TNS: "Experience firsthand one of the best police mysteries with a possible serial killer in Emio - The Smiling Man: Famicom Detective Club."
VGChartz's Lee Mehr: "The next leg in our Game of the Year journey is an interesting one. While not as prominent a role as it once was, there's a curious elasticity to the adventure genre's definition that occasionally leads to breakout successes. Point 'n clicks have less pull today, but previous winners like 2023's DREDGE and 2022's Stray incorporate little nuances that've garnered extra interest outside of this modest adventure game enthusiast clique. The genre's inherent flexibility also tends to result in more eclectic options – be it in mechanics, aesthetics, and/or tone. If 2024's Best Shooter list had a theme towards consistency, 2024's Best Adventure Game finalists are the inverse.
Moreso than variety in protagonists, gameplay, and more, our top four also make site history in representing four different countries: USA, China, Poland, and Japan. From taking control of a cat in a big city to a smoking gumshoe solving a conspiracy in 24th-century New York City, few other genres can surprise you like this. Without further ado, let's look at our finalists."
I still need to play Nobody Wants to Die. Just waiting for a deep sale.
lol @ the pic of Little Kitty Big City, wanna try that too. It’s on Game Pass iirc.
Nobody Wants to Die was a weird one for me. I appreciate its vibe, setting, concepts, and so on; and yet, the execution is wonky. It sells the retro-futurist noir stuff, but script could've used another pass-through. The dialogue isn't as punchy as it fools itself into thinking, the way world-building is thrown at you feels sloppy at times, and so on and so on.
Then again, I'm willing to humble myself and replay it to ensure I give it a fairer shake too. Worth a shot at the very least.
"Emio – The Smiling Man: Famicom Detective Club nails the art-style, the atmosphere and the story, and offers the level of intrigue that only the best mysteries can."
- Stuart Cullen, TechStomper
Does Emio - The Smiling Man manage to solve the mystery with flying colours? Or is Emio - The Smiling Man found dead on arrival?
