''LETS PUT A SMILE ON THAT FACE''
Developed: Nintendo
Published: Nintendo
Genre: Narrative Point and Click
Release Date: August 29th, 2024
Platforms: Switch
*PRODUCT PROVIDED TO ME BY NINTENDO
Emio The Smiling Man is a new entry for Famicom Detective Club series and it is developed and published by Nintendo. With this series being dormant for so long, fans of the previous titles have been wondering will it ever see the light of day again and now here in 2024,that question has been answered. But now the real questions are, was this the correct timing to bring this series back to life? or would it have been warranted to leave it taking a little nappy tappy. Only one way to find out, so lets go!
STORY:
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.
''HES BEHIND ME... ISNT HE''
GAMEPLAY:
Ok guys, raise your hand if you ever thought you'd see this franchise alive again. Lets see now... 1... 2.... ok only two out of like 60,000 of you, that's actually more than I thought there would be. If were being honest, I fall in the category of the audience members who did NOT think this franchise would ever come back because its been so dang long. For those of you ''not in the know'' the Famicom Detective Club franchise is a series of mystery adventure games that is developed by Nintendo, which were originally released on the Famicom Disk System in the late 1980s and was one of the premiere series at its time that basically pioneered the visual novel genre that millions of people love today, that took a novel narrative stand point and intertwined that with interactive story telling using detective work and set the core foundation for narrative driven games to stand on till this day. I mean, maybe its not as iconic as Plumbers Dont Wear Ties, but hey, we can't all be winners, right?. All jokes aside, the first title, named The Missing Heir, released in 1988 and let the player be put in the shoes of a young detective investigation the death of a wealthy families matriarch. Praised for its engaging narrative, varied branching dialogue options and really eerie atmosphere, Nintendo saw that there just might be franchise potential here and proceeded to immediately begin work on the follow up title, releasing in 1989, named The Girl Who Stands Behind. Ok who is this girl and who is she standing behind, HUH?. Ok its not in the literal sense, but here in this title, it acted as a prequel that had you explore the backstory of the protagonist while also investigating the supernatural disappearance of a high school girl. This game was also very intriguing due to its usage of point and click mechanics and required players to use their brains and piece together clues through conversations and their own exploration. While theses games in Japan were a huge success in Japan, they never got the chance to shine outside the country for quite sometime due to the Famicom Disk System being as popular as putting anchovies on a pizza. Why would people do that? those SICK FREAKS. Ok I'm sorry, you do you, I'll still be your friend even if you do that. But over the years, thanks to the cult following the series has accumulated, in 2021, Nintendo decided to finally localize both titles on Nintendo Switch, complete with modernized graphics, voice acting and even some tweaks to the gameplay. COOL HUH?. Now after a long wait, the series is back again in 2024 with Emio - The Smiling Man.
In Emio -The Smiling Man, a high school student is discovered strangled at a secluded pumping station just outside of the city, but something is definitely not right about the scene of the crime that took place. For starters, why this location of all places? what is the motive? unsettling even further is the lack of a murder weapon, because how are you going to discover the nature of the crime without it, other than spending 3 dollars a minute to call Miss Cleo to come help you solve the case, but... I think she's in jail so she cant help us now. Silly Miss Cleo, bet you didn't predict THAT one coming, did ya?. However, murder weapon aside, a key importance at the scene of the crime is actually found, a calling card of a paper bag with a grinning face placed over the head of the victim. I mean, dang, that's rude, did the poor person get slain due to how ugly they were? that's just rude and discriminatory, what a bigot!. No no, it's not as vain as something like that, instead, its an even creepier revelation, this calling card is the same exact one from an unsolved murder case from exactly 18 years ago. DUN DUN DUN. So now we have two teenage girls, one just freshly murdered and the other still remaining unsolved. This is at the point in the game that I knew, like a midget in a urinal, I was going to have to stay on my toes to solve this one. Leading the way in this investigation is the Utsugi Detective Agencies own Detective Kuze and Detective Kamihara, who working as a team, must try to do what no other team of investigators has been able to do for the last 18 years and that is unravel the mystery of why Eisuke was not only in a place in such a remote area, but just what the motive was to even kill an ugly man like this and does it EVEN connect at ALL to the previous unsolved mysteries. However Kuze is not buying it and he's a non believer. Come on, Kuze! BELIEVE IT!. If you're familiar with Urban Legends like lady coming out of lake in search of her kids, Moth Man, Slenderman and the likes of those, then you're at home here as the mysterious and chilling urban myth of ''Emio'' comes to life. Legend says that with the right conditions, Emio appears to people, mainly crying girls and in exchange for taking their tears away, he will leave them with a permanent smile. Welp that settles it. It was just Joker letting everyone know how he got his scars. Wrap it up boys, were retiring. Freedom 35. Oh if it were only that easy, for there is a catch to Emio's game. If the girl laughs, Emio will leave them completely unharmed, however, if they do not, they will meet their very grim fate. Yikes. Can you imagine if Fozzy did this every time someone didnt laugh at his jokes? the entire world of the Muppets would be wiped off the face of the earth. WAKKAH WAKKAH WAKKAH.
