Emio – The Smiling Man is a continuation of the underrated Famicom Detective Club series, and I never expected this release to happen. Ahead of the latest game in this surprisingly well-crafted mystery adventure visual novel series’ release, I had the chance to preview the first couple of chapters. It seems off to a strong start.
This particular preview is based on the same demo build players can enjoy that includes the prologue and first couple of chapters of the full title, plus a save transfer option for the real deal. Immediately, this game kicks off with certainly the most compelling premise thus far. It feels much more similar to The Girl Who Stands Behind, but even eerier. This isn’t a problem for me, since I preferred the prequel of the two original remakes.
The general idea is the returning main characters of the Utsugi Detective Agency start a new investigation after a student is found strangled. To make matters more disturbing, the killer put a paper bag with an unsettling smiley face on his head. This potentially ties back to similar murders 18 years prior.
Everything about this premise centers around the disturbing urban legend of Emio. While we don’t find out too much in the first two chapters, the teases about the character are unnerving in all the right ways. The smiley paper bag-wearing killer is by far the creepiest antagonist in the series yet. I would say so far, based on my initial experience, the character is honestly the most memorable as well.
The few scenes that tease his ominous presence generally evoke some horrific imagery. While I wouldn’t call this straight-up horror just yet, it leans further into the genre than even the two previous titles. This is helped by a plethora of new side characters, all of which I am heavily suspicious about at this point.
From police detectives to teachers, each of the new characters intrigue, even with their short screen times in the prologue and first two chapters. They have great visual designs, which is helped by the upgraded graphics. This title takes the already fantastic art foundation from the previous remakes and upgrades it further.
Characters move and shift around, having natural movements and expression changes. This is the most dynamic visual novel I’ve played outside of the Ace Attorney series so far. I may even recommend this to those who don’t normally like this genre because of how stunning the environments are and how active everything feels, though I’ll wait for a final say on that until the game releases.
It also helps that the pacing is extremely brisk in the Emio – The Smiling Man demo that offers a preview of early chapters. The prologue and first two chapters go by far too quickly, just barely teasing this story. I hope the story slows down a bit more!
The benefit of this is how easy the puzzles seem so far. The gameplay from the past games returns, and it consists primarily of talking and investigating. Most of the time, players engage and ask questions after meeting various characters. This is to find out more information to then ask more questions and so on. Every once in a while, there is the requirement to actually examine the environment or dead body.
Thus far in these first couple of chapters, the questioning and progression of the story is pretty straightforward. This makes it a solid starting point for newcomers from what I’ve played so far. And for those of us like me who loved the first two games, Emio – The Smiling Man: Famicom Detective Club seems to be setting up the most compelling and thrilling mystery yet.
Emio – The Smiling Man: Famicom Detective Club arrives on the Nintendo Switch on August 29, 2024. A demo is now available.
Published: Aug 22, 2024 09:01 pm