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1. Walkthrough

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fisham33 edited this page Sep 10, 2026 · 2 revisions

Spoiler warning!

Optional interactions will generally result in a piece of evidence - so while you don't need to do them to beat the game, to have a chance at getting a better score at the end (as well as viewing all content within the game), you probably should.

Act 1

  1. When you start the game, you'll probably want to go to the options menu and turn on autorunning.
  2. Catch a pokemon - your options are Magnezone (west), Stoutland (central) or Cramorant (east). Stoutland is probably the best to use.
  3. Walk back to where you started and then slightly south to the dock. After the cutscene, walk into the dock and talk to Natsue (blue dress NPC) to continue. The rest of the NPCs add some flavour but nothing meaningful.
  4. Once inside, you can talk to the NPCs to learn a little about them - some to the east, some in the center, but you need to walk to the west to trigger the next cutscene.
  5. Leave via the western exit to trigger the next cutscene. Afterwards, in the deck area, you can battle Ichiro (north) and Tatsuo (south) - optional but recommended.
  6. Re-enter the main room. You can optionally challenge Mariko (purple NPC) and Kitaro in the center and eastern part of the room respectively. You can also speak to Suzuki (old man) in the east and answer a question for a piece of evidence (answer: Gozo sponsored Ichiro's education).
  7. Speak to Franziska in your cabin. It is the south-east most room (near the dining area) & the only room open to you at this point. She will recap the family & their relations, and then ask you if you want to have dinner (progressing to the next cutscene).
  8. Gozo hasn't joined for dinner yet, so after the cutscene, you need to talk to the NPCs in the dining room. You need to talk to 5 unique NPCs to trigger the next cutscene.
  9. You'll be moved to a new map. Yes, it is intended for the map to display partially black initially - it's intended to show a room that you can't see inside yet. Progress through the cutscene to learn about the murder. Once the cutscene ends, you will be able to inspect the room and learn more/uncover evidence:
    1. If you have Magnezone, you'll be able to use it to detect if a knife is in the room. If you don't have Magnezone, you can still determine if there's a knife in the room by inspecting the couch, in the bin, and the top-right side of the bed.
    2. Press A on the white item on the western side to document the **garland **evidence item.
    3. Press A on the south side of the mat (directly above Franziska) for the **breadcrumbs **evidence item.
    4. Interacting with Gozo, the blood stains etc. will provide other flavour - but these are not evidence items.
    5. The NPCs all have something interesting to say, but they don't provide any evidence/are optional.
  10. Once you're done, talk to Franziska to trigger the 'crime reconstruction'. This phase doesn't affect your overall performance, but it is a simpler version of the final accusation scene. The answers are below - but you have 2 chances to input the right response, so feel free to get one wrong and see Franziska tell you you're stupid:
    1. Nobody did
    2. In the doorway
    3. Gozo turned it himself
  11. Mariko/Suzuki tell you that Takeshi's family has a history with Gozo. The cutscene will move to the Hold area where Suzuki explains Gozo's will suggests Natsue will inherit the family company, which triggers a short fight between Akie and Tatsuo. Franziska debriefs with the player, asking some questions. There are no second chances here, and unlike the earlier reconstruction getting the first two answers right awards a piece of evidence (Takeshi's History and Overheard Row). The answers are:
    1. Takeshi's family name is Zaiki
    2. His name
    3. Natsue
    4. It only opens from out here
  12. You can open the evidence menu and view what you've collected so far, or make a deduction (combining two related evidence items together to make a 'better' evidence item). Deductions are important as they are worth more points for the endgame accusation scene, so always try to make deductions from your evidence.
    1. Press Start > Logic to open the menu. The 'free' deduction you're guaranteed to have available at this point is Requested Meeting + Dropped Flower. Select both of these, press start, and you'll create a new evidence item called Final Meeting.
    2. Other deductions you should be able to make are Tuition Funds + Sponsorship = Withdrawn Funds; Breadcrumbs + Dark Residue (Stoutland only) = Artist at the Door.

