How long is Emio – The Smiling Man: Famicom Detective Club?

The latest entry in the previously latent Famicom Detective Club, Emio – The Smiling Man: Famicom Detective Club, is a visual novel. It’s not really an investigation game, as you don’t have much agency in searching for answers, so it’s largely linear. Having said that, how long does it take to complete?

It will probably take you between 12-15 hours.

There isn’t really much you can do in terms of side activities, and the structure is rather rigid. There may be some moments where you don’t know what the game is expecting from you, and you’ll find yourself temporarily stuck, but it’s unlikely it will be for very long. There aren’t many variables, and you can always “Think” to get a hint. There isn’t much you can do to really extend your playtime.

One thing to note is that you can get a plot recap whenever you load your game. You don’t have to play 12-15 hours within a short window to really understand everything, and the game won’t punish you for forgetting a detail (not significantly, anyway).

How many chapters are there in Emio – The Smiling Man: Famicom Detective Club

There are 12 chapters in Emio – The Smiling Man: Famicom Detective Club plus a prologue and an epilogue. Once again, this is linear, so you will absolutely need to go through the 12 chapters to reach the end. The epilogue is optional and is provided separately. Here is a list of all the chapters:

• Prologue: A Face
• Chapter 1: The Urban Legend
• Chapter 2: Disappearance
• Chapter 3: The Language of Flowers
• Chapter 4: A Suspect
• Chapter 5: The Paper Bag
• Chapter 6: Existence
• Chapter 7: Irumo Village
• Chapter 8: Brother and Sister
• Chapter 9: A Visitor
• Chapter 10: Minoru Tsuzuki
• Chapter 11: Suspicion
• Final Chapter: The Truth
• Epilogue: Depths

If you’re wondering what makes the epilogue “optional,” the game warns you (in character) that it’s dark and heavy. I can confirm this. While it’s a very quick and straightforward chapter, it delves into the past of The Smiling Man. It covers what drove them to murder, the murders themselves, what happened before the game’s narrative, and their fate. It gets disturbing, and it contains details that answer some lingering questions, but you don’t have to play through it if you don’t think you can stomach it. The mystery is solved in the previous chapters; the epilogue is just extra.