Developer: Nintendo, MAGES
Publisher: Nintendo
Platform: Switch
Tested on: Switch
Emio – The Smiling Man: Famicom Detective Club – Review
Time sure does fly, doesn’t it? It has been three years since Nintendo revived and localized their Famicom Detective Club games, seemingly out of nowhere. Three years is an age in video game time, of course, so when the intriguing marketing campaign for Emio – The Smiling Man was launched, nobody made the connection to Famicom Detective Club. As it turns out Emio was just that: a brand-new entry in the series. It was an unexpected surprise, but it excited us as we quite liked both The Missing Heir and The Girl Who Stands Behind, the duology of Famicom Detective Club remakes. Could Emio live up to its illustrious predecessors or did our smile turn out to be just an upside-down frown?
Story
Once again, we have to walk the fine line between explaining a visual novel’s premise and giving away too much. Emio is a direct sequel to The Missing Heir. Don’t fret if you skipped that story, however, because Emio stands on its two legs well enough that newcomers won’t have any trouble following what’s going on. You’ll just find that if you’re already familiar with this world and its characters, there is going to be a lot more to take away from our story. In Emio we are reunited with our friends from the Utsugi Detective Agency. Once again, a bizarre murder has been committed. The victim is 15-year-old Eisuke Sasaki. As if child murder wasn’t gruesome enough by itself, the modus operandi resembles that of a series of murders from several decades ago: the victim’s head was covered by a bag with a smiling face drawn on it. It all seems to lead to the titular Emio, but he’s just an urban myth, right?
Compared to the previous two titles, Emio takes things in a much darker direction. The game is rated Mature for a reason, because things do get somewhat disturbing at times. That said, Emio sticks to the general tone that we’ve come to expect from this sort of game. Sure, it’s about gruesome murders and a dangerous serial killer, but you’ll also be witness to corny jokes and typical anime-style shenanigans. One part requires you to investigate a man’s crotch, only to be met with the expected “my eyes are up here” line. We suppose the M-rating was also used to slip in some adult humor. The tonal shift may turn off some people, but as far as we’re concerned, it’s part of Emio’s charm.
Graphics
With its lovely hand-drawn art, Emio sticks to the aesthetics established in previous titles. Character designs range from realistic to outlandish or even outright creepy. As we’ve come to expect, most scenes are also animated, albeit in the most basic way possible, like characters’ mouths moving while they are talking but not a whole lot of other movement going on. It’s a style that works, especially when juxtaposed against the full-screen CGs that depict some of the more gruesome scenes. This helps with humanizing the cast and separating them from the horror. Naturally, this visual style isn’t too taxing on the Switch, and with Nintendo being a co-developer alongside MAGES, Emio is optimized to run on its designated hardware without a hitch.
Sound
The star of the show is the Japanese voice acting, although we should probably point out that there are no other audible languages here. It didn’t bother us that we weren’t able to hear these characters talk in English, although some of the implications or nuances in the dialogue were lost on us. We can’t help but wonder if Emio is an “easier” game if you’re able to pick up on audible changes in characters’ tone of voice. The game’s OST is as good as you’d expect from the series and sound effects remain unchanged from the previous game.
Gameplay
The remakes of the original Famicom Detective Club pair of games brought the hybrid visual novel/point-and-click gameplay into the current era. Emio sticks to this updated take on the gameplay, and doesn’t bring anything new to the table in this regard. A quick recap for those unfamiliar with the previous titles: the Famicom Detective Club games are for the most part visual novels, although you’ll also end up exploring your surroundings, looking for clues, and talking to people. It’s a tried and true formula that went on to inspire games like the Ace Attorney series. Emio does fall victim to the most common pitfall of the genre, and that is that you’ll have to follow the exact logic that the game expects you to follow. What this means is that sometimes, you’ll already have figured out some elements from the case at hand, but the game doesn’t allow you to use that knowledge just yet and you’ll have to deal with whatever the story expects you to do or say first. At other times, it’s entirely unclear what to do or where to go next, and you’re simply guessing and clicking through various dialogue options, hoping to trigger the right one to advance the story. It would help a lot if Emio showed which dialogue options you’d already chosen, but alas, you’ll have to rely on your memory or an online guide, lest you keep reading the same bits of text over and over again.
While Emio is a significant chunk longer than either The Missing Heir or The Girl Who Stands Behind, it’s still fairly short for a visual novel. The previous games clocked in at around 8 hours each, with Emio getting to the 12-hour mark instead. It’s difficult to justify the €49.99 RRP as a result, given that the much more popular Ace Attorney series offers a whole lot more bang for your buck, and that Emio is directly competing with the recently released Ace Attorney Investigations Collection. Admittedly, it’s not entirely fair to compare a completely new title with a remake of older titles, but Emio and Investigations are aiming for the same audience. Adding to this is that the Famicom Detective Club engine was already built back in 2021, and it becomes even harder to explain the reasoning behind Emio’s pricing. Had this title been €39.99 like Metroid Prime Remastered or Captain Toad, both much higher profile releases, that probably would have been more fair.
Conclusion
Our return to Famicom Detective Club was somewhat unexpected but very welcome, mainly because we absolutely adore this genre. However, that also means we can contrast and compare Emio to its direct competitors. In a vacuum, Emio is a great visual novel/point-and-click hybrid game, even if it doesn’t bring anything new to the table. In fact, it makes the same mistakes as many other titles in the genre. However, Emio is also vastly overpriced for what it is. We’d suggest waiting for a sale, but if the previous Famicom Detective Club release is anything to go by, don’t hold your breath. Fortunately, there is a free demo available, so you can dip your toe in the water before taking the plunge.
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