Review: Emio – The Smiling Man: Famicom Detective Club

I spend a lot of time reflecting on the videogame review process, wondering if I’ve done enough to give long-term readers a sense of what sort of games I enjoy and how that influences my scoring.

Take a game like Elden Ring for example – critically acclaimed and beloved by so many, but the difficultly gets to me and I don’t have the patience for the grind, so I don’t enjoy it as much.

I also think about my mindset and location at the time of reviewing something and how that plays a role in how I write about it.

Given the Nintendo Switch’s flexibility as a hybrid home and portable console I’m able to easily carry it with me when I travel for work, enabling me to enjoy games a bit more intimately on a smaller screen, but I often miss being grounded by a docked system connected to a TV, having more intentional, focused gaming time.

I played most of Emio – The Smiling Man: Famicom Detective Club on the road, scraping pockets of time at night after wrapping up work. Here’s what I thought of it…

Emio – The Smiling Man: Famicom Detective Club offers a mix of intrigue and frustration. As the latest instalment in the long-dormant *Famicom Detective Club* series, something I was not familiar with until I read more about this game, it is inspired by classic murder mystery themes, albeit with some modern touches.

The plot centres on the disturbing case of a learner’s death, which mirrors a series of murders linked to the urban legend of the Smiling Man. On paper, this premise is engaging, but the overall execution leaves something to be desired.

The game functions primarily as a visual novel, and like most in the genre, it’s heavy on dialogue and feathery light on action. Players control a young detective as he works with a team to unravel the case. Interaction takes place through a variety of options such as “Ask,” “Listen,” and “Think,” which on the surface seems like a thoughtful way to immerse players in the investigation.

However, the mechanics were very repetitive. Often, I found myself selecting the same option multiple times to nudge the story forward, which slows down the pacing and makes certain sections feel unnecessarily drawn out.

When the narrative does progress, there are moments of suspense. The mystery itself is somewhat compelling, with a few twists and turns. That said, the pacing is very inconsistent. The game starts off slowly, with long stretches of dialogue that don’t contribute much to the investigation, making it hard to maintain momentum.

Visually, Emio – The Smiling Man: Famicom Detective Club is impressive. The character designs are detailed, and the 3D models are expressive enough to convey emotion, though the animation sometimes feels sluggish, especially on my version 1 machine (with my console fan humming away multiple times as I played. The environments fit the tone of a classic murder mystery, with dark, atmospheric settings that complement the story.

However, the slow transitions between scenes detracted from the overall experience, as I often waited for characters to finish slow, deliberate animations before I could move on. I don’t know if this is an indication on how social media has rewired me to want everything to be fast-paced and ‘now, now, now’ or the Switch nearing the end of its lifecycle (I do think it’s the former as I’ve played multiple Switch games that were snappy and quick.

The audio also shines in some areas. The Japanese voice acting is well-executed and adds depth to the characters. The music, while understated, does a decent job of enhancing the mood, even if it’s not memorable. It doesn’t distract from the gameplay, but it doesn’t elevate it either.

When it comes to value for money, Emio – The Smiling Man: Famicom Detective Club is a mixed bag. It was about 11 hours, with a lot of time padded with redundant dialogue and slow gameplay. The repetitive mechanics and pacing issues make it feel like it could have been a shorter, tighter experience. There’s very limited replay value, and I find no reason to replay it.