4/5 ★ – LCSnoogs's review of Emio – The Smiling Man: Famicom Detective Club.

The interactive parts of this have been thankfully improved over the last two games. The format is the same, but two things fixed a lot of issues: dialogue hints at what to do next and single location investigations. There still were a few situations where it feels like I'm exhausting every option trying to figure out what the game wants me to do, but these moments seemed to be designed that way intentionally to portray a passage of time. Overall, it's a much smoother experience. The story this time starts out similar to the last game, The Girl Who Stands Behind. There's a murder tied to an urban legend, and it connects to a cold case. It's a serial killer story this time though which helped push this game its M rating. The writing is once again strong like the previous games. The characters and relationships are engaging, the mystery hooked me with its twists and turns, and the smaller characters I question have amusing personalities. The animation is more detailed this time around making for an even more beautiful game. The ending was a big surprise as it broke form from the rest of the game. It all comes together in a satisfying way. It's a funny, moving, thought-provoking experience.