Interview with the Creators of Emio – The Smiling Man: Famicom Detective Club
Q: Did you already know that you’d be developing this game, Emio – The Smiling Man: Famicom Detective Club, when you were working on the remakes for Nintendo Switch?
Sakamoto: Not at all. We hadn’t decided to develop a new Famicom Detective Club game when we were working on the two remakes.
Miyachi: Sakamoto-san, after completing the development of Famicom Detective Club PART II: The Girl Who Stands Behind for the Family Computer Disk System, you said you couldn’t write any new stories, right?
Sakamoto: Yes, I did. I was declaring to the whole world my inability to keep writing – most recently I even said it in an art book. (Laughs) But the desire to create something new again was always in my heart. I was gathering ideas in my mind, and one of the ideas I had for a long time was a scene in which the victim is found dead with a paper bag over their head, which I thought would be quite scary.
So, even though I hadn’t started writing the plot at the time, I told Miyachi-san that I was thinking of a story called Emio (smiling man) and she said, “Wow, that sounds interesting!”
Q: Wait, even though you told the world you couldn’t write anymore? What changed your mind?
Sakamoto: While I worked on two remakes with MAGES., they became much more than just remakes. Seeing the broad range of expressions and potential to take the animation quality even higher, I began to seriously think about creating something new again and was motivated to write a new story.
Miyachi: A few months after I first heard about it from Sakamoto-san, I asked him, “How is the story about Emio going? I’m looking forward to it!”
Sakamoto: I interpreted this how I wanted: “Someone I’ve always wanted to rope into development is asking me these questions… I see what this means. She must want to be part of it!”. (Laughs) So I thought I’d better get serious about writing this story.
Miyachi: I never said I wanted to be part of the development. I was just genuinely looking forward to it. (Laughs)
Sakamoto: I couldn’t develop an entirely new title by myself, but if Miyachi-san was willing to work with me, and if MAGES. wanted to create it together with us, I felt that now is the time to jump in, and I started writing the plot.
Q: How do you go about writing a game’s plot? Is it a smooth process?
Sakamoto: First of all, you need to create a story that’s interesting and well-structured, with plenty of ups and downs. It becomes the backbone of the plot, so if it’s not good enough, I’ll rewrite it. On a bad day, I can’t write at all. (Laughs) But when I’m on a roll, all sorts of fragmented ideas start to connect, and everything falls into place.
Miyachi: I can’t really tell whether he’s having a good day or a bad day just by looking at him.
Sakamoto: Right, until I start coming to you with crazy demands! (Laughs)
Q: Crazy demands?
Sakamoto: When my writing isn’t going well, I really struggle to make any progress, so when the plot writing is moving along, I get scared that this momentum might fade. I’m not good at coming up with names of places and characters. So if I wanted to think of details to flesh out the story, I’d need to take a break from working on the plot.
But I didn’t want to stop. I was hoping for someone I could trust to do the job, so I could ask for their help. And then it came to me, “Oh, I know just the person!”. (Laughs)
Miyachi: (Laughs)