First announced in the Fall and featured in Nintendo’s December’s Indie World presentation, Murder by Numbers is scheduled for release on March 5th, 2020 on Nintendo Switch. The game is directed by Ed Fear, who most recently worked on The Swords of Ditto, and has character designs from Hato Mao (who is most famous for the pigeon dating simulator Hatoful Boyfriend). Another treat for fans is that the music composition is done by Masakazu Sugimori, who has done many of the soundtracks for previous Phoenix Wright games.
The story is set in Los Angeles in the mid-’90s and follows an actress named Honor Mizrah as she plays a detective on television. The usual murder happens (to her boss) and she gets wrapped up into this story of deduction, accusations, and plenty of objections.
The visual novel’s game like mashup provides an upbeat, fun style of mystery and Picross-Esque puzzles to the mix as Honor does some real-life investigating with the help of a robot partner named SCOUT. From there, the story is played out across the TV studio, numerous award shows, and the drag clubs of LA.
It might not be a story with the lovable Phoenix Wright at the helm, but with the green light from Mediatonic and the creative minds working behind this non-canon game, fans can rest assured that their detective solving universe is in good hands.
Murder by Numbers will also be available on Steam on March 6th. The game itself will cost $14.99USD and £11.99. It will be available for preorder on February 20th, along with a 10% discount. Murder by Numbers will also be discounted on both platforms the week after its release.
Below shows the game’s animated intro, along with an incredibly catchy tune that is sure to get stuck in player’s heads days after they finish the story.