Best Served Cold

Lovely game! 10/10!

i have only finished the chapter 0 so far (which is like the first case) and i really like it. im definetly playing the whole game. there are many characters and if you make the drinks wrong, there are actual consequences of the customers not wanting to talk or not liking you, which may make you not get a clue that would really help.

And yet again here I am complaining that Steam has no option to make neutral reviews - as much as I enjoyed Best Served Cold, many aspects seem underbaked. 1. The presentation. No one will deny that the game looks amazing - the backgrounds, the drinks, the people. The only part I didn't appreciate are smiling sprites for Bjorn and Lawrence (I understand they need to show them smiling under their moustache, but it's just too wide. Look at Vincent, that's how it's done). The animated segments are minimalistic, yet pleasant and fit the tone (Case 3 intro is done dirty though - a wasted opportunity to make the culprit figure bulkier. And why are there two bodies at the steel mill if only one person got killed there? And the whistling never stops...). The music is fine, but when you have, like, six tracks for the entire game, you just take your headphones off not to bother. 2. Characters. Half of the comments are people simping for Peter and I can clearly see why. Most characters here are very enjoyable or at least easy to understand. Of course, some have more time and love put into them than others - my personal favorites (outside of the obvious leads) would me Maria and Bjorn: both go for a lot of struggle and have enough time for us to see it. And also Ilya - she is very simple, but how can you not like this sweetheart? Not everyone is done justice though - Lawrence is treated as a joke, and Efia is as interesting as an empty cardboard box. 3. The world around us. Well, it is basically Europe, and despite the year being 1929, it heavily leans to today's Europe - continuous talks about xenophobia, a potential NATO vs. Russia war and a decent amount of LGBT+ reps. Speaking of the last, I saw quite some negativity here, but I honestly think they are done the right way, only bringing the aspect when relevant. The main example is Reece, the only non-binary person in the game, who never brings it, instead talking about daggers, vampires and whatever you asked. 4. The cases. They are... somewhat interesting. Many are pretty easy to guess (especially Case 2), but you still want to dig into stuff just to learn more about the people around. Case 4 is the best example, as you might[spoiler]even sympathise with the culprit and wish her the best of luck[/spoiler]. The only case I disliked is Case 0, as I just can't get the motive.[spoiler]Like, yeah, Elliot is sexist and doesn't like women being able to fight or something, but becoming a serial killer because of it? And why blondes only?[/spoiler] 5. The mechanics. This is where the game falls short by... well, being a video game. It is extremely repetitive with the mixing, and people's reaction to clues has no consequinces. Speaking of clues, you can submit your case, but if you don't have something on the board, you will fail cause having not enough evidence even if it's obvious. Case 3 is the worst here -[spoiler]I got the culprit, the motive and the way of killing, but failed because of that unsufferable priest cracking sarcastic jokes instead of providing an alibi to an innocent man. May the Goddess punish you for that.[/spoiler]The mechanics of getting clues in certain conditions seem underbaked as well because of barely being used after Sandra explaining it to you like to a baby. So after all... I do think the positives overwhelm the negatives. If you're into reading cases and solving stuff, I can recommend this game, but don't expect a brilliant expierence from it.