For many reasons, the Nintendo Switch arguably offers the greatest first-party software lineup of any Nintendo console. While the company’s biggest IPs have indeed headlined this, Nintendo has been no stranger to reviving series from its storied history on the Nintendo Switch. We’ve seen IPs long left dormant return with massive new entries, and even popular IPs take on a whole new level of success. One series revived throughout the lifetime of Nintendo Switch is Famicom Detective Club, which received a pair of remakes on Switch after over three decades.
The origins of Famicom Detective Club lie with the Famicom in 1988. Two games released acting as a duology—The Missing Heir & The Girl Who Stands Behind. These are the two games that were remade for Switch in 2021, with a gorgeous new art style and retooling of core elements. Before these remakes, the Famicom Detective Club series never made it outside of Japan, with only a few Virtual Console appearances in the region after its Famicom release. There was even an exclusive Satellaview game in the series that released in 1997.
Alongside many, I was overjoyed with the remakes, never expecting to have an opportunity to play the series. While I did not expect any further entries due to its niche nature, I was content with at least finally getting an English translation of the popular detective titles. However, Nintendo had other plans. Out of nowhere, the company tweeted an obscure video showcasing a man with a bag on his head, only sharing “#WhoIsEmio.” While I considered that it could be a new IP, I held out hope for something related to the FDC games, and I could not have been more happy with the reveal. Famicom Detective Club is back with a new entry: Emio – The Smiling Man.
Emio – The Smiling Man: Famicom Detective Club surrounds a gruesome apparent murder where a junior high student is found dead with a paper bag on his head. This isn’t just any paper bag, though—a creepy smile is drawn on top, resembling a very similar spree of unsolved crimes that occurred 18 years ago. These murders are rumored among the people to be linked with the urban legend of Emio, the Smiling Man. The story goes that if a girl is crying alone at night, Emio will appear, killing her to grant “a smile that can last forever.” Some versions of the tale say that if you laugh, Emio will walk away, while others say he kills if you look at him.
Throughout the game, you play as Taro Ninten, working together with fellow detective Ayumi Tachibana. It’s up to you to solve this murder of Eisuke Sasaki and determine the truth behind the haunting Smiling Man. The Famicom Detective Club games act as visual novels with detective elements. First, the gameplay itself is built around this aspect. When talking with characters, you can think, look at objects & examine them, and speak to others about different topics.
You carry around a notebook that outlines all of the information you’ve learned about the case thus far, with pages of notes for each character. Thankfully, you can reference this at any time, which is helpful if you forget a quick detail about a character. At the end of each day after investigating, you’ll hold a review session with Ayumi to track the discoveries you learned and work closer to cracking the case. Like most visual novels, the game progresses by talking with characters and exhausting dialogue options. For better or worse, Emio is completely faithful to the Famicom Detective Club remakes with gameplay.
This dated design works great to sprinkle in detective elements and put you in the driver’s seat of this mystery. However, there’s certainly some age that shows as a result of that. Sometimes, you might be stuck talking with a character, unsure of what dialogue option or topic to touch on. You can usually resolve this using the Think option, as you will see a thought of what you should be doing at the moment. This wasn’t entirely the case in the previous entries, so it’s a welcome change that can guide you in moments you feel lost.
Beyond dialogue options, I will note that I did have a challenging time progressing the novel at a few points for whatever reason. These segments involved examining different objects in the environment for clues, and the game doesn’t give you very solid hints. For one of these sequences, I missed a really small water hose in the front lawn of a house. It’s a slight grievance, but nothing that ever took me out of the immersion that Emio created.
That immersion maintains itself throughout the entire length of the game, as the story grips you right at the beginning and doesn’t let go. The narrative that Yoshio Sakamoto and Kaori Miyachi were able to craft is one of the most captivating stories Nintendo has put out in recent memory. Between play sessions, all I could think about was Emio. Who could the perpetrator be? What would I discover in the next chapter? I questioned everyone, not sure who to trust with this intricate mystery. And even despite my suspicions, I could not have foreseen the ending and its unfolding.
Make no mistake: this is a slow-burn story. At times, you might find yourself lost in tracking down Emio. A few pieces of the puzzle might seem detached from the main story, but Nintendo manages to intertwine all these moments with deep and twisted themes into a massive payoff at the end. Ultimately, this pacing creates a tension that had me pouring through my thoughts as I progressed. This slow-burn nature won’t fit everyone’s taste, but I fondly look back on my time with the game, undoubtedly satisfied with the plot.
