The Famicom Detective Club duology of remakes on Nintendo Switch instantly gripped me, as a fan of visual novels and mystery titles. When Nintendo revealed a third, original title in the series for the Switch, I couldn’t be more elated. It turns out Emio – The Smiling Man: Famicom Detective Club is narrowly my favorite in the series and possibly the darkest game Nintendo has ever made.
Emio – The Smiling Man involves an immediately compelling mystery about a student who is found dead with a paper bag over his head. On the front, a smiley face is drawn on it. This initial mystery only gets deeper, as it connects to an urban legend and previous murder case. Emio, the titular creepy paper bag-wearing killer, is horrifying in all the right ways from the start.
The infrequent horror scenes focusing on Emio put this title more in line tonally with The Girl Who Stands Behind. However, Emio – The Smiling Man stands on its own as one of the most unique games in Nintendo’s history. Its general gameplay will be familiar to existing fans of Famicom Detective Club or point-and-click adventures. Fortunately for newcomers, I did find the puzzle mechanics more straightforward, yet engaging, than ones in the past two titles.
Every scene in Emio – The Smiling Man: Famicom Detective Club boils down to a few key interactions. You think, talk, engage, and examine your way to the next part of the story. Most of the game involves using these key features to learn new details about the case as you question various witnesses and notable figures. Those characters look better than ever, expanding upon the beautifully detailed designs from the remakes with even sharper visuals and some of the most active animations I’ve seen from a visual novel or adventure game.
While the investigations may sound boring or a bit too simple from a glance, they work like a puzzle. In one instance, you may need to ask about the same topic a few times before you unlock a new question. You might have to examine the environment to learn about a new subject to talk about. Eventually, these portions lead to crucial review sequences near the end of each chapter. They act like tests of your knowledge about certain events.
The gameplay might be linear, but Emio – The Smiling Man makes up for that with a new addition. Ayumi, the main character’s sidekick and friend from past games, takes the role of the secondary playable protagonist for a portion of the experience. This perspective shift changes up the usual formula from the past two games in a significant way. You still play as the main character who you can name, but Ayumi has a slightly different investigative style. After all, she is able to question and interact with characters the protagonist is unable to meet. In addition, she has a much more gentle and calm approach. This idea leads to some of the game’s more heartwarming and ground-breaking scenes.
Those few lighter moments are a welcome respite, given the heavy content in Emio – The Smiling Man. On its own, it already sounds like a pretty disturbing murder mystery. This is especially apparent when you take into account the original three murders of girls 18 years prior to the start of the game. However, it doesn’t stop there.
Without giving too much away, some of the story elements and scenes the plot delved into shocked me. Emio – The Smiling Man: Famicom Detective Club is far and away the darkest game I’ve ever played from Nintendo. It deals with some plot points that even the past two games didn’t come close to addressing. There are some story beats, particularly towards the end, that I found difficult to experience.
I appreciate the developer going as far as it did with the Emio – The Smiling Man plot. It can be quite twisted at times, but it is all the more compelling because of this realism. That said, there are some occasional problems with pacing. For one, it overall feels just a tad bit shorter than I would have liked. In addition, it wraps up in a fascinatingly unique way that I can’t get into here, but I imagine will be received in a mixed manner. The chapters also feel quite short, especially early on. This leads to a couple of twists, key characters, and plot devices feeling like they needed a bit more time to cook.
Even with the pacing problems, Emio – The Smiling Man: Famicom Detective Club is the best entry in the series yet. The puzzle-like investigative gameplay is straightforward, doing just enough to challenge the player without overwhelming or being too obscure. It all complements well with the excellent but a bit unique storytelling. This tale is not for every Switch player, being a bit too dark at times, but it is highly rewarding for those it appeals to.
Emio – The Smiling Man: Famicom Detective Club releases for the Nintendo Switch on August 29, 2024.
Solve the tragic death of a student, where a creepy clue recalls cold cases from the past and an urban legend about a killer with a disturbing modus operandi.
Emio - The Smiling Man: Famicom Detective Club, the third game in this series, tells a compelling and deep mystery that is far darker and more disturbing than anything we've seen from Nintendo before.
- When unsure of what to do next, either think or examine a person’s face.
- Most multiple choice options don’t matter much.
- There is a free demo for the first 3 chapters of the game available, and your save carries over.
Published: Aug 28, 2024 08:01 am