I'll save full thoughts on this story for when I finally get around to the re-remake, since there are some odds and ends that I'm curious to see how they were handled in the official localization. The version I played through was largely a very professional-grade translation, but there are a couple moments and word choices that remind me that this is a fan effort (from 20 years ago, no less). Also I'd hope that bit (which I know is in the original) where you're trying to pull a memo out of the dead girl's breast pocket and the police officer ribs you about trying to cop a feel is exorcised. There's shock value in a sex joke from straight-laced Nintendo, and then there's just being gross. For the longest time, there was a good deal to Famicom Detective Club Part II that stood out to me as something Nintendo of America would never ever go for, particularly with its wonderfully gruesome climax - but they ultimately did! Definitely wanna see how much of that was held over.
For now, I'll at least say that while this is a considerable improvement over "The Missing Heir", it's still susceptible to a lot of the pratfalls of its predecessor's gameplay - stuff like selecting the same menu prompts over and over to get new information, running around different areas blindly trying menu prompts until you figure out what you're supposed to do, etc. This, I know, is something I will have to contend with in the remake, too - it was in "The Missing Heir", and it's pretty thoroughly baked into how this game knows to tell its story. I think I'm a bit more accepting of these things here, since while it was still antiquated as an element of mid-Famicom-era gameplay limitations, it feels less out of place in the context of a Super Famicom title than in a Switch title.
But, um, yeah. Those things aside, this is actually quite excellent. Honestly, this rating could be a little low, since even on my second run through the fan translation, I had a mostly wonderful time. International Nintendo fans care about Famicom Detective Club for that inaccurate, out-of-context trophy for Ayumi Tachibana in Smash Bros., but she's highlighted in Smash Bros. because her origin [story] game really is that compelling.
For now, I'll at least say that while this is a considerable improvement over "The Missing Heir", it's still susceptible to a lot of the pratfalls of its predecessor's gameplay - stuff like selecting the same menu prompts over and over to get new information, running around different areas blindly trying menu prompts until you figure out what you're supposed to do, etc. This, I know, is something I will have to contend with in the remake, too - it was in "The Missing Heir", and it's pretty thoroughly baked into how this game knows to tell its story. I think I'm a bit more accepting of these things here, since while it was still antiquated as an element of mid-Famicom-era gameplay limitations, it feels less out of place in the context of a Super Famicom title than in a Switch title.
But, um, yeah. Those things aside, this is actually quite excellent. Honestly, this rating could be a little low, since even on my second run through the fan translation, I had a mostly wonderful time. International Nintendo fans care about Famicom Detective Club for that inaccurate, out-of-context trophy for Ayumi Tachibana in Smash Bros., but she's highlighted in Smash Bros. because her origin [story] game really is that compelling.