to be a flagship year for a multitude of countries, including Italy.
Earlier this year we saw the release of Enotria: The Last Song, Souls-like made by Italian developer Jymma Games released to mixed reviews overall but to a gracious reception to developers from the developer’s home country of Italy. It was a big deal as the development scene in the country continues to grow, and was one of the biggest games from the region to see a full release. This brings us to the topic of conversation for today, On Your Tail, from another Italian developer Memorable Games which is poised to continue the growth of the Italian game industry.
On Your Tail will take players to Borgio Marina, a small and idyllic town on the Italian coast villain that in many ways feels reminiscent of Pixar’s Luca. The player takes the role of an anthropomorphic goat by the name of Diana who is looking for a great summer vacation, only to get embroiled in a mystery that will have her talking to locals and tracking down clues.
The player will become an amateur detective as they put pieces together mysteries big and small, all while trying to take in the sights, relax by the beach, or just overall have a good trip to a town that at any other time might not be anywhere near as stressful. All of the while enjoying quirky dialog that should appeal to players young and all, with a cast of animal humans that you definitely want to get to know.
The core gameplay takes cues from one of my favorite games of all time, Shenmue, which might be why I am so excited to play this game as soon as it drops. You wander the city, talking to people which helps to deepen your understanding of the goings on or gives you direction from your next clue. This being said, despite being set in a port I don’t think she needs to search for sailors so they clearly didn’t learn enough from Ryo Hazuki, which is a shame.
Included in all of this are well-drawn art pieces in the form of cards. characters get cards that accompany their dialog, while clues also get cards that you can view to keep track of the cases you are investigating. These help keep even the quieter moments of the game engaging since even going over everything you know is nice to look at. But of course, these cards have a function as well, since playing the right card/clue in the right situation you can solve the case!
On Your Tail is at its heart a quiet slice of life where the player is encouraged to take in the sights, even if danger could be right around the corner, which tends to be the genre that pulls me in these days. There is just so much to pull the player in here though that the wait to finally go to Borgo Marina might be more deadly than the threats within.
On Your Tail is set to release on November 21st, 2024 for the Nintendo Switch and PC. Players who want to try the game out prior to its official release can download a demo of the game on Steam.
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