Emio – The Smiling Man: Famicom Detective Club Review

Emio – The Smiling Man: Famicom Detective Club is a 30-year-old series revived by the Nintendo, seemingly out of nowhere. What surprised me about this game was the M rating and the involvement of Nintendo's internal team—something that had not happened before.

Emio – The Smiling Man: Famicom Detective Club's teaser also solidified it as a horror title. The initial teaser consisted of a short clip of a man in a trench coat with a paper bag that has a smiling face drawn on it. It was edited to appear all creepy—and to give credit where it is due, it was quite the unsettling clip to see out of context. However, the biggest jumpscare was the realization that the Nintendo Switch logo was tied to such a game.
 

 

Despite their family-friendly image, Nintendo has plenty of games intended for older audiences. Titles like Bayonetta, the odd Call of Duty Wii port, and horror games have all existed on Nintendo's consoles, going as far back as the GameCube. I mean, the GameCube did have Resident Evil on it, didn't it? Wolfenstein and Doom(2016) were also available on the Nintendo Switch soon after the console's release.

It feels like Emio – The Smiling Man: Famicom Detective Club is another one of Nintendo's periodic reminders that sort of appear as, "Hey, we've got M-rated games, too!" This is much appreciated because, this time, this game is easily one of the darkest games Nintendo has ever released. It’s a mix of Higurashi, Danganronpa, and Ace Attorney, and I think Nintendo has hit a home run with this one.

So, what is Emio – The Smiling Man: Famicom Detective Club all about? Let's go over the series' history first for some context. Famicom Detective Club is a series that previously had two entries all the way back in 1988, and it was only playable in the Family Computer Disk System. It's not old enough to predate Nintendo consoles, but it is pretty old.

The previous games, The Missing Heir and The Girl Who Stands Behind are visual novels with an anime art style that follow a young man solving murder mysteries in the Japanese countryside. The gameplay involves mostly reading and talking to characters in the game to find clues to solve each murder mystery.

Emio – The Smiling Man: Famicom Detective Club has a similar core to the previous entry, but it was made with Yoshio Sakamoto's guidance. Although the core is the same, it improves upon every aspect—story, characters, presentation, music, gameplay—everything about this game is better than the previous entries.
 

The story of Emio – The Smiling Man: Famicom Detective Club starts when the body of a junior in high school is found alongside the road with a paper bag over his head. The case is oddly similar to a local legend that had been going around some 18 years ago, wherein a man in a trench coat in a smiling paperback mask would offer crying girls happiness in exchange for their lives. This is extremely dark for a first-party Nintendo title, and it is very refreshing to see. Like the previous games in the series, it is up to the Utsuki Detective Agency to solve this case and discover who was behind this vile act.

As soon as I booted up the game, I felt pretty invested in what was offered. I think Emio – The Smiling Man: Famicom Detective Club does a terrific job with its pacing because it managed to keep my attention until I finished it—that is impressive, considering this is a traditional visual novel and my general lack of exposure to games of the like. I have only played the Danganronpa series, Steins; Gate, and Va-11 Hall-A before. Because of this, I ended up checking out the remakes of the Famicom Detective Club games as well.

I want to add that this game is pretty dark, even if it carries many of the light-hearted writing elements from the previous two games. A lot of the characters are silly in certain serious situations. Still, when the game wants to punch you in the gut and make you feel sad for the characters, it does a great job of doing that with the traumatic things that occur in the story, which, again, is very refreshing coming from Nintendo. It certainly doesn't feel like any dark aspect of the game was held back by any means.

Each chapter in Emio – The Smiling Man: Famicom Detective Club has a nice flow where you investigate places of interest, like the library, or talk to a local to gather information. And then, at the end of everything, you go back to your headquarters and review your information with Ayumi. It puts you in the shoes of a detective and has you following each step of an investigation, which is super engaging.

 

It consistently felt like something significant happened in every chapter towards the end. Returning to a familiar character helped round things out and let me reflect on the day as a real detective would.

The strongest element of this game has to be the characters. After playing the prequels of this game, I can say that the cast is at its best this time. There are returning characters and brand-new ones who seem to have a more involved role in the story. Ayumi feels a lot more fleshed out this time, too. She does some investigating on her own, and there are certain sections where you can play as her.

It was interesting to examine Ayumi's point of view while the main character was doing his own thing. In a sense, Ayumi and the main character feel equal, which is wonderful because she is mostly a background character in the previous titles.

The gameplay in Emio – The Smiling Man: Famicom Detective Club has also been improved significantly. My main issue with the first games is that you had to randomly guess which prompts would progress the story, which could often lead to much trial and error. While some of that is still present in this game, the prompt options are much more streamlined, and this game has a better flow. You won't be randomly guessing which option to select and hoping it progresses the story as much as you were in the other two games.

If you've seen footage of the first two games that got remade in 2021, you'll know that MAGES did a fantastic job at bringing these games to modern standards and making them look beautiful. This game looks even better. This is a lot more variety in animations and backgrounds, and characters move very naturally, which helps everything come to life. This is amplified by a fantastic OST and a great Japanese voice cast. This game is a visual and audible treat. Yes, if it wasn't mentioned already, the entire visual novel is voiced, which is so rare!

Although, there is no English dub to speak of. I prefer English dubs in my games when available, with certain exceptions. This can deter some people, but considering that a lot of visual novels don't have any voice acting, to begin with, this area is tough to complain about. However, I can't deny that it would be a nice option.

 

Emio – The Smiling Man: Famicom Detective Club lengthwise is longer than the previous entries, clocking in at about 12 hours. Now, the most contentious part of this game has got to be its ending. Sakamoto mentioned that the ending would be divisive in his short interview. I didn't know what he meant until I experienced it myself.

Without getting into spoilers, I will say that the ending didn't shock me to the core quite like some of the highlights in the mid-part of the game, but I believe it is a satisfying conclusion to this thriller mystery.

Emio – The Smiling Man: Famicom Detective Club is a classic visual novel that hooks you right in from the beginning and comes from a very unlikely developer. Despite this, I think the game fits on the Nintendo Switch. With the modernized art, better pacing, more engaging characters, and fully voiced dialogue, Emio – The Smiling Man: Famicom Detective Club is easily the best entry in the series. The game is worth checking out—even if you are hesitant to try out a visual novel, you can try out the demo that lets you experience the first three chapters. If you like horror and reading, you will enjoy this visual novel.