GAME CLEAR No. 240 -- Emio – The Smiling Man: Famicom Detective Club

Emio – The Smiling Man: Famicom Detective Club (2024, Switch)

Developer: Nintendo, MAGES
Publisher: Nintendo
Clear Version: Switch
Clear Platform: Switch 2
Clear Date: 7/5/25

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Why should I care?
If you really enjoyed the first two, you may find something to like here.

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I’ll give you a smile that will last a few hours

Ugh, man, I don’t wanna write about this game. After enjoying the two remakes of the original Famicom Detective Club games, I was pretty excited (and surprised) to see the series revived for Switch. Unfortunately, this one really didn’t hit for me.

Although it’s got beautiful artwork, a pleasant soundtrack, and the best QOL of the series, the plot unfortunately didn’t do much for me. I think the first two games (especially the second) had tighter and more believable writing. Emio’s efforts to make me sympathize with its villain (a much more significant part of this game compared to its predecessors) fell completely flat. They seemed like something that I might’ve found affecting at 14.

Perhaps its somewhat ironic that I just can’t muster the energy to write my criticisms of the writing of Emio in much greater detail, but that’s where I’m at. Again, I have some praise for the atmosphere of the game, but the plot is ultimately what a visual novel is all about! I’m afraid it just left me unmoved and even a little annoyed.

There are some folks out there whose opinions I respect that hold this game in pretty high regard, so your mileage may vary, but I think there are much better VNs or adventure games to check out before you need to worry about this one.