Last month, Nintendo released a haunting 15-second teaser trailer for a mysterious upcoming title. Soon after, the company announced the title as the mystery adventure game Emio – The Smiling Man: Famicom Detective Club, coming to the Nintendo Switch on August 29. While bits of the story have already been revealed, the details behind the game’s ESRB rating hint at the fright to come.
In a rare move for Nintendo, Emio will contain blood, language, and violence, and boasts an ‘M’ rating. Plot points will touch on abuse and murder, and players can also expect some swearing – so keep the little ones away.
“This is a simulation/adventure game in which players follow a junior detective as he collaborates with police and locals to find a killer,” the description for the game reads. “As players examine scenes and gather evidence from witnesses, they can ask various questions to uncover key story elements/backstory.”
This will be the first new Famicom Detective Club title in 35 years and will be the third game in the series. It will retail for $49.99.
The Famicom Detective Club murder mystery games were originally released for the Famicom Disk System in Japan in the late 1980s. These were previously remade for the Nintendo Switch.
“Investigate a brutal death and its connection to an urban legend,” the game’s synopsis reads. “A student has been found dead! His head was covered with a paper bag with an eerie smiling face drawn on it—much like the victims of Emio, the Smiling Man—a killer of urban legend who is said to place such a bag over his victims’ heads.
As an assistant private investigator, you are tasked with helping police solve this crime, which is reminiscent of a series of unsolved murders from 18 years ago. Has a serial killer returned, or is this the work of a copycat? Are these crimes inspired by the Smiling Man story, or the origin of it?
Discover the answers to these questions and more as a member of the Utsugi Detective Agency in this intense story of suspicion, isolation, and fragility.”
