Aug 162024
I still can’t believe that only a few months after I said I wanted a new Famicom Detective Club game, not expecting it to happen, one is actually coming out.
We’re less than two months away from the release of Emio – The Smiling Man: Famicom Detective Club for the Switch, and now a demo has been announced to let us try it even sooner.
Nintendo has opted for an unusual format for this demo, as it will be released in three parts. The prologue and Chapter 1 will be available on August 19, Chapter 2 will be added on August 22, and finally Chapter 3 will be added on August 27. Demo progress can be transferred to the full game.
This is an interesting way to handle the demo, and it makes me wonder if they’re imagining it almost like a book club format. Give players one chapter at a time to discuss while awaiting the full release. That could spark more discussion around it. And since Emio drew so much attention from the marketing campaign, a lengthy demo is a good way for new players to see if they’ll like it.
Releasing the first three chapters as a demo also supports my prediction that Emio will be significantly longer than the first two games, since that would be a significant chunk of an 11-chapter game.
I’m not sure yet if I’ll play the Emio demo or not. I’ve got plenty of games in my backlog to occupy me until the full release… but on the other hand, I’m excited to experience this new mystery (and a head start will help me finish ahead of the Ace Attorney Investigations Collection)!
Are you planning to play Emio – The Smiling Man: Famicom Detective Club? How do you feel about this 3-part staggered demo format?
Hm, I could see it being a longer demo, or maybe the first 3 parts being more tutorial-focused so that the bug stuff doesn’t come until later.
Bug stuff?
Unless they’ve added significant new mechanics, I can’t see these games needing three chapters worth of tutorials, and from the trailers it looks like the gameplay is more or less the same.