Emio – The Smiling Man: Famicom Detective Club review

Emio – The Smiling Man: Famicom Detective Club review

As a seasoned adventurer of gaming landscapes and a long-time devotee to Nintendo’s first-party releases, Emio – The Smiling Man: Famicom Detective Club has left me utterly captivated and pleasantly surprised. This isn’t your typical vibrant, cheerful Nintendo adventure, but rather a gripping point-and-click mystery that’s as dark as a moonless night in Kyoto.


If you’re accustomed to snatching up every exclusive Nintendo Switch title, prepare for an unexpected shift: Emio – The Smiling Man: Famicom Detective Club could prove quite different from the usual Nintendo gaming experience. Instead of the customary lively and joyful ambiance, this game presents a darker, atmospheric point-and-click adventure. However, it’s also the first fresh installment of the Famicom Detective Club in years, offering a captivating narrative that unfolds skillfully with numerous twists and turns.

Initially, let’s clarify that while Emio – The Smiling Man: Famicom Detective Club may resemble a visual novel, it’s not exactly that. Instead of reading through text for the entire duration, you will be actively involved in exploring environments, gathering clues, and monitoring your notebook to avoid forgetting characters or crucial details. Essentially, Emio is akin to an old-style point-and-click game, offering more player engagement. However, this also means encountering minor setbacks when advancing the storyline.

Emio – The Smiling Man: Famicom Detective Club review

In a roundabout manner, I’ll delve into the narrative without giving too much away, but let me tell you about Emio – The Smiling Man. It commences with an enigmatic discovery: a young scholar found deceased, his head covered by a smiley-faced sack, and eerie similarities to an unsolved case that dates back 18 years. You’ll have the chance to name your protagonist, a seasoned detective from the Utsugi Detective Agency, who’s been tasked with assisting the authorities in unraveling this intricate mystery. As connections between the past and present begin to emerge, you’ll be left pondering numerous questions that the game masterfully addresses as the story unfolds, providing a captivating and comprehensive experience.

In light of how crucial the tale is for Emio – The Smiling Man, it’s clear that I was utterly captivated from start to finish. If you’re familiar with adventure games, you might develop some theories as you progress, believing perhaps that character A could be a villain or that there’s something more to person B than meets the eye. Emio skillfully crafts the narrative, leaving me convinced I had figured things out early on, only to discover I was consistently mistaken.

As a gamer, I’ll be venturing into various locations and interacting with numerous characters as I delve deeper into the mystery at hand. Most of the time, I’ll be presented with options like “call/engage”, “ask/listen”, “look/examine”, or just “think”. At times, it feels like a strategic battle to push the narrative forward. I might need to revisit characters repeatedly and listen patiently until I click on “think”, which lets my character ponder events and may subtly hint at information that could guide me back to asking or listening again.

Emio – The Smiling Man: Famicom Detective Club review

At times, it can seem like you’ve reached an impasse, but often, this just means you haven’t noticed something significant yet or explored all possibilities. Perhaps you need to observe someone more closely to catch a shift in their mood or behavior. Emio – The Smiling Man, a relatively straightforward game, is visually appealing and offers subtle animations that draw your attention to key details.

As you reach the closing stages of each chapter, you’ll find yourself discussing case details with Ayumi Tachibana at the Utsugi Detective Agency. These segments are more interactive than anticipated, as not only must you draw upon your notes to accurately summarize the current facts of the case, but occasionally, you’ll need to type responses to address questions posed. There doesn’t seem to be a definitive ‘game over’ scenario for these instances, other than Ayumi gently suggesting that your response needs refining. This interactive element keeps players actively involved and attentive throughout the gameplay.

Emio – The Smiling Man: Famicom Detective Club review

Regarding Ayumi, it’s worth noting she’s a playable character in Emio – The Smiling Man. This aspect of the game allows for deeper exploration of the narrative, as Ayumi can delve into locations and interact with individuals that the main character might not have access to due to their unique background or status. Additionally, the voice acting and character development are commendable throughout, which significantly enhances the overall quality of the storytelling.

In terms of criticism for Emio – The Smiling Man: Famicom Detective Club, I’d say it could be argued that the game may not live up to its own sense of terror. While there are undeniably unsettling instances, many of the darker scenes appear later in the narrative. Playing through Emio evoked the sensation of reading an engrossing book, with the inability to stop playing being quite prevalent. It has a “just one more chapter” quality to it. Regardless of the 35-year gap since the last game in the series, the creators behind Emio demonstrate they still possess their storytelling prowess.

Read More

2024-08-28 15:16