Act 2

  1. This is another free investigation phase.
    1. Start by talking to the NPCs in the dining room - Kitaro will challenge you to a battle. NOTE: prior to version 1.0.2, this fight is poorly tuned and you need the AI to be stupid to win. If you win, this will unlock a useful piece of evidence.
    2. Walk towards the western end of the room. Press A on the top row, 3rd door from the right for a brief comment from Akie (entirely optional), otherwise talk to Franziska at the far-left side of the room to trigger the next cutscene. The only evidence to capture here is what happens when you win the Kitaro battle.
  2. Go outside after you hear the noises, and then inspect the scene.
    1. A partially hidden piece of evidence exists on the bottom-right hand corner. If you have Cramorant, you can press A on the 'sack' to have it fetch the bloody cloth evidence item.
    2. You can view some flavour text in the 'sack' object near the south side of the entrance - two pieces of pipe mostly hidden under the sack - not evidence.
    3. Each of the NPCs has a comment they can offer - no evidence however.
  3. Talk to Franziska when you're done - you'll have another crime scene reconstruction quiz. Answers are below (you have two chances to input the right response like the earlier question, so feel free to initially answer something else):
    1. Something he was already disposing of
    2. The knife that killed Gozo (this dialogue is slightly different if you used Cramorant to fetch the bloody rag)
    3. It was already lying on this deck (again, this dialogue is slightly different if you had beaten Tatsuo in the earlier battle)
    4. He was nearby
  4. The group will move back to the Hold, have a conversation, and then everyone will move to the dining room again. The player will have another opportunity for exploration.
    1. Similarly to the initial dining room scene, you only have a limited number of interactions with the NPCs. You can't miss anything important here, but the conversations are generally useful context.
    2. The only NPC that's recommended to talk to is Natsue, who will result in another piece of evidence if you answer the 'Mariko says he had help' option.
    3. After two conversations, Ichiro will leave the room. After seven total conversations (note: some NPCs will have multiple things to say, so they count multiple times if you talk to them again), you'll decide you need to find Ichiro.
  5. Another short cutscene will play, resulting in the player needing to run to the bathroom to find Ichiro. The bathroom is at the far-left of the room, on the bottom row of rooms. Just keep walking to the left until you see Franziska. Note: if you have Magnezone, you'll be able to increase your 'flash' viewing radius.
  6. Once in the bathroom, walk south to find Ichiro. Talking to him will fix the lights. There are some evidence items in this room:
    1. Talk to Ichiro to document the Total Darkness, Injured Leg, and No Defence evidence.
    2. Interact with the knife near Ichiro for the Bathroom Knife evidence.
    3. Talk to Franziska to finish this cutscene.
  7. You'll move to the electrical room to inspect the breaker unit. There are a couple of evidence items in the area:
    1. Press A on the breaker unit (the box in front of where you are standing) for Scorched Panel evidence item.
    2. Press A on the bin for the Broken latch evidence item.
    3. Leave the room and walk directly up to the poster on the wall for the Adjoining Hold evidence item.
    4. Walk to OUTSIDE of the storage room area where Takeshi was held, without going inside (so you're standing on the doormat). Press A here for the Open Storage Door evidence item.

Act 3

  1. Walk upstairs - all NPCs are sitting in the dining room. This is the final free investigation phase:
    1. You can talk to the NPCs in the dining room, but they won't give any evidence.
    2. Each room is now unlocked. Start by visiting Ichiro's room (top-right room, opposite your room). Inspect the sketchbook & the bag at the top of the room for the Sketchbook (very important!) and Bread Eraser evidence respectively.
    3. Left of Ichiro's room is Takeshi/Natsue's room. Press A on the portrait to document the Family Picture evidence item.
    4. Left of Takeshi/Natsue's room is Akie/Tatsuo's room. Press A on the cabinet for the big reveal - Takeshi's hiding place. Progress through the prompts for now.
    5. Left of Akie/Tatsuo's room is Gozo's room. There is no new evidence here.
    6. The outside deck & bathroom are available if you missed any evidence there earlier.
    7. South of Gozo's room is Joji's room. Inspect the bag for the Missing Knives evidence item.
    8. Right of Joji's room is Mariko's room - there's a flavour item here on the table, but it's empty otherwise.
    9. Right of Mariko's room is Kitaro's room - again, nothing very important here, but there's a short note providing some more flavour.
    10. There's nothing of note in Edgeworth/Franziska's room.
    11. If you talk to Suzuki and you discovered the Sketchbook evidence in Ichiro's room, you can unlock the secret conversation topic 'Natsue's secret suitor' to unlock the Refused Suitor evidence item.
  2. At this point, you are done with investigation. Talk to Franziska to trigger the end of the game. THIS IS YOUR LAST OPPORTUNITY TO MAKE ANY DEDUCTIONS - VERY IMPORTANT! You will likely also want to save here (the game will prompt you) in case you want to experiment with other endings.

How the accusation is scored

The accusation is comprised of four questions:

  1. Gozo - who killed him and why
  2. Tatsuo - how he died
  3. The lights - what caused the blackout
  4. Ichiro - the attack in the bathroom

For each question you may submit up to four pieces of evidence, but only evidence relevant to that question appears in the list.

Every item is worth points only if it implicates the person you actually named.

