Where does the non demo version of the game begin?

[Oaks]

I'm playing the demo version of the game on switch and really enjoy, will definitely buy the full version when the demo is at an end.

I am quite far in the demo, doing much of the farm stuff. I know if I buy the whole version on switch, i continue from the end of the demo.

Thinking I might prefer the game on Steam. However, if I buy the full game on steam, will I need to do the whole farm level again or does it begin or have the option to begin after the demo ends?

Farm level was fun, just really don't want to do it again.

[Arkhne]

You can continue your demo save in the main game. The main menu has an option to continue from demo.

There is literally no difference between the demo and full version right up until the end of the demo. So you're also not missing anything if you do continue from your demo save.

[lilisaur]

Officially, if you're playing demo on Switch and plan to play full game on Steam, then you'd have to repeat the Furrowfield farming events again, as well as the preceding events aboard the slave ship and at Isle of Awakening. The game does not provide a built-in way to skip forward in the story, except the continue from demo option. Even on a second user account on same device it doesn't give this option even if the first account has passed the demo. If you're looking to play the full game on Steam, you're probably best biting the bullet and making the transition to Steam's Jumbo Demo as soon as possible.

Unofficially, I believe that with a jailbroken Switch you can extract the save files, move them onto PC and continue on Steam, but that's a risky method. I don't know how well it works or if it results in odd behavior (such as missing DLC.) Someone else who has actually done it would need to provide advice. A potentilly simpler solution, which has been presented on these boards in the past, is to obtain someone else's Steam save file at around the same point, load it into your Steam save directory and continue, with the understanding that you'd have their state of IOA and Furrowfield (buildings, inventory, gratitude, collectibles, etc.) upon load and that you may as a result skip over some of the events that would otherwise earn you Steam achievements.

To answer the original question, the Jumbo Demo ends immediately before the boss fight on Furrowfield. Even though you can't proceed to the boss fight in demo, you are given the option to just continue to build and play around on Furrowfield as much as you like. Some people who can't afford the full game just do that as its a pretty good demo (and much better than the original Switch and PS4 demo, which ended right before sailing to Furrowfield, giving you just the slave ship and IOA prologues.)

[Oaks]

Sorry, I didn't explain well. I'm playing the demo on the Nintendo Switch. If I buy the full game on Steam instead of Switch, is it possible to skip the farming island, or will I need to play through it again on the Steam version? Or can the demo content somehow be skipped?

[Oaks]

Originally posted by lilisaur:

Officially, if you're playing demo on Switch and plan to play full game on Steam, then you'd have to repeat the Furrowfield farming events again, as well as the preceding events aboard the slave ship and at Isle of Awakening. The game does not provide a built-in way to skip forward in the story, except the continue from demo option. Even on a second user account on same device it doesn't give this option even if the first account has passed the demo. If you're looking to play the full game on Steam, you're probably best biting the bullet and making the transition to Steam's Jumbo Demo as soon as possible.

Unofficially, I believe that with a jailbroken Switch you can extract the save files, move them onto PC and continue on Steam, but that's a risky method. I don't know how well it works or if it results in odd behavior (such as missing DLC.) Someone else who has actually done it would need to provide advice. A potentilly simpler solution, which has been presented on these boards in the past, is to obtain someone else's Steam save file at around the same point, load it into your Steam save directory and continue, with the understanding that you'd have their state of IOA and Furrowfield (buildings, inventory, gratitude, collectibles, etc.) upon load and that you may as a result skip over some of the events that would otherwise earn you Steam achievements.

To answer the original question, the Jumbo Demo ends immediately before the boss fight on Furrowfield. Even though you can't proceed to the boss fight in demo, you are given the option to just continue to build and play around on Furrowfield as much as you like. Some people who can't afford the full game just do that as its a pretty good demo (and much better than the original Switch and PS4 demo, which ended right before sailing to Furrowfield, giving you just the slave ship and IOA prologues.)

This answers the question, thanks.

[SoulCrystal]

OP, this might be late now. Hopefully you are still playing the demo on Switch and haven't purchased yet. Be warned about buying it on Switch: Performance gets unbearable the more you build. Visit other people's islands to see what I mean.

I wish I'd visit other islands during the demo. I played through the demo, bought the game, bought the DLC (separate on Switch), and played through the entire story before I decided to visit some other islands. Ouch! How disappointing.

The Switch ran it well enough through entire story. There was some choppiness during auto-saves in the latter half, but it was bearable. Then I reached post-story with the intention of continuing to build my island only to have the performance drop all-too-soon and become frustratingly unplayable. Hard to keep building and having fun when it is all laggy.

Now I'm waiting for a sale on Steam to buy the game again. Played through the demo and visited a few islands to confirm performance.

Hope this saves you time/money!

[lilisaur]

Switch is probably worst version. It has the highest base price and you have to pay for the Season Pass DLC so its still $70+ a few years later. It provides the fewest non-Season Pass DLC options (PS4 gains a slight edge as its offers two additional sets via PS Store.) Switch has the hardest method to backup and restore save states. And as SoulCrystal stated its hardware is barely able to cope with the game (to the point that if DQB3 comes to Switch and isn't cloud-based, it means the PS5 and PC versions will obviously be much less impressive than they could have been.) It only gains the edge in portability (which Steam Deck could undermine.)

Certain island setups can still stall the PS4, and could probably stall PC version though the ability to add more powerful hardware can overcome it and it has options to scaled down or turn off effects via the Config.exe program. Generally its the flattening of mountains that cause lagginess - as the mountains hep reduce draw distance. Some decorations are also more taxing than others (Splashing Stones in waterfalls for example, which add both animation and nearby sound effects) - too many of them could introduce lag.

I rather wish we could do more than just 'Like' islands - I wish we could optionally rate them on features such as attractiveness, fun, originality, and performance.

[Oaks]

Good insights, much appreciated.

[Oaks]

Grabbed the game on steam, glad I did. Graphics look much better on Steam as well.
Love my Switch, especially the portability and exclusives, but have found usually ports of games are best played on other platforms.