Nintendo has just released a game that’s very different to what we are used to playing on the Nintendo Switch and brings a surprisingly enjoyable experience full of the wonderful Japanese mystery culture.
In Emio: The Smiling Man Famicom Detective Club you play the role of an assistant private investigator with Utsugi Detective Agency who sets out to assist the police with a murder case. You must use the clues and conversations to piece together what has happened in what feels like an anime take on the classic “Choose-Your-Own-Adventure” novels.
The Famicom Detective novels date back to 1988 with the first release of “The Missing Heir” and then a prequel was released “The Girl Who Stands Behind”. Famicom is the Japanese name for the original Nintendo consoles (Nintendo and Super Nintendo). These titles were only released in Japan until 2021 when they were released for the Nintendo Switch and were so popular that it sparked the resurgence for this new title.
Early in the game, you discover that a student has been found dead with his head covered with a paper bag with an eerie smiling face drawn on it. It reminds you of an old urban legend of Emio, the Smiling Man – a killer of urban legend.
The game plays out as an interactive visual novel. You have a base of main selections to drive the story and more appear as they are necessary. The main selections are “Ask/Listen”, “Think” & “Look/Examine”. Each one will be highlighted by a small dot to indicate that there is something further to explore. As the story unfolds you’ll need to pay attention to what the characters are telling you and what you can actively examine in order to piece together the clues.
Characters are beautifully animated but tend to be fairly stereotypical for the genre. This does give the game a very familiar Japanese Anime identity. It also is more creepy than horror which blends nicely for the overall story that doesn’t deliver on jump-scares but does expand on a quality thrilling tale.
Emio: The Smiling Man never feels difficult and while you might miss some clues along the way, it does give you the opportunity to get your investigation on the right path at the end of each day and by using your notebook. In this way, it adds to the overall interactive novel experience as opposed to a more traditional survival horror.
Emio – The Smiling Man: Famicom Detective Club is out now for Nintendo Switch. It’s a game that is enjoyable if you go in with the understanding that it’s not like modern games and is more restricted to a classic playstyle. Being a fan of this genre in the late 80s and early 90s I did find it to be a really nice throwback at times.
I’d suggest for anyone sitting on the fence to download the free three-part episodic demo of Emio – The Smiling Man: Famicom Detective Club from the Nintendo eShop for Nintendo Switch. You can then play through the Prologue, Chapter 1, Chapter 2 and Chapter 3 and save that data to be carried forward to the full version of the game if you decide to continue.
