Khizar Mundia 
Nintendo revealed the release date and gave story details for Emio: The Smiling Man, the company’s surprise horror release.
Nintendo previously posted a teaser trailer for a horror game titled Emio on YouTube. This both shocked and surprised fans as Nintendo isn’t known for horror games, only publishing a handful of games in the genre. The teaser even had a disturbing content warning attached which hinted at the game being a proper horror game. While little information was available, fans were hooked and began theorizing what was in store.
Now, Nintendo has revealed some new information and announced the release date of Emio. The game may not be what fans were expecting though, as Emio is actually the revival of a long-dormant Nintendo franchise.
Nintendo announced the release date of Emio
Emio will be released on August 29, 2024, for the Nintendo Switch.
Rather than a full-blown horror game, Emio is a Famicom Detective Club game. In Famicom Detective Club games, players have to navigate dialog trees and do point-and-click investigations of crime scenes. The player can find clues and information from characters that can be used later to help with the investigation. This gameplay formula has been emulated by other series many times over the years, with the Ace Attorney series and the Danganronpa series having many similarities.
Emio: The Smiling Man stands as one of the few original releases left for the Nintendo Switch. With the Nintendo Switch 2 looming, Nintendo and other publishers are seemingly setting their sights on the next-gen hardware.
While Emio is not the type of horror game that fans expected, the return of Famicom Detective Club games is exciting news. Emio: The Smiling Man is the first Famicom Detective Club game in decades, with the release date of its predecessor, Yuki ni Kieta Kako, coming in 1997. The series was long Japan-exclusive and didn’t reach other regions until the original games for the NES were remade on the Nintendo Switch in 2021.
What is Emio: The Smiling Man’s story?
Emio: The Smiling Man is a murder mystery involving a notorious serial killer named Emio.
A student is found dead with a paper bag over his head and a smile drawn on it, a scene is similar to a string of crimes that occurred 18 years prior. The murders remain unsolved and the only connection between these cases is the paper bag over the victim’s head.
The player character is an assistant to a private investigator who has been called to investigate this murder and to look into the unresolved cases from 18 years ago. The player must examine clues and question witnesses to solve the case and stop the killer for good. They’ll also have to figure out whether the latest case is the work of Emio or a copycat killer.
Yoshio Sakamoto, the scenario writer from the original Famicom Detective Club games is returning to produce Emio: The Smiling Man. Fans can start solving the mystery themselves after Emio: The Smiling Man’s release date in August.
