Detective shows have always been popular, from anime series like Detective Conan to Western shows like CSI or Law. If you’re someone who likes solving mysteries, there are plenty of detective games to choose from. However, it can be difficult to find a game that has all the right elements: comedy, mystery, challenge, murder, and a little bit of pizzazz. Toge Productions and The Wild Gentlemen’s upcoming investigative adventure game, Moses & Plato Last Train To Clawville, seems to tick all the boxes.

“We Have A Job To Do”

In this game, you play as Detective Moses Wildflower, a composed fox detective accompanied by his loyal companion and friend, a frizzy bobcat named Plato Palladias. You are tasked with protecting the Ambassador of Astowonia and his daughter. However, things take a dark turn when the ambassador is killed on the Clawville Express, and you become the main suspect. Your mission is to find the real killer before the train reaches its final destination, where a peace treaty between the colonial empire of Clawville and the United Republic of Stowonia will be signed.

As with any investigative game, you’ll need to gather clues and interrogate all suspects onboard the train. However, there’s a twist – you have to race against time, and every action you take will affect the time progression. It’s crucial to gather all the evidence before it’s too late. As a sly fox detective, you have the ability to use your animal instincts to sniff out clues, eavesdrop on conversations, and even take notes of a person/animal’s physical demeanour.

All the information you collect will be stored in a special “Mind Garden” of Detective Moses, which is a virtual space for contemplation and analysis. You can review the clues and information you have collected and connect the dots to solve the case.

Throughout the demo, you will spend most of your time clicking through conversations and picking up bits and pieces of information from passengers. Plato helps progress the story, although his comments are mostly sarcastic towards anyone but he does lighten up the mood with the conversations. Think of Sherlock Holmes and Watson but with a less socially awkward Sherlock and a grumpy Watson.

Players will meet eight characters in the demo, with a total of 12 characters in the full game (that’s a lot!). Almost towards the end of the demo, you’ll get to do an interrogation round with a suspect where you ask questions and deduce if the person is telling the truth or lying. Once done, you’ll get a 5-star rating system based on your detective skills.

Adventure Of A Lifetime

One of the game’s most intriguing aspects is the voice acting and the characters’ intricate backstories. The voice acting for all the characters is impressive, leaving a lasting impression with their accents, intonation, and delivery as if you were watching a detective series. The game spares nothing to provide a premium experience of classic detective movies/series but targets modern audiences. If the game were to be made into an animated series, I’d be an enthusiastic fan.

Apart from that, there’s not much noteworthy about the gameplay execution. However, it’s still early to judge the game’s overall quality since it’s in its early stages. Hopefully, in the full game, there will be various activities to do instead of heavily relying on finding clues and interrogating people. Perhaps some puzzles or brain teasers to make it more engaging for players to invest their time. As of now, the half-hour demo shows that it’s on the right path to becoming one of the top murder mystery games this year.

Moses & Plato Last Train To Clawville demo is now available for PC via Steam.