Welcome to Borgo Marina, a beautiful port town off the coast of Italy. They have everything here: shops, food, and mysteries to be solved. I’ll be your guide as we explore the scenic vistas and get to know the locals. Get ready for a very memorable vacation!
Ever since seeing the trailer for this as part of the 2024 Wholesome Direct, I’ve been excited to visit Borgo Marina. I’m thrilled to say that I finally had the chance to on March 13, 2025 when the game dropped on Nintendo Switch. On Your Tail did release a bit earlier for Steam on December 16, 2024 and remains available for the same price($29.99) if PC is more your speed. I’m playing the Switch version exclusively for this review however.
The main plot of On Your Tail follows writer and student Diana after she decides to take an impromptu vacation in Borgo Marina. She heard about the place from her Nana and hopes to find some inspiration for her own work there. What she actually finds is a mystery revolving around a series of recently occurred thefts that she has volunteered to solve. Borgo Marina has a lot to offer and a lot of unanswered questions around the various corners. When Diana’s not working on a mystery, she can also spend time with new friends and do various side activities like reading books, fishing or taking pictures of the sights. Though in order to do some things, Diana needs to make some money first. Fortunately there’s plenty of opportunities to do so. She can work part time as a waitress or help deliver the mail or even work on a farm. There’s no shortage of things to keep her busy in between the bigger story beats.
Diana keeps track of all of this in her Mind Palace, which stores information and accomplishments in the form of cards. There are hundreds of cards under various categories to unlock, ranging from chores to riddles to people. Many of the side activities take the form of minigames, most of which are pretty unobtrusive and easy to do. The waitress minigame for example, has Diana needing to plot her route as she picks up and delivers food while taking the empty plates from the tables. Running the gelato shop involves modifying gelato recipes to obtain the perfect product and buying decorations to increase earnings. Playing skipping stones has players using the thumbstick to try to keep the stones flat, etc. Outside of the mini-games, there are also more leisurely things to do. Like watching movies with friends or fishing or even going for a swim. Of course, the real meat of the game is solving Borgo Marinas mysteries.
When it’s time for an investigation, Diana needs to gather clues to figure out what happened. Some of these clues can be found through dialogue while others require the use of the chronolens, a unique mechanic that lets Diana spot differences between the present and the past. Noticing things out of place leads to more clues though some of them can be tricky to spot. Fortunately, players can supercharge the chronolens through use of a joker card to help them hone in on a clue if they need to. Once all the clues are gathered, it’s time to establish the sequence of events.
Now that Diana has gathered up the clue cards, it’s time to line them up. Using a board game style display, players can watch events unfold as they place clues down which helps visualize the bigger picture. These segments aren’t difficult but they usually involve a bit of trial and error to get things right. They also get more complex as the game goes on. Sometimes you’ll need to combine cause and effect clues, sometimes you’ll need to play the same clue multiple times. A checklist helps you keep track of the key events and the order they occured in and sometimes these events will be hidden until you play the cards just right. Joker cards can be used here as well to provide hints if needed. I appreciate the inclusion of the joker card system for investigations and certain puzzles. It provides help while not being a total crutch as joker cards are limited in quantity.
The location is just as alluring as the mysteries. The map for Borgo Marina isn't the biggest, but the town itself is chock full of character and places to explore. Between the graffiti, the statues, and the various townsfolk and things to see and do, Borgo Marina has a lot of charm and makes for a good vacation spot. It’s not a perfect vacation though, at least not on Switch. I’ve run into a few long load times and awkward glitchy moments while exploring town. The auto moving camera doesn’t help, starting at odd angles when loading into an area and being annoying to control as it swerves while moving around. Getting into the boat is always a hassle because it starts me on a blue screen without any idea of what to do until it finally loads Diana. None of these issues are game breaking(It’s only crashed on me once) but they do hamper it considerably and take me out of the experience. When these issues aren’t rearing their heads, it's a very lovely game with a lot of time and care put into it.
The quirky characters of Borgo Marina are wonderfully designed and I enjoyed looking at the character art for each one. They’re all made pretty distinct and different from one another. I’ve come to really like them. Characters like the sociable and friendly Paun, the eccentric Chea, the loner Lexua and more add a lot to the game. They're a variety of different species too - from dogs and cats to moles, otters, goats and more. It’s a detail that I really appreciate. Borgo Marina is pretty well designed and varied. Before long, you won’t even need to look at the map to know where to go. The various monuments, beaches and stores make it feel like an actual place with easy to remember landmarks all over.
The sound design is very much on point as well. From the subtle Italian style music that plays around town to the investigation music, they knew what kind of vibe they wanted to go with. One very nice detail is that every character gets little voice blurbs to go with them. Mind you this game doesn’t have full on voice acting but the little bits and words go a long way and are definitely much better on the ears than an Animal Crossing style way of doing it.
There’s a lot to love about my visit to Borgo Marina even if it's far from a perfect trip. Whether it’s spending time with the wonderful cast of characters, solving the mysteries of the town or finding hidden constellations on walls, there’s plenty to do. It's a very nice, if flawed, vacation and one I wouldn’t mind taking again.