The character writing is also fantastic, with so many engaging dynamics displayed throughout the game. I found immense enjoyment in each interaction, whether Kamihara and Taro bantering in the car or Ayumi and Fukuyama chatting at the café. The game has a well-rounded cast of characters, with everyone receiving ample screen time. Even the characters without much screen time, like Junko and Megumi, deliver strong moments. While you might kept in suspense about certain characters here and there, the ending wraps up each arc in an extremely satisfying way. I was delighted to see how Sakamoto and Miyachi seamlessly integrated lighthearted moments within such a dark story.
While I don’t think Emio is as creepy as it could have been, the game still does an excellent job of keeping that tension going for players. Especially with the massive surprise at the end, it does feel that Nintendo opted to hide some of the more jarring, ‘M’ rated elements throughout most of the game. Regardless, this Famicom Detective Club title surpasses the highs of its predecessors in almost every regard.
Above all, the themes portrayed throughout Emio – The Smiling Man are some of the darkest I’ve experienced. Moments throughout the game quite literally made my jaw drop, with haunting yet realistic depictions of things like abuse, grief, trauma, and more. These themes transcend the type of storytelling that was possible with prior entries, allowing for a narrative that doesn’t pull its punches. I love that Nintendo has allowed its creatives to craft more mature experiences like this, as they stand out so much each time they release.
Truthfully, I was expecting more of a lean-in to detective elements in the game. There were plenty of areas in which the team could have enhanced the gameplay elements of the remakes, but as aforementioned, things stayed very true to form. As a result, Emio is a classic visual novel, but I greatly appreciate this.
I think some players who don’t play many visual novels will come away disappointed from the gameplay elements in Emio, mainly due to the fact that the protagonist’s role as a member of the Utsugi Detective Agency is simply a vessel to tell this story. Again, this was not an issue for me, as I played for the story, not the gameplay. However, I understand why players may be frustrated by this. In the future, if Nintendo wanted to expand the gameplay elements, I would like to see things like clue examinations, evidence boards, and more things of that sort.
Another key area of excellence is presentation. Emio – The Smiling Man features gorgeous character art and animation. Characters are highly detailed, with expressive animation that elevates every scene. I was also very impressed with the background art. Each scene you visit feels alive, with individuals moving, talking, and going about their daily lives in the background. This level of detail doesn’t happen too often in the visual novel space, so it’s much appreciated.
Beyond art, there’s also a fantastic soundtrack here. It combines everything that was so memorable about the remakes with the nostalgic feel while also bringing a fresh, modern take that complements the narrative quite well. I was impressed with how each track set itself apart, as there was never any point where it seemed repetitive. Additionally, each track encapsulates the scene in which it is used so well. There’s a delicate balance of somberness, tension, and mellowness blended together. Easily, this soundtrack is one of my favorite parts of the game.
Voice acting also delivers, with an incredible cast that makes every moment memorable. Some standouts include Megumi Ogata as the protagonist, Yuko Minaguchi as Ayumi, and Yuuki Ono as Fukuyama. I’d argue that this is the strongest voice performance yet for the Famicom Detective Club series, with numerous intense moments that are filled with emotion.
Overall, the presentation is spectacular. It feels like one of the highest-production visual novels I’ve played in recent times, and that’s something we don’t get too often in this space. Whether it’s the gorgeous art, vibey soundtrack, or amazing voice cast, Emio delivers strongly across all fronts. And for those reasons, I cannot recommend the game enough.
The beauty of a series like Famicom Detective Club is the possibilities for future entries are endless. I would love to see more of Ayumi and Taro in another title, as this series is begging for more. There are countless mysteries to be solved. Ultimately, we can only hope that Sakamoto gets a chance to craft another Famicom Detective Club title on the Nintendo Switch successor. The potential of a series like this feels limitless. Seriously, I could play 20 of these and not get bored with how gripping the writing is.
Emio is one of my favorite games of 2024, and I don’t expect that to change by year’s end. It’s the biggest surprise of the year, as I never would have expected Nintendo to release a new Famicom Detective Club game, yet here we are. While I hope the series will continue beyond this entry, I’m so happy to have experienced such a powerful game from Nintendo. The original games inspired an entire generation of visual novels in Japan, and I have no doubt that Emio – The Smiling Man will do the same in 2024.
Disclaimer: Nintendo provided Final Weapon with a Nintendo Switch copy of Emio – The Smiling Man: Famicom Detective Club for review purposes.
