REVIEW – Emio: The Smiling Man is a masterpiece in storytelling

From time to time, you stumble upon a game, an experience, a story that is presented in such an impeccable and pristine way that it sticks with you for a long time. Emio: The Smiling Man is that type of rare jewel that is worth every second of your time. With brilliant storytelling, realistic characters, wonderful moments, and almost perfect presentation, Emio is a masterpiece that every person must experience.

A junior high student is found dead with a paper bag on his head with a smile drawn on it. The case draws a lot of attention from the police since it is very similar to both a series of unsolved killings from 18 years ago and to the urban legend of Emio (smiling man in Japanese), a being who appears in front of crying girls and grants them an eternal smile by killing them and putting a bag with a smile on them.

You play the role of a private detective from the Utsugi Detective Agency, whose help is requested by the police to solve this case. You also control your colleague, Ayumi Tachibana, and together you gather clues, interrogate people, and research more about the multiple mysteries surrounding Emio.

The story is masterfully told, with great attention to detail, and very realistic scenarios and characters. The pacing is also fantastic, unravelling the different questions little by little but never lingering too much on any given enigma.

In fact, with Emio I experienced a phenomenon that only occurs in my favorite games: it may feel like a contradiction, but I both wanted the story to keep going and the time to stay still. I was so engaged in any conversation or exploration that I wanted to check every nook and cranny, unlock every piece of dialogue, and be completely thorough with every new clue, just like I wanted to discover every detail in a Xenoblade game. At the same time, I absolutely wanted to know what the future would bring, what new discovery lied on the next location, which new character I was going to meet, or which new development was about to happen.

Emio was addictive. No conversation felt like a waste, no location was a time-filler, and no moment was without meaning. A story full of logic and feelings, highlighted by the fantastic art direction and the meaningful music behind every moment.

A good mystery has to be well-presented, with every plot twist smartly foreshadowed but cleverly hidden, and with every conclusion backed up by logic. Emio respects your intelligence and challenges you in new ways. As a veteran in the genre, I was drawing conclusions left and right with every new piece of information gathered – and although I’m usually quite good at seeing where the story is going, I was barely right in my deductions at times, and I loved it!

In many moments, I felt that a certain conclusion was obvious, only to be denied right away by decisive evidence. Later, in unexpected but tremendously well-explained ways, my original conclusion was right. The subtlety at which some elements appears is brilliant, as every surprise is set up in delicate ways.

As an example, at one point the main character makes a great observation and I felt compelled to take a screenshot to keep it in mind. The game moves on and, at the end, the very last sequence of events is completely related to that observation, although we arrived to that point through other means. As I was going through my screenshots for this review, I saw the picture and was amazed that what I thought was a surprise was actually heralded hours ago. (No worries about spoilers, I did not include that photo in this review.)

Another aspect that makes Emio a masterpiece is its cast. Characters are realistic and they react to events as most people would. Investigations take time and sometimes results are far from what’s expected or needed. People are complex, multidimensional, and their sadness or anger is perfectly portrayed by words, gestures or actions. Even the only two characters that are slightly over the top (although not at the level of any Ace Attorney individual), can justify their exaggerated manners when we discover their inner motivations and how human they really are.

Mages, the developers behind the famous Science Adventure series and the previous Famicom Detective Club remakes, have once again demonstrated their mastery in design, with faces full of emotion and beautiful backgrounds and animations that make the story even more enjoyable. From beginning to end, and even beyond then, you are presented with a product made with love and the highest standards of quality.

The spectrum of emotions that any player will experience is manifold. Although we are presented with the mystery of a serial killer, there are moments for laughs and romance. Even some of the most important pieces of media in history related to sad events, such as “La vita è bella” (set in WWII) or “El verdugo” (set during the Spanish dictatorship), sprinkle humor as a catalyst for the audience to absorb more serious themes. Just like them, Emio knows when to add a laugh in a very deep and touching game.

There are a couple of moments when players have to be patient and explore many options before reaching new dialogue trees, but, adding to the realism of the game, it feels very logical and natural since most people don’t open up right away to strangers and you have to show empathy or provide a clear motivation. Even more, the way you progress in one situation towards the end was brilliant, calling to mind some of the best adventure games I’ve played – such as Hotel Dusk.

Clever, touching, intriguing, addictive, fun, engaging and more, Emio is one of those games that everyone must experience. The story will stay with you well beyond the end and will make you think about yourself and those you love, plus the world that surrounds us. Play it, enjoy it, and wait with me for a future adventure with this wonderful team.