With ‘Emio – The Smiling Man,’ Nintendo Goes Full Serial Killer

Nowadays, Nintendo is known for its family-friendly image with gaming icons like Pikachu and Mario. But that wasn’t always the case. There was a period of time in the 1980s where the Japanese developer was more accepting of adult-oriented content like Detective Club Famicoma dual-part series of crime and mystery adventures published in 1988.

While the original games were never released outside of Japan, Nintendo remastered them for the Switch in 2021, bringing the series to an international audience for the first time. With over 143 million Switch consoles sold worldwide to date, it’s important for Nintendo to diversify the types of games it makes so it can appeal to everyone, including true crime fans.

Now, the series is getting its first new release in 30 years titled Emio – The Smiling Man.:Detective Club Famicom It's no surprise that this game is one of the best puzzle games. Although it has a compelling premise and a terrifying and suspenseful story full of exciting twists, its surprising ending left me with more questions than answers.

smiling man The film revolves around a young middle school boy who is found dead on the side of the road, his head covered by a paper bag mask decorated with a cartoonish smile. The case appears to be connected to another case that happened 18 years earlier, in which a killer named Emo gave crying girls a smiling paper bag mask before killing them. However, it has been dismissed as an urban legend. It’s a strange premise that makes the mystery more engaging as it unfolds, bolstered by a charming cast of characters.

You play as a young boy with no name (you can choose his nickname), but the difference between him and other self-inscribed heroes as in games like Character or PokemonWhat's unique about this movie is that it has all of its dialogue. Instead of being a silent hero or making annoying noises and short sentences, he speaks with a distinct personality: kind, thoughtful, and supportive. It's a welcome change of pace that keeps the hero from feeling too ordinary.

This also makes conversations with other characters feel less one-sided. Junko Koze, the headstrong detective, has a bit of a rivalry with the protagonist, leading to some intense interactions whenever they meet while conducting their own separate investigations. Koze’s partner, the aloof Daisuke Kamihara, is the perfect complement to her headstrongness, and provides plenty of great comedic relief. Without going into too much detail, the game also explores the theme of childhood trauma very well through some great backstories for its characters. Seemingly innocuous details about a character’s past end up becoming pivotal moments in the story, and there were a few glitches that left me wondering every time I thought I had figured out who the culprit was.

smiling man It is a point-and-click adventure game that feels like a visual novel. The gameplay is reminiscent of the old LucasArts text adventure games from the 90s like Sam and Max go on a journey. and Secret of Monkey IslandThe experience is closer to reading a book than traditional action-based gameplay like games. call of duty or unknownThere's still plenty of interaction, though. Along the way, you'll be examining objects and talking to NPCs about a variety of different topics related to the case.

There is a feeling of nostalgia, but smiling man The game also feels easy to play and doesn’t hold you back from playing because of its old-fashioned style. This is largely due to its great quality-of-life features, such as the ability to skip dialogue you’ve already heard or set it to scroll automatically. This way you can sit back and relax with the comfort of reading at a steady, written pace. The game also has a notebook that constantly adds new information about the characters you meet as well as the story progresses. All of these features allow you to follow the story more easily and keep track of its characters.

It also helps with that. smiling man The series is well presented with a piano-heavy soundtrack and a distinctive art style. Although the series has its roots in the 80s, the soundtrack ditches the old chiptune music and replaces it with modern instruments and rhythms, fitting in with the era in which these new releases are now being released.

The game's developer is the popular visual novel studio Mages, which is responsible for some of the most popular games in the genre, including the amazing time travel adventure Steins; JetCharacters are depicted in 2D illustrations in front of a 3D background, and the choppy character animations give it a mid-budget feel compared to Nintendo's more polished franchises like The Legend of Zelda.

But the character art is still visually stunning with its bold colors. The music does a great job of intensifying the atmosphere when the story shifts or keeping you calm as you wander around the city. The expressive Japanese voice acting makes conversations feel lively, but I wish there was an English dub. smiling man As a brand new entry in the Retro Revival series, English voice acting would have made the game more immersive for international audiences.

My biggest problem with smiling man What sets the game apart is that by the end, you’ll be left with many unanswered questions throughout the 15-hour playthrough. Due to Nintendo’s review embargo restrictions, and to preserve surprises, there aren’t many details to offer, but many players may feel that the storytelling experience is ultimately disjointed and could have been tied together more dynamically. Much of the story progress occurs in unexpected information dumps, which would have worked better if vital discoveries were distributed more organically throughout the story.

Emo – The Smiling Man: Detective Club on the Famicom It's a mechanically simple game, and once you've reached the end of it once, there's no real replay value. However, playing it once is enough to get a feel for the horrific, sad mystery the game leaves behind. Even if I'm not entirely fond of it. smiling manEven though the story was fragmented, I still left the place with a smile on my face. But luckily, there was no bag on my head.