Nintendo Reveals Full Emio Details and Release Date

Last week, Nintendo got the whole internet talking when it released a teaser trailer for something called “Emio.” The teaser offered nothing in terms of gameplay details, instead focusing on a creepy man wearing a paper bag on his head with a mask drawn on with marker. Today, Nintendo pulled back full details on the game, revealing it to be a new entry in the Famicom Detective Club series! The full title is Emio – The Smiling Man: Famicom Detective Club, and the game will be released August 29th, exclusively on Nintendo Switch. An M-rated interactive drama, the gameplay looks like it should appeal to fans of Capcom’s Ace Attorney franchise. 

The Famicom Detective Club series made its debut on the Japanese Famicom system, and did not make its way to North America until a Switch remaster in 2021. Emio – The Smiling Man represents the first wholly-new game in the series in more than 30 years, and creator Yoshio Sakamoto has returned for the occasion. In a new video released today, Sakamoto talked about revisiting the series, and the background of this new game. That video can be found below. 

The new Famicom Detective Club entry centers around an urban legend created for the game. The legend claims that Emio, the Smiling Man would offer crying girls “a smile that will last forever.” A series of murders from 18 years ago were attributed to this urban legend, but those cases were never solved. When the body of a student turns up with a paper bag and Emio’s trademark smile, the Utsugi Detective Agency must uncover the mystery behind the murder. Players will have to find out if a serial killer has returned after nearly two decades, or if this is a new killer inspired by the old legend. 

Emio – The Smiling Man will feature the return of the protagonist from the previous two games in the series, and will also see the return of Ayumi Tachibana. Ayumi will be playable for the first time in the series, and players will have to control both characters as they attempt to search for clues, investigate leads, and solve the mystery. Sakomoto hints that “the story’s ending might prove divisive for some people” and it will be interesting to see how things play out when the game releases next month! 

Are you excited for this new entry in the Famicom Detective Club series? Do you plan on checking out the game? Share your thoughts with me directly on Twitter at @Marcdachamp, on Bluesky at @Marcdachamp, or on Instagram at @Dachampgaming!