Since MeinMMO editor Lydia played the demo of The Ebbing – A Coastal Tale (Steam), she wants more. Because this detective RPG combines investigative work with Pen&Paper elements and comes with humor and a special twist.
In The Ebbing – A Coastal Tale, you will be taken to the North Sea town of Havstedt in 1870. You actually want to vacation there, but these plans are disturbed by a murder. To make matters worse, you are also the main suspect. It is therefore in your own interest to find the real culprit and prove your innocence.
During the investigations, you should be able to move freely through Havstedt in third-person. You collect clues by questioning locals and using your “detective sense” to discover hidden evidence.
Additionally, your character has various skills that you can level up to pass skill checks. There are also supposed to be crafting and stealth elements. You can get your own impression here in the trailer. A demo is also available on Steam. However, the release date is still unknown.
Historical RPG with North German Charm
I had the opportunity to try out The Ebbing at Polaris, and the detective RPG was actually one of my highlights of the Hamburg gaming event. And that, even though the version available there was almost more of a “proof of concept” than a proper demo.
To understand why I am so excited about The Ebbing, one should probably know a few things about me: I love detective stories, in any form. Whether as a point-and-click game, Netflix series, or book, I always prefer to pick up crime stories.
Bonus points are also given for the setting in the 19th century, as I have a weakness for that too. As a survival newbie, I am really looking forward to checking out the upcoming Nightingale, because I really like the “gaslamp fantasy” inspired by Victorian England.
But instead of playing in 19th century London, which is often used as a setting, The Ebbing takes place in a German port town, and that is exactly the next aspect that I liked. Because the game is supposed to be fully voiced at release – and in the German voiceover in Low German.
With a background in linguistics and as a general language nerd, I think that’s just great. To return to an earlier point, crime stories in dialects have a special place in my heart.
Here, the predecessor, A Bavarian Tale – Totgeschwiegen, stood out. As the name suggests, it took place in rural Bavaria and was voiced in the German language version in Bavarian dialect. My colleague Benedict Grothaus had already mentioned it at gamescom 2022.
Using the diverse dialects of the German language for an atmospheric gaming experience is just a cool idea. I, who otherwise belong to those annoying people who generally reject German dubbing, will probably play in German for once, contrary to my habits.
I know it’s still too early to get excited about The Ebbing, and for some, it may not look like much in its current state. But the game has definitely piqued my interest with its first puzzles, atmosphere, and humor.
When I tried to kick down a door in the demo and the skill check failed, I wasn’t prepared for how badly it could go. Not only did I smash a broken door in the face of an unsuspecting child, but I also started a fire. But it was funny somehow.
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In addition, Active Fungus is a German studio, and since 2023 has not been a great year for local game studios (I’m looking at you, Daedalic and Mimimi), it’s nice to see that there are still creative minds here who are passionately involved.
As I learned in a conversation on-site, the demo version actually featured the family of one of the developers.
However, everything is supposed to be professionally voiced for the full version, as I was assured. That’s not so easy, as even at this stage of development, they have about 50 characters to voice. Finding that many voice actors who also speak Low German is quite a challenge.
For my part, I will certainly follow the project with great interest. However, since a release is probably still a long way off, I will have to make do with “A Bavarian Tale” for now. That, in turn, is supposed to get a performance upgrade and an upgrade to Unreal Engine 5.3 this October (via Steam).
Also, MeinMMO demon Cortyn checked out a game from German production. Together with three unsuspecting friends, he went into the horror game Demonic Episode, in which players take on the role of content creators and explore “lost places”. You can read how that went here:
Demonic Episode: Horror game from Germany starts on Steam – But what is it worth?
