Draft:Emio - The Smiling Man: Famicom Detective Club

Emio – The Smiling Man: Famicom Detective Club (笑み男) is an upcoming visual novel published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Switch. It is the third installment of the Famicom Detective Club series and the first new title in over 35 years.

The game was first announced in July 2024, with a teaser video. The announcement prompted online traction, with many noting its crypticity, dark tone, and M (Mature) rating from the ESRB and related companies, due to its contrast with Nintendo's usual usual family-friendly titles.

Plot
In the game, Emio, the Smiling Man, is an urban legend of a man dressed in a long coat and a smiling paper bag over his head who appears in front of crying girls. He then kills the girl, and places a similar paper bag over their head. During gameplay, the Utsugi Detective Agency attempts to solve the case of the urban legend. Writer and producer Yoshio Sakamoto said that the ending to Emio – The Smiling Man: Famicom Detective Club might be "divisive for some people".

Development
Emio – The Smiling Man: Famicom Detective Club was first unveiled on July 10, 2024 when Nintendo released a 15 second teaser for the game involving a man wearing a sack with a smiling face on it. It was accompanied with the social media hashtag "#WhoIsEmio?". At this point, the game was known simply as Emio. The teaser immediately received significant attention online for its cryptic imagery and unusually dark nature, which contrasted with Nintendo's usual family-friendly image.

On July 17 2024, the game was fully unveiled as part of the Famicom Detective Club series. In an offical interview uploaded to the Nintendo YouTube channels, Yoshio Sakamoto annouced that he would be returning as producer and writer of the game. The Japanese website states it will feature the voices of Megumi Ogata, Yuko Minaguchi and Tatemoto Kagami as the main characters

Rating
Emio – The Smiling Man: Famicom Detective Club has received an M (Mature) rating from the ESRB, making it one of only a handful of Nintendo published video games to receive such a rating. According to the Australian Classification Board, Emio – The Smiling Man: Famicom Detective Club will contain "strong themes, violence and suicide references" and a separate rating from the New Zealand Classification Office added that the game would involve "cruelty and domestic abuse".