Antioch: Scarlet Bay

So, my friend and I did a playthrough of this game today. While there were some negative aspects to it, I would say that overall, we had a good time. I'll start with the negative aspects. The English translation is....mediocre at best. A lot of the times, the characters don't feel like they're talking to each other, and are just spouting nonsense. There's also a lot of spelling errors (like spelling "traffic" as "trafffic"), naming errors (sometimes, a character is called Blanche, and in other scenes she's called Bianca, or Jackie suddenly being called Jacq), or simple grammar mistakes (something like "do not you think so?" or wrong forms of verbs). These errors happened often enough that they were very noticeable, and while my friend and I weren't too bothered by them, we did sometimes lose track of conversations because the sentences just wouldn't make much sense. Another negative aspect is a major glitch that happened while we were in an area called the "Tribunal Archives". Without spoiling anything, the script there got completely mixed up. We'd choose text options that turned into whole other options once we clicked on them, and my friend (who was playing as the old cop) would even get prompts MULTIPLE TIMES that were just the voicelines of the NPC present at the scene. The entire script got jumbled at that point, and while we could laugh at the sheer ridiculousness, it was incredibly distracting and we lost our way there. A final smaller complaint is that at certain points (especially at the end) it's unclear what you can do and where you have to go. We ran around like headless chickens. While that has some appeal and incentive to make notes of stuff yourself, there's literally no way to check all the information that you've gotten in the game, and you get a LOT of it. All of this being said, we still had a really good time. The 2 main people, while you have a certain control over their actions, are very stereotypically old-day cop-like. This made the investigation feel realistic and authentic. Even the racist comments they sometimes made, while kind of uncomfortable, added to the real feel of the game. The entire vibe of the game is very nice. The artstyle is really good and the music, while there doesn't feel like there's a lot of variation, did add to the whole detective vibe. That saxophone was amazing. The story really felt hopeless a lot of the time, which is a good thing. Most characters do not want to help you, and a lot of them actually do not help you. There's a lot of fake leads in this game that lead nowhere, but you often couldn't tell beforehand if a lead was gonna be helpful or not. There were also a lot of moments where both my friend and I had moments where we'd figure out plot points, that made us feel really accomplished. The game can also be pretty funny at times, and I can say with confidence that your actions in this game have a lot of consequences. I'm pretty sure we got a certain character killed because we made the wrong decisions, and that riled both of us up to not wanna ♥♥♥♥ up like that in the future. It's also possible to completely work against each other, which is what we sometimes did. I won't spoil the results of that, but those moments made the gameplay more interesting. The story was good enough to keep us interested and guessing throughout. tl;dr: Despite the fact that the game has a lot of polishing it needs to have a proper English version, my friend and I had a lot of fun with the game and would definitely recommend it if you and a friend want to solve mysteries in a very intriguing setting.

So I'll start with the positives, aside from how they depict people, I think the art is phenomenal. I like the noir vibes. Some of the dialogue is funny...like in a cringe way but I do like a little cringe in my stories so. Now negatives: - I dont like that I have to give them my email to play with a friend. I couldn't even access the settings to turn the music volume down without registering first. Kind of weird the game also doesnt make me accept some terms of service when registering. I'm assuming I couldve given them a fake email and it would've been fine??? It really just feels like a dark pattern though to trick you into giving them an email. - If I hit offline and want to switch back to online I have to reload the game. It should allow me to just toggle back. - Hard to really roleplay. They don't tell you what the choice of being the old cop vs new recruit does ahead of time. It would've been nice to know that I've been pidgeonholed into either a jaded cop or the funny one. Your choice affects the dialogue when you talk to each other, and it really sticks to those two tropes. One says grumpy dad things, the other says cringey things. I think it affects some dialogue when interacting with NPCs too because my rookie friend was able to ask a lady cop at the Millenium Police Station to show us cool stuff in the station, but I did not get that option. I think its really jarring and ruins immersion when most of the time when talking to each other you interact with each other you fit the two tropes, but when interacting with NPCs with some rare exceptions like the one I mentioned above its usually the same dialogue. So while at times it feels like you could give your char a personality ie law and order cop, jaded cop, vigilante cop, when interacting with NPCs that goes out the window. I think its a waste because they could've used it to shape dialogue with NPCs ie if you're a law and order cop, it'll lock you out of options that involve breaking the law. Or if you're more of a screw the rules cop you don't get to pick options where you say you want to do things by the book. - The dialogue doesn't feel conversational, for example in one scene you're shaken by something and you reveal that there's a tie to a previous case. Then your partner can ask you to spill the beans. There's an option that says "Not now I'll tell you later" but you can choose to ignore him and ask the npc a question. The NPC will answer, your partner asks them a question, the NPC answers. Then when its your turn again you can say "Not now, I'll tell you later" This answer doesn't make sense when its not a response to your partner asking you to tell them about the previous case. Similarly there's a flavor conversation in the car when you talk about health. When asked about your health (as the old cop) you can say "<a bunch of ailments starting with A> and I'm just on A here", even if you pick another option, when its your turn again you can say "Now to the B's <some ailments starting with B>". This makes no sense because there's no context for that response. In fact I chose it and my friend was like "I have no idea what that means" because I didn't pick the "ailments beginning with A" answer. - You have the option to say some really offensive things to people??? I get that you don't have to pick the offensive options, but its a weird choice that the devs decided to add that stuff in there. Like you can antagonize a romani woman (they use the g word), a man who has an intellectual disability, some indian folk, etc. You can even shove a man out his wheelchair. Like I think the devs were trying way too hard to be edgy. Overall the game feels unpolished. I mean its an interesting concept, but the execution? Not great.

