Nintendo's mysterious Emio teaser isn't a full-blown horror game after all, but the first new Famicom Detective Club game in 35 years

GamesAdventureNintendo’s mysterious Emio teaser isn’t a full-blown horror game after all, but the first new Famicom Detective Club game in 35 yearsWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.

GamesAdventureNintendo’s mysterious Emio teaser isn’t a full-blown horror game after all, but the first new Famicom Detective Club game in 35 yearsWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.

(Image credit: Nintendo)

Emio - The Smiling Man: Famicom Detective Club

Nintendo’s teaser for a horror game has turned out to be none other than Emio - The Smiling Man: Famicom Detective Club, the first new entry in the series in 35 years.

Fast forward one week, and the game isn’t quite what we thought it was. Nintendo has now revealed the game, in the tweet below, to be a new Famicom Detective Club game, called Emio - The Smiling Man. This coincides with the initial teaser last week, which posited ‘#WhoIsEmio?’

#WhoIsEmio? Unmask the truth in a dark, twisted thriller for #NintendoSwitch. Emio – The Smiling Man: Famicom Detective Club launches 8/29. pic.twitter.com/Br1BAuk5fVJuly 17, 2024

#WhoIsEmio? Unmask the truth in a dark, twisted thriller for #NintendoSwitch. Emio – The Smiling Man: Famicom Detective Club launches 8/29. pic.twitter.com/Br1BAuk5fVJuly 17, 2024

In Emio, a student has been found dead with a paper bag over his head, with an eerie smiling face drawn over it. This is the mark of a notorious legendary urban killer Emio, and it’s your job, as an assistant to a private investigator, to crack the new murder case, and what links it to a string of unsolved murders from 18 years ago.

A quick history lesson for those not familiar with the Famicom Detective Club series (like me). The first game in the series, Missing Heir, was released in 1988, while a prequel called The Girl Who Stands Behind released one year later. Nintendo has actually remade both games in the decades since, and it was only with the two remakes that both games finally released outside of Japan.

It turns out famed Metroid developer Yoshio Sakamoto, who worked as a scenario writer on the original Famicom Detective Club games, is also returning to produce Emio - The Smiling Man. There’s plenty of reason to be excited about this - not only is Sakamoto a veteran Nintendo developer, but he also helped oversee 2021’s excellentMetroid Dread.

Emio – The Smiling Man: Famicom Detective Club – A Chat with Producer Yoshio Sakamoto - YouTubeWatch On

Emio – The Smiling Man: Famicom Detective Club – A Chat with Producer Yoshio Sakamoto - YouTube

Emio – The Smiling Man: Famicom Detective Club – A Chat with Producer Yoshio Sakamoto - YouTube

Emio – The Smiling Man: Famicom Detective Club – A Chat with Producer Yoshio Sakamoto - YouTube

Emio - The Smiling Man: Famicom Detective Club launches next month on August 29 for the Nintendo Switch. Even if it isn’t quite the full horror game that many had hoped for, there’s still plenty of reason to be excited about Famicom Detective Club’s return.

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5

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