Emio: The Smiling Man - Famicom Detective Club

Nintendo and MAGES defy all expectations, delivering a grim murder mystery filled with heartbreaking characters and a tragic narrative that stands among the visual novel genre’s best. Hopeful just as much as it is haunting, Emio - The Smiling Man: Famicom Detective Club is a monumental feat of storytelling from Nintendo’s long dormant adventure series.

Emio - The Smiling Man: Famicom Detective Club might not reinvent the visual novel genre, but it still offers a fantastic mystery elevated by brilliant writing, a memorable cast of characters, some truly excellent visuals, and a phenomenal final chapter.

Emio – The Smiling Man: Famicom Detective Club is a superb detective game and a proper comeback to a beloved Nintendo series. While some gameplay decisions are a bit confusing, they never dampen the excitement. If you're a fan of sleuthing games and intriguing plots, Emio offers that and much more.

Emio – The Smiling Man: Famicom Detective Club is a phenomenal piece of work from Yoshio Sakamoto and Nintendo that sits as one of the best games of 2024. From the haunting story to the wonderful characters, this is a game I'll be thinking about for the rest of the year and beyond. I truly hope that Nintendo continues the Famicom Detective Club series, as it sits as a very special IP within the company's history.

Emio – The Smiling Man: Famicom Detective Club is a classic visual novel that hooks you right in from the beginning and comes from a very unlikely developer. Despite this, I think the game fits on the Nintendo Switch.

The Nintendo Switch has seen a lot of deep-cut releases over the past year, but arguably none slice quite as deep as Emio - The Smiling Man: Famicom Detective Club. A series of surprisingly-mature 8-bit visual novels written by Metroid co-creator Yoshio Sakamoto, the Famicom Detective Club games gained a certain amount of notoriety over the decades amongst hardcore Nintendo fans who like to keep up with the company’s unlocalized oddities. It certainly came as a surprise when Nintendo brought remakes of the first two Famicom Detective Club titles, The Missing Heir and The Girl Who Stands Behind...

“Emio — The Smiling Man: Famicom Detective Club is a refreshingly mature turn for Nintendo in more ways than one.”

Solve the tragic death of a student, where a creepy clue recalls cold cases from the past and an urban legend about a killer with a disturbing modus operandi.

While the experience is marred by its many drudging moments, Emio—The Smiling Man is a highly entertaining, engaging, and well-produced entry that fans will likely enjoy.

Emio - The Smiling man is a chilling detective story that leans a little too heavily into repetitive mechanics, but will reward those who stick with it.

Emio – The Smiling Man has a rich, empathetic heart, there’s just not enough of it. Solid character work and a decent setting can’t get around the fact that the game isn’t ever all that thrilling.

Emio - The Smiling Man: Famicom Detective Club is a successful homage to the venerable series, which tells an enticing story despite its repetitive nature.