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In 1988, Nintendo released Famicom Detective Club: The Missing Heir, a mystery adventure game in a largely visual novel style. A year later, a sequel arrived titled Famicom Detective Club: The Girl Who Stands Behind. And, despite cult-classic status, that was it - until 2021 remakes paved the way for 2024’s decades-in-the-making third entry,Emio: The Smiling Man.
It’s a heck of a comeback story for a beloved series that never even received an official English localization until the ‘21 remakes. But howisEmio: The Smiling Man? Is it worth playing? Is it, in some ways, disappointingly archaic? Does the story wrap up nicely? We’ve got answers.
Time Expenditure
We’ll tackle the question in three parts. First,how many hours you can expect to set asidefor Emio: The Smiling Man.Based on our own experience,Emio: The Smiling Man should run you anywhere between12 and 14 hours.
Much of this will be spentlistening to dialogue between characters. As the game goes on, there will be an uptick incommand-based puzzles in which you must choose between “Ask/Listen”, “Look/Observe”, “Think”,and a couple of other options.
Therefore, you should anticipatea couple of hours total for gameplay decisionsalongside nine or so hours for witnessing the story.
Cost
Emio: The Smiling Man costs$49.99USD. If you’re in theUK, it’s £39.99.ForCanadianreaders, expect to cough up$64.99.It’s availableboth physically and digitally.
We don’t tend to analyze games based on “dollars per hour.” Frankly, it’s not so cut-and-dry; would Super Mario Bros. 3 be worth “less” than a 90-hour game that largely overstays its welcome? Even so,we’d say the above price is a bit steep for Emio: The Smiling Man.
In other words,wait for a sale if you’re on the fence.This is a game that’d be right at home with a ~$30 price tag.
That said, the production quality (specifically the artwork and voice acting) is of exceptional caliber, so don’t misunderstand - Emio: The Smiling Man is well-produced!
Our Thoughts
We were left somewhat mixed on Emio: The Smiling Man.It’s a thrilling story with great characters, but on the flip side,we think it struggles to provide enough gameplay, and the gameplay itself is fairly barebones (and at times frustratingly obtuse despite its simplicity).
Furthermore,the epilogue is proving divisive online, and for good reason. The investigation wraps up its lingering mysteries in the form of a totally hands-off 20-minute anime sequencerather than hands-on, player-dictated, investigation skills.
Yet weloved the epilogue, as itplayed to Emio: The Smiling Man’s storytelling strengthsrather than potentially dropping the ball bypushing its limited gameplay systems beyond their capabilities.
Bottom Line
It’s hard to say whether Emio: The Smiling Man will land for you without emphasizing thatyou’ll be buying this for the story first and the gameplay second. Going into it with inverse expectations is a surefire recipe for disappointment.
If you’re looking fora gripping visual novel, you’ll probably enjoy Emio: The Smiling Man, although we’re not sure the launch price tag totally justifies itself.
But if, on the other hand, you’re looking forsomething with compelling gameplay systems? You might do better with something likeAce Attorney Investigations Collectioninstead.