OK, hear me out. This isn't a great game. It's not even good. The English translation is simply terrible. The story is convoluted and incomprehensible. Consequences are harsh and unpredictable; mistakes cannot be repaired and you can ruin your chances of getting the best ending right at the beginning of the game. If you miss a critical clue it is gone forever. BUT. The design concept is fascinating. The co-op integration is wonderful. The banter is charming. The atmosphere is brilliant. The tone is almost* pitch-perfect. (*There is some racism and sexism that I could have done without.) With such a small team, I'm honestly impressed that Midnight Mood Studio made a game that is functional, beautiful, and can be played from beginning to end while maintaining the complexity and depth of its original vision. And I'm glad that even a suboptimal ending finishes on a hopeful note - my friend and I failed to close the case but the finale gave us hope of redemption. Will you love this game? Moment to moment, there is a lot of frustration and a lot of confusion. It's hard to feel a sense of control or agency as you play it, even as you make disastrous choices with severe consequences. But I cared about the characters, it was a bonding experience with my co-op partner, and I will remember the game and its vibe very fondly. So I don't know if you should spend $5 and 5 hours on this. That's a question you'll have to answer for yourself, detective.

Visual novel that has an interesting co-op mechanic, but man the writing is just terrible. I could deal with the poor translation, spelling, typos, and grammar, but the racism, misogyny, and ableism are dealbreakers. Not worth it.

Quite fun, yet the servers seem to be down/abandoned. Tried multiple times the past few months to continue my playthrough, but there's no response to trying to login and connect. Stuck at main menu.

Good idea on paper, presentation is good but sadly we encountered a desynchronization bug that completely softlocked us and forced us to start over from the beginning. Wait a bit before trying it most likely.

Antioch is currently a one-of-a-kind co-op detective game. One homie plays the old detective just one case away from retirement. The other homie plays the newbie detective. You can choose to play the game by yourself, but this game with a homie is something special. Together, you guys solve the case by deciding together where to go, who to interview, and what to say. In between, there are fun moments of back-and-forth banter. If you love the Noir genre and don't mind something that leans directly into its tropes, then this game and story is perfect for you. The aesthetic of the game is just perfect for a detective game. I think the overall mystery is a bit predictable, but the fact that there are multiple ways to get through the mystery as well as multiple endings really adds charm. I recommend the game for its unique experience. I hope to play more co-op games in the same vein as this game! However, I have a major criticism for the game and will recommend holding off on getting the game until some changes are made. The English translation gets *incredibly* rough near the end, to the point of being confusing and unclear. The resolution of the mystery is completely overshadowed by the awkward translation work. It's particularly strange because the translation in the beginning is great--witty, even. I hope that the devs will consider reworking the rougher bits of translation. I think the game will be that much better for it.

合作冒险几乎是摆设，文本翻译很垮，故事短小，逻辑差。

Had hopes for a small cooperative murder mystery with vapour wave ascetics. Unfortunately somewhat offensive dialogue and a very weird bug that mixes up the dialogue options between the players. Like the 2 playable characters are a "rookie kid" and a "just days before retirement partner" and you can clearly see the dialog lines only makes sense if they are for the other person. You can also see as the game progresses the quality of translation diminishes. So really can't recommend.

Me and my wife had the game for 3,5€ each with a 30% reduction. Good story/investigation. But the strong point of the game are the punchlines : some are really great. So a good coop game for the price. I don't recommend to play the game if you are alone.