Point values:

  • 2 points: plain evidence collected from the world or a conversation
  • 5 points: A one-step deduction
  • 13 points: A 'final' deduction (Twin Refusal, Sketched Discharge, Self-Inflicted)
  • 0 points: neutral evidence (Breadcrumbs, Two Sounds, Knives Counted, etc.), also evidence implicating the person you didn't name (plus a lecture from Franziska!)

Your score determines the ending you get:

Ending Requirements
Perfect Named Ichiro, 43+ points, and all three final deductions presented
Good Named Ichiro, 27+ points, and at least one deduction of any kind presented
Bad** Named Ichiro, anything less than the above
Worst Named Takeshi, 24+ points
Worst (refused) Named Takeshi, under 24 points

MAJOR SPOILERS FROM HERE:

Endings

Prerequisites for the Perfect ending Four things are permanently missable (and will make the perfect ending impossible):

  • Answer Suzuki correctly in step 6 ("Gozo sponsored Ichiro's education"). Without Sponsorship there is no Withdrawn Funds, therefore no Twin Refusal.
  • Win the battle against Ichiro in step 5. Losing counts as a defeat and he will not battle you again, costing you Smeargle's Moves, therefore Copied Discharge and Sketched Discharge.
  • Win the battle against Kitaro on the deck. This gives you Odd Battle, the other half of Copied Discharge.
  • Inspect the sketchbook in Ichiro's room in step 20.ii, then talk to Suzuki to unlock the Refused Suitor topic which leads to Unrequited Love.

Perfect ending

Accuse Ichiro, then submit:

  1. Gozo: Twin Refusal, Unrequited Love, Withdrawn Funds, Artist at the Door (28 points)
  2. Tatsuo: Silenced Witness, Hidden Pipe (7 points)
  3. The lights: Sketched Discharge, Copied Discharge, Panel Struck, Smeargle's Moves (25 points)
  4. Ichiro: Self-Inflicted, Impossible Aim, Left Behind, No Defence (25 points)

The minimum that still qualifies is the three final deductions plus any two other Ichiro items, but there is no reason to hold anything back.

You will get a longer confession scene from Ichiro, and Takeshi emerges to tell Natsue the whole truth about his plans.

Good ending

Accuse Ichiro, present a solid case, but don't present all three final deductions. The cleanest way to see it is to submit the basic deductions:

  1. Gozo: Unrequited Love, Withdrawn Funds, Artist at the Door (15 points)
  2. Tatsuo: Silenced Witness (5 points)
  3. The lights: Copied Discharge, Panel Struck (10 points)
  4. Ichiro: Impossible Aim, Left Behind (10 points)

Presenting two of the three final deductions and nothing else also results in this outcome.

Ichiro still confesses, but he doesn't explain. If you presented Twin Refusal he denies the motive out loud - if you did not, he offers the family a lesser motive (the money) that they can accept - but the truth is never revealed.

Bad ending

Accuse Ichiro and present only raw ('un-deduced') evidence. e.g.

  1. Gozo: Sketchbook, Refused Suitor, Tuition Funds, Sponsorship (8 points)
  2. Tatsuo: Hidden Pipe (2 points)
  3. The lights: Smeargle's Moves, Odd Battle (4 points)
  4. Ichiro: No Defence (2 points)

Because no deduction was presented, this is the Bad ending regardless of the total. The fastest way to see it is to submit nothing at all in every question.

There are some variants of the scene - Ichiro will dismantle your case himself depending on the evidence you presented. If you presented any crumb evidence (Bread Eraser or Artist at the Door) he takes the crumbs apart specifically, otherwise he gives a general "anyone could have tracked that in" rebuttal.

Separately, if you hold/don't present the Sketchbook, Unrequited Love or Twin Refusal in your evidence menu - you get a near-miss scene where you raise the sketchbook anyway and almost break him. Without any of those three, you hit a wall instead. (yes it's probably too complex)

Worst ending

Accuse Takeshi and make a good case against him scoring 24 points or more:

  1. Gozo: Final Meeting, Takeshi's Revenge, Requested Meeting, Takeshi's History (14 points)
  2. Tatsuo: Accomplice Theory, An Accomplice (4 points)
  3. The lights: Nearest Hand, Adjoining Hold, Open Storage Door (9 points)
  4. Ichiro: Accomplice Theory, An Accomplice (4 points)

The room believes you. Takeshi is taken off the ship and is charged with both murders, while Ichiro walks free.

Worst (refused) ending

Accuse Takeshi and fail to support it (i.e. get under 24 points). The simplest method is to submit nothing in all four questions.

The case collapses. Nobody is taken away, and the ending is bleak.

After the ending

All five endings run the credits and then a case file summary showing evidence recovered, deductions presented, your final score, who you named, and a verdict line (Airtight case / Case proven / Case unproven / Wrong suspect / Case refused). If you saved at step 21, you can reload and try a different accusation without replaying the investigation.

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