Emio – The Smiling Man: Famicon Detective Club is the first new entry in the detective-themed adventure game series in 35 years, which follows on from the 2021 remake of both previous Famicon Defective Club titles (The Missing Heir, The Girl Who Stands Behind) for the Nintendo Switch. But how does the return of the beloved cult classic series stack up in 2024? Does Emio – The Smiling Man manage to solve the mystery with flying colours? Or is Emio – The Smiling Man found dead on arrival?
Emio – The Smiling Man begins by introducing the player to the murder scene of a 15-year-old boy named Eisuke Sasaki, a young Minami Daisan Junior High School student, who has been found dead with a smiley-faced paper bag over their head. You play as an Assistant Private Investigator from the Utsugi Detective Agency, who has been tasked to help solve this murder and catch the culprit. However, it’s quickly revealed that this murder bears a striking resemblance to a string of unsolved teenage murders from 18 years ago, with each previous victim also found with a smiley-faced paper bag on their corpse. But that’s not all, there is a well-known urban legend featuring the titular Emio, aka the Smiling Man, a serial killer who finds crying young girls and grants his victims ‘a smile that will last forever’, in the form of a smiley-faced paper bag. It’s up to you and your Utsugi Detective Agency colleagues to solve the mystery of Eisuke Sasaki’s death, establish whether this incident is tied to the previous unsolved murders, and ultimately, comprehend the legend of Emio, The Smiling Man.
Emio – The Smiling Man is a visual novel mixed with adventure game elements, which will instantly help decide whether or not this experience is for you. The narrative starts off slowly, with the first six chapters (12 in total, as well as an epilogue and prologue) helping to flesh out the previously unsolved murders, establish information regarding the current case and introduce players to a range of interesting characters. The 12-hour adventure does a fantastic job of exploring the past serial killings, while also exploring the most recent mystery, as players must deal with the past and present to fully grasp the concept behind these murderous events.
Emio – The Smiling Man does not hold back from tackling some triggering topics and themes throughout the adventure, with suicide and domestic abuse deeply explored. While I found these topics were handled in a mature fashion, it is worth noting that those who are triggered by these sensitive topics, may find Emio – The Smiling Man difficult to complete. However, the story itself was gripping, genuinely creepy, and despite an abrupt ending to the final chapter, features a must-play epilogue that fully explains the intricate details of the case. The creepy aspects of Emio – The Smiling Man’s story were some of my favourite elements, with some scenes genuinely leaving me with goosebumps. I must reiterate that it is highly recommended that players complete the epilogue following the final chapter, as without it, the story will be less impactful and many elements simply confusing. Despite that, there are still some plot ‘conveniences’ that are left hanging, but overall, Emio – The Smiling Man delivers an unsettling detective adventure that will leave a lasting impression to visual novel fans.
The main gameplay element of Emio – The Smiling Man is navigating through conversations to discover the hidden information found within each character interaction. To do this, players must use a combination of different options, which include ‘Call/Engage’, ‘Speak/Listen’, ‘Look/Examine’, and ‘Think’, as well as interacting with your surroundings in classic adventure game genre style. While not always straightforward, players must cycle through these options to progress each conversation to its conclusion. For example, you may gather a piece of information but will not be able to progress until you have used the ‘Think’ option to internalise what was said. On several occasions, I did find Emio to be reminiscent of classic adventure games due to obscure and genuinely weird solutions required to progress certain conversations. For example, on one occasion, you are on a road and unsure how to progress. After exhausting each option and interacting with every piece of the surrounding area, I found myself completely confused as to what I needed to do. Eventually, I clicked on a piece of scenery for a second time, which then allowed me to continue. Again, if you are a well-seasoned adventure game fan, these aspects may sound amazing, but otherwise, these obscure solutions might be more annoying than entertaining.
Once each chapter is over, players will be asked to review the information they discovered over the course of recent interactions. While these reviews are great for reiterating important pieces of information, I quickly discovered that failing these reviews has no effect on the story. For instance, if you completely butcher a multiple-choice answer to a piece of evidence, someone will simply correct you, and the story will continue without any repercussions. There were also moments where I knew what was needed to progress a conversation, but the conversation itself was not ready for the solution I had in mind. For example, I knew I needed to show a sketch of the potential culprit to a character, but as the conversation had not progressed to the point where it was considered relevant, I was unable to do so.
Overall, is the gameplay featured in Emio – The Smiling Man incredibly entertaining? No, not really. Will visual novel/adventure game fans enjoy the gameplay? Yes, they will. Emio – The Smiling Man does not revolutionise either genre, and it certainly won’t convert visual novel or adventure game haters into genre-loving fans. However, it is a serviceable gameplay offering, following the standard gameplay format that these games typically deliver.
The soundtrack featured in Emio is severely limited, with the same selection of tracks repeating for the majority of the adventure. This wouldn’t be a major issue if the tracks themselves were addictive, but most tracks sound like elevator music, which actually hinders the tension of certain moments as it juxtaposes the core themes of the adventure. The most impactful moments actually come during the lack of sound, when the music takes a backseat, and the tension of the silence on screen heightens the eerie atmosphere.
It’s also worth mentioning that Emio – The Smiling Man does not feature English voiceovers and, instead, only features a Japanese voice cast. As a massive Yakuza fan who is accustomed to reading subtitles alongside Japanese audio, this was personally a non-issue, but I know this could potentially be a deciding factor for some players.
Visually, Emio – The Smiling Man looks fantastic. The 2D backgrounds featured across the experience possess a hand-painted visual style. Emio also uses lighting, angles and reflections to help create a sense of depth across each location. The character models themselves look ripped directly out of a high-quality anime, with beautiful lighting used to help accentuate the anime-style, making each character model look great.
Emio – The Smiling Man does suffer from a few technical issues, which do not ruin the experience, but occur enough that it’s worth acknowledging. Sometimes, the game will hang for about 5-10 seconds after choosing a conversation option, and while it does fix itself, it also breaks the immersive nature of the visual novel. I also found that the conversation menu would occasionally disappear completely and would require a series of button mashing to make it return. Both issues occurred almost a dozen times each, and while minor, are glaringly apparent during a conversation/story-heavy experience such as Emio.
EMIO - THE SMILING MAN: FAMICOM DETECTIVE CLUB REVIEW
Emio: The Smiling Man – Famicon Detective Club delivers a gripping, genuinely creepy and intriguing detective themed adventure, which will satisfy both adventure and visual novel fans. The mature subject matter feels fresh and unique, especially for Nintendo Switch owners looking for a more adult experience in-between Nintendo’s usual family friendly titles. While some minor technical issues and a forgettable soundtrack do hinder the overall experience, Emio: The Smiling Man succeeds in providing players with an enthralling detective story, which will leave a lasting impression.
PROS
Genuinely unsettling/creepy moments
Gripping detective story
Beautiful visual style
CONS
Forgettable sound that lacks variety
Noticeable technical issues
Reviewed on Nintendo Switch. A review code was provided to us by the publisher for purposes of this review.
