Moses & Plato - Last Train to Clawville immediately gained my attention from the premise: A murder mystery aboard a train? I love these types of things - Ace Attorney is one of my favorite franchises and this game definitely gave me those vibes.
Moses and his partner Plato are police detectives whose task is to protect the ambassador from the fictional country Stowonia as he embarks on a train ride to some peace negotiations. The game starts with the two outside the train station waiting for the Clawville Express. As they wait, the various other passengers arrive and the player gets the chance to interact with them by clicking on them and striking up conversations. Players can also check out the environment and visit Moses’ mental Mind Garden, where they can review clues, characters and lore. I like the idea of being able to go back over notes at times and double checking what details might be important. An inventory also exists where players can examine items and even use them on other characters or the environment. The demo sadly doesn’t utilize this but I appreciate it being an option and something I could see being very useful down the line.
After a while of chatting with characters, it's time to board the train, which itself is divided into different cars. The time mechanic is shown here as taking specific options when interacting with the other passengers may cause time to pass. Moses’ has a pocket watch to help players keep track of how much time they have before the next key event, which progresses the plot. There’s plenty of time to do all the interactions the demo has but I’d be curious to see how this plays out in the full game where managing your time might become increasingly important. Beyond that, players can engage Detective Moses’ animal senses to observe different aspects of the environment. Choosing between hearing, sight and smell highlights different elements depending on the mode. Going into hearing mode for example, has Moses’ listening to a character's heartbeat. Choosing smell mode can highlight particular odors like a unique plant or perfume. The final feature the demo shows off is interrogation mode, where players can ask a passenger questions and attempt to ascertain whether they’re being honest or not, potentially revealing more details and clues. Shortly after completing this is where the demo ends with a “to be continued”.
I ultimately really enjoyed my time with this game. The visuals are stunning, with the striking backgrounds and character designs having that hand drawn aesthetic, which I absolutely love. The voice acting is really good as the VAs do an excellent job of bringing the various passengers to life. I enjoyed Moses’ and Plattos Holmes and Watson dynamic and am excited to see more and where their relationship goes in the full version. Outside of a couple minor odd things like a codex entry having art obscure part of the text, the game is really solid and I had no issues playing this demo or trying out the various mechanics. No release date has been announced as of this writing, but I’m keeping my eye out. This is one train ride I don’t want to miss. Check out the link below if you want to try the demo for yourself: Moses & Plato: Last Train to Clawville
Preview Written by Brandon B, Independent writer for Gaming Furever
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Demo Playthrough Stream by Daxel:
