Demo Review: Twin Coves

Twin Coves is a paranormal mystery visual novel in development by Wisteria Games. When your family friend, Gideon, passes away, you’re left running his private investigation business. Choose your name and pronouns before embarking on a journey to solve a shocking murder. 

Twin Coves is currently running a campaign on Kickstarter until October 30th. 

Twin Coves starts with a customization screen that allows for you to choose your player avatar, name, and pronoun. Though the option to create your own avatar is locked in the demo, the selection screen is really nice. When selecting your player character, you’re able to click on their image as if they’re standing in a criminal lineup. 

The game’s entire UI, choice boxes included, fits the theme of the game quite well. The textbox and menus provide a creative design that is also easily readable and looks nice on the screen with the game’s other art. I was especially impressed with the hover effect for choice boxes! The animation, though subtle, makes the game feel more alive. 

Once you choose your character, you’re able to start the game. Players find themselves in the midst of heartbreak as they deal with the loss of their beloved family friend and roommate, Gideon, a werewolf private investigator. The player character, named Morgan by default, has a few secrets that aren’t told to the player right away—some not even touched upon in the demo at all. This kind of storytelling is gripping—unraveling a multilayered mystery. As the story progresses, aside from meeting new characters and solving a murder, we’re finding out about who we play as. 

I’d like to point out the diversity in love interests that Wisteria Games presents us with. We’re not getting the same stale and overused designs that we tend to see in many games (and other forms of media alike!). The game’s site confirms that every character is bisexual or pansexual in canon, so aside from choosing your own pronouns, you’ll also be able to feel comfortable when choosing who to romance. 

Twin Coves is full of supernatural beings and humans alike. Some characters are from Morgan’s past, are friends of Gideon’s, or are entirely new to Morgan. Regardless of how he meets them, each character has compelling and unique dialogue. I found myself invested in learning more about these hunky love interests and their connection to the mysterious town of Twin Coves. 

The sprites have lively and believable designs. I especially love the outfit choices because they’re not only unique to each character’s personality, but are also things that I’d see people actually wearing. There are also gorgeous CGs, like one we see fairly early on of Cassidy sitting at a diner table. The full game is supposed to have 25+, so players will be spoiled with amazing art!

The Verdict: 

The demo of Twin Coves is a great representation of what Wisteria Games is capable of making. With an engaging story full of mystery and intrigue, you’re bound to be on the edge of your seat. Unfortunately, we’ll have to wait for the full version to find out what’s really happening in Twin Coves!

You can play the demo of Twin Coves yourself on itch.io. You can back the game on Kickstarter until October 30th.