I will be frank: I do enjoy a good cocktail. Ideally one which mostly masks the flavour of the alcohol. I’ve tried martinis, and can’t enjoy them because the only flavour is gin (or vodka, if you’re James Bond). My favourites tend to be variously citrus or fruity; the Moscow Mule (vodka, lime and ginger beer, alas I don’t have any copper mugs) or the Cosmopolitan (vodka, Cointreau, lime and cranberry juice). In pubs and bars, mixed or shaken cocktails tend to be very expensive, with more standard poured drinks like a gin & tonic or a vodka and orange (known as a Screwdriver in the US) being more affordable, and still enjoyable. But a good bartender, affordable prices and a generously served cocktail are a rare combination indeed. Perhaps that’s part of the reason I’ve been enjoying Best Served Cold, an investigative visual novel which merges elements of bartending with elements of detective work to create a novel cocktail in its own right.
Best Served Cold is set in an alternative history version of 1920s Europe in the city of Bukovie, where although prohibition is still the law, speakeasies are tolerated by the police. You play as the bartender for The Nightcap, a new speakeasy which has opened underneath a bookshop. A woman has been murdered outside another speakeasy in the city, and the local police detective decides to enlist you into the manhunt for the killer, in part because of your own criminal past (which is alluded to but not directly spelled out). You take turns serving various different patrons who come into the bar, serving them a drink, and then questioning them about their interests and any knowledge of the case. The story is episodic, with a number of different cases to solve, although they all form part of the broader story. Likewise characters you meet in one chapter will reappear in another.
To get people to talk, you’ll need to loosen their lips. There are two ways to achieve this; serving drinks, and raising their affinity with you. Their affinity is governed by how much they like you, based on your responses to their dialogue. If you give responses they like, it’ll boost their relationship with you. Drinks on the other hand are governed by their personal tastes as well as their tolerance for booze. Some customers are lightweights who might get drunk on one of the lighter cocktails, while others require something stronger before they get tipsy. Most will enjoy a variety of cocktails on the menu but will have only one favourite drink, which will help in getting them out of a bad mood.
Thankfully you don’t have to remember any cocktail recipes, instead just perform a quick minigame where you trace the path with your mouse in the desired shape, fast enough that you don’t run out of time and ruin the drink. This is very easy once you get the hang of it, but is a nice little distraction which makes the bartending feel a bit more involved. Once the customer is reasonably sozzled, you can ask them a number of questions, about both themselves or the case at hand. These can help to build up a detailed knowledge of each character, as well as unearth clues to help solve the crime.
At the end of each day, after you’ve spoken to all the customers in the bar, you can end your shift and go back to your apartment to look at the clue bulletin board. Here, all the clues you’ve discovered can be laid out in the classic manner, allowing you to make connections between them and piece together vital information. For example, one piece of evidence on an early case was a syringe found at the scene. A man, Killian, said that his mother frequently used such syringes as she was a doctor, meaning that he had knowledge of the syringe and how they were used, providing a potential means for him to have committed the act.
Each case needs you to identify the means, motive and any defence or alibi a suspect might have. You have a set number of days in which to try and solve the case, and finally present your findings to the police to have the culprit apprehended. This all fits together in a very satisfying manner, although it can be a bit formulaic. I sometimes found myself randomly showing different clues to bar customers in the hope that one of them might create a new lead, but often the person wouldn’t know anything. Nevertheless, the writing is strong, although the game certainly could have benefited from voice acting, which would have brought the world more fully to life.
The music is a variety of smooth jazz which is in keeping with its 1920s lounge atmosphere, and the art deco visual style is likewise enjoyable. All of the menus and interfaces are nicely designed, with even sound made when saving the game being satisfying. The artwork on the characters is reasonable; a bit flat, and not as inventive as Vampire Therapist for example, but still in that Japanese visual novel style. With its mix of detective investigation and bartender duties, Best Served Cold is a memorable visual novel which is surprisingly immersive despite its lack of voice acting outside of animated cutscenes, with a nicely intriguing story which keeps you engaged.