''ON OUR WAY TO TACO TUESDAY''
Emio - The Smiling Man manages to take the player through a barrage of emotions from the supernatural side of things to the more human side of the spectrum with a narrative that explores the trauma and grief that comes along with cases like this or just in general when emotions themselves can consume us as humans if we aren't careful enough or in general just by being humans and living life. Were going to see hardships and pain, that's inevitable. I mean I lived through the FMV era of gaming, trust me, Ive seen misery. With these emotions engulfing some of our characters in the story, Megumi, one of Eisukes close friends begins being a hermit crab like me and isolating herself from the world due to girl and blaming herself for events that took place and it shows you that no matter what age, people deal with a ton and you might not even know about it. If you havent noticed yet, I havent really focused too much on full on gameplay yet have i? well thats really because these tyle of games are very narrative heavy in the visual novel department with story and characters carrying the weight of the game that blends mysteries with revelations and proves sometimes facts, especially in murder cases, can be a A LOT stranger than fiction. But just because I said its more narrative heavy over gameplay, doesnt mean there isnt ANY gameplay at all, you weirdo. Like the previous two entries in the series, the gameplay again focuses a lot on the visual novel format once again which to proceed has you cycling through various choice dialogue options, observing people and their personalities and gathering clues so that you may examine items to make sure you have all that you need in order to move further with your investigation. That's basically it. While I can see how that would be a bit underwhelming, especially with the way it can stifle a players ability to explore areas at their own leisure to make them more immersed in their detective work, like some other styled games like this have evolved over time - even so, the characters and the mysteries still are able to keep your attention enough to cope with the fact that the investigation and further exploration only opens up in the bottom half of the game towards its final chapters. Yes yes, its Emio's Final Fantasy 13 ''wait 30 hours for it to get good'' moment, but honestly Emio does a lot better to hide that fact than Final Fantasy 13, so its a much easier pill to swallow. Ive definitely played worse but its definitely one of those ''gotta be your cup of tea'' type of games.
While the gameplay sections dont really set the world on fire and fall in the lap of what people consider ''simple'', I'll reiterate the strong point of this game is storytelling and a story that keeps you guessing and holds all cards in its deck till its ready to be played by using the art of strategic clues and red herrings that challenge players to separate what can help with their case and what is detrimental to it. Its definitely nowhere near perfect because again there's a lot of reading, waiting and listening to be had and some characters in this game are less than convincing or rather, any good at all. In mystery games like this, you want to feel like you uncover secrets yourself or it is your intellect that breaks the case wide open so you can feel a sense of accomplishment, right?. Like luring your friends to their death in Dragon Ball Breakers because they were going to leave you behind, so you said the heck with that, I'm pulling an Andross and IF I GO DOWN IM TAKING YOU WITH ME. The enjoyment and self discovery can be hindered a bit by specific characters who show way too much that theyre involved in some shady business by overly telegraphing their motives and making their actions a little TOO transparent and it becomes a case of being sometimes you know how things are going to be played out before conversations are finished and that can be a major bummer.
''LETS PUT A SMILE ON THAT FACE''
OVERALL:
At the end of the day, Emio - The Smiling Man can become a very mixed bag depending on what type of player you are. Due to its slow styled moving page due to novel based narrative and less emphasis on full on gameplay besides point and click and observing, fans that want more action in their games might tend to frown upon what is built upon here and it might not be exactly their cup of tea. However, if you're a fan of novel based titles that heavily focuses on its characters, urban myths, detective solving and diving deeper into the human complexities of our emotions then this title would be right up your alley. So what is the verdict here? well its hard to say one way or another since this is one of those niche titles that can go either way for any given player at any moment, but I guess I'll just say, if actions is more your forte and you arent into novel titles, then Emio The Smiling Man might not be the best choice for you unless you wait for a price drop to scratch that curiosity. However if you ARE fan of title tiles like Ace Attorney and novel games in general, that I highly recommended you picking this up because even if some conventions of the 1980s games dont hold up when put into todays standards, the narrative and story carries you ultimately to a fun time. So with all that having been said, my verdict is clear, GameNChick says BUY if you love story based titles and WAIT if you prefer action based games.
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