Emio - The Smiling Man

After the masterpiece that is Outer Wilds, I wanted to chill for a moment, and what a better way to do so than by going through a detective story! Famicom Detective Club is a pretty niche series by Nintendo, with only a couple games that were only on the NES—though recently remade for Nintendo Switch. Emio The Smiling Man came out in 2024, and it brings the formula to current times! I first heard of this game a couple of years ago in an episode of Into The Aether, brought up by Brendon Bigley, and literally this past week, now that Stephen is finally playing it as well. I decided to give it a go during my Summer Game Challenge, and it’s finally time to write a review for it here. Artwork of the game Story The game happens in Japan, and it seems to be dated somewhere in the 80s or 90s. The story begins when a high school student is found dead, wearing a paper bag with a creepy smiley face drawn on it. You take control of a junior detective—which you get to name! Jules Poirot in my…