• Emio – The Smiling Man: Famicom Detective Club will get three separate demos before the full game release.
• Each demo will cover a different part of the game.
• The first demo is out on 20th August.

Those who like to try before they buy are in for a treat as Nintendo is doing something rather unique for Emio – The Smiling Man: Famicom Detective Club. Instead of doing just one demo, there will be three for the game all made available before the full game launches on Nintendo Switch come 29th August.

“Start your investigation early! Experience the opening chapters of Emio – The Smiling Man: Famicom Detective Club with the free demo, available [20th August]. Additional chapters will be added leading up to the game’s launch, and you can carry your progress over to the full game,” reads the announcement.

The dates for those additional demos, and what parts of the game they cover, can be found below:

• 20th August | Prologue: A Face + Chapter 1: The Urban Legend,
• 23rd August | Chapter 2: Disappearance,
• 28th August | Chapter 3: The Language of Flowers.

We’re quite intrigued by this approach to demos. These days its rare enough for a game to have any demo at all, but three is somewhat unheard of. On top of this, progress from the demo transferring into the full game is another welcome bonus.

For those who maybe haven’t heard of the game before now, this is a visual novel for the Nintendo Switch which is a bit darker than your usual Nintendo title.

“Junior high school student Eisuke Sasaki has been found dead in a chilling fashion, with a smiley-faced paper bag over his head. This unsettling visage bears a striking resemblance to a recurring clue in a string of unsolved murders from 18 years ago – as well as the urban legend Emio, aka the Smiling Man, a serial killer said to grant his victims ‘a smile that will last forever’. Does the Smiling Man really exist…or is a new culprit continuing on his legacy?,” reads the game synopsis.

Players will take control of a member of the Utsugi Detective Agency tasked with solving this case.

This game comes with a South Africa price of R929 for the digital edition and R1 099 for a physical game cart. The demos are free.