Board 8 > Famicom Detective Club review zone

(+) Yeah! (+)

https://opencritic.com/game/11365/famicom-detective-club

76 average through 21 reviews so far. The remakes are noted for looking beautiful and and surprisingly good story-telling, but these games show their true age with gameplay that's limited to just asking questions at certain points. Beyond that you're really just there for the ride.

Polygon
I know this is starting to sound like a piece more dedicated to visual novels than Famicom Detective Club itself, but I promise you it's not. The games' history and their context is just so important. Visual novels aren't new, and they aren't unpopular, but still they end up being categorized as a niche genre for specific people, or as "smaller" or "easier" games. That's wrong, and Famicom Detective Club demonstrates that. These two games take mechanics from visual novels and adventure games of the past to create an immersive, diverse experience.

Destructoid - 7.3/10
I was worried both of these games would only be considered good from a historic standpoint, that they would be celebrated solely due to their longstanding absence outside of Japan. But thankfully, both Famicom Detective Club games stand on their own even thirty years after their initial release. These are two beautiful, gripping games that show the timelessness of a well-written mystery.

EGM - 8/10
Famicom Detective Club: The Missing Heir is a captivating window not only into Nintendo's past, but also into the past of adventure games as a whole. While it retains some of the gameplay frustrations that plagued the genre back in its earlier days, The Missing Heir offers a gripping murder mystery at its core, wrapped in video and audio upgrades that freshen up the experience for a whole new generation of would-be detectives.

NintendoLife - 8/10
The Famicom Detective Club remakes are living history, and a chance to catch up on what you missed out on, either by being too young, or not being able to speak Japanese. Though The Missing Heir has its faults, those faults are largely down to "that's just how games used to be", and it's held up remarkably well all the same.

RPG Site - 8/10
Frustrations aside, Famicom Detective Club still manages to captivate all the same. Its a miracle that these two Nintendo classics were ever localized, let alone as a global simultaneous release with these remakes. It was a blast to join the Detective Club after so many years, and I can only hope one day we can see a similar remake for the series 3rd game, sales permitting. If youre at all a fan of either the Visual Novel or Japanese Adventure game genres, you owe it to yourself to experience this vital part of their history.

Digitally Downloaded - 9/10
The Famicom Detective Club games are excellent, highly traditional detective mystery stories. Some might see that as "quaint", "old", "antiquated" or even "simple." That's simply our cultural experience talking. The reality is that these games are highly relevant to the Japanese understanding and interest in the genre, and the core storytelling experience is so modern it's easy to forget that they're remakes of NES-era classics. Throw in some of the most stunning VN art from the very masters of the genre, and this little collection of two titles has every chance of becoming one of the sleeper hits of the year. And, who knows? If it finds the audience it deserves, it might just inspire Nintendo and Mages to make a new one. I'd be up for more Famicom Detective Club.


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I bought both games so I can play them on my long flight to Hawaii and back.

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Looking forward to these. They have intrigued me since I first saw Ayumi's trophy in Melee.

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I think it's law that V/N's get 7's and 8's from gaming journalists.

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Should be a good set of games

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Most of these reviews are just for the first game, which seems to be considered the worse of the two. Opencritic's been shitting the bed a lot lately with this sorta thing.
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Nintendo life did do separate reviews for each game but they both have the same score so I only posted one of them

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https://youtu.be/BxHjxQT1bTs

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I dont think you could ever go wrong with a detective visual novel.

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Is this the game Yuji Hori worked on before DQ

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That was Famicom Jump II which was an RPG with Shounen Jump characters

Although that came after DQ1-4

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I was interested in these when I thought it was $30 for both but now I'm eh for the price

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colliding posted...

I think it's law that V/N's get 7's and 8's from gaming journalists.

The House in Fata Morgana has a perfect 100 for the Switch version on Metacritic because it only has 6 reviews.

More seriously, Virtues Last Reward got 9s, although that is a hybrid.

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Heroic Bigpun posted...

Is this the game Yuji Hori worked on before DQ

ninkendo posted...

That was Famicom Jump II which was an RPG with Shounen Jump characters

Although that came after DQ1-4

I believe Puns actually thinking of The Portopia Serial Murder Case which I believe did directly inspire these (and has still never been officially localized)

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But that wasn't even a famicom game v_v

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colliding posted...

I think it's law that V/N's get 7's and 8's from gaming journalists.

This lol, these scores seem fine but this is just what this genre gets so I have no idea if this means they're good VNs or average ones! I remember T&T getting 7s/8s max too.

RikkuAlmighty posted...

I was interested in these when I thought it was $30 for both but now I'm eh for the price

Oh wow that's hilarious, two 30 year old games for $30 each. Well this is Nintendo, so I guess just be glad it's not $60 for each one >_> And at least they're proper remakes, not just translated ports.

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You get 10 bucks off if you buy them together

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ninkendo posted...

But that wasn't even a famicom game v_v

It had a Famicom port which sold considerably more than any other version

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it took me an hour to track down where I heard that

good ol Did You Know gaming from 7 years ago

https://youtu.be/YvCVAp2jE1E?t=59

Lord of the morons was right

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