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Famicom Detective Club: The Girl Who Stands Behind
Released On: May 14, 2021
74
8.0
All Platforms
Metascore
Mixed or Average
Based on 63 Critic Reviews
74
60% Positive
38 Reviews
38 Reviews
35% Mixed
22 Reviews
22 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Metascore
Mixed or Average
Based on 63 Critic Reviews
74
60% Positive
38 Reviews
38 Reviews
35% Mixed
22 Reviews
22 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Famicom Detective Club is a fantastic revitalised visual novel, let down only slightly by its lacking narrative options and gender selection. I would say that this is the best visual novel game I have had the pleasure of playing.
With an amazing story full of murder and mystery, Famicom Detective Club is a remake worth investigating.
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 17 User Ratings
8.0
88% Positive
15 Ratings
15 Ratings
0% Mixed
0 Ratings
0 Ratings
12% Negative
2 Ratings
2 Ratings
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 17 User Ratings
8.0
88% Positive
15 Ratings
15 Ratings
0% Mixed
0 Ratings
0 Ratings
12% Negative
2 Ratings
2 Ratings
It is like reading a book but better because of actual animations! Must play for people that like good stories or played the original 30 years ago.
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Nintendo Switch
This game is really something special. It shows what Nintendo's greatest minds are capable of without trying to make a product for general audiences, and and it shows the inspiration and influence Nintendo has given to game developers over the years. Like the developers of this remake, MAGES, who wanted to remake it because they were huge fans when the series was alive and strong in the 80s and 90s. For me personally, the SNES version is one of my favorite games of all time, and if I could rate it, it'd be an instant 10/10. But this remake doesn't quite capture all that makes it special.
The music, which is central to the tone and atmosphere, is often ruined in one way or another. Thankfully you can switch osts at any time, so it's not my biggest issue. The lighting in scenes is great, but it's not dynamic like in the SNES version, and characters don't directly follow the lighting of the scenes, unless the sprites are specially made for that scene. The little gameplay tweaks are great. It's good that you can speed up text, and review what has just been said, the UI is simple, but you can't quick scroll through menus anymore, which is weird. And, why do you have to click on the stick to move the cursor faster? It's so awkward. The general progression retains all the aspects of the SNES version, for better and for worse. Like, there's no reason you needed to keep the clock inspection in chapter 7, because that was never even in the original Famicom version. You had the chance to take out the one unnecessary addition to the SNES version, but no.
But then there's the translation. Now, I'm holding this game to the standards set up by the SNES version, which has had a fan translation for years, and despite my high acclaim for it, there are definitely moments that look rushed and amateur-ish, where it looks like it was run through Google translate and thrown in without testing or a second thought. Most of the time, it's fine though. This remake on Switch feels much more refined, like it was actually done by professionals. Again, for better and for worse.
There are several moments where you can inspect girls in the SNES version, and they call you a weirdo, which they should. In the Switch remake, almost all of these moments are completely censored, as the characters just stare at each other and say literally nothing, but still make weird grunts. It's really stupid and immersion breaking, but the worst offender is the chapter 8 scene. Now, I didn't even know about this for a year, because there was no reason for me to initiate such a terrible scene. On it's own, I already hate everything about it, as it completely breaks the now established relationship between the protagonist and Ayumi. But the protagonist still faces the consequences of his actions in some way. In the Switch version, not only did they keep in the scene, but they censored the hell out of it, making it about bees. It's like, this is an all or nothing situation. Either completely remove the scene in all versions, or keep it in with everything that makes it bad. The fan translators went with the latter, so it's faithful to the original Japanese script of the SNES version, and you hate everything about the scene for all the right reasons. But Nintendo of America tried going down the middle of the road, and ended up making it worse than ever.
Now, I don't want to specifically mention where and how you initiate this scene, because it's completely optional, and was never supposed to be in the game in the 1st place, since it's not even in the Famicom version. And playing the game without knowledge of this scene is ideal. I know that's counter intuitive because I just mentioned it, but 1: It's a topic that can still be discussed maturely by people who don't have half a brain cell in which they use to review bomb a game because Nintendo is " JUST LIKE CHINESE GOVERNMENT!!" and 2: this is a review where I want to express everything I want to about this remake, and what it does right and wrong. And in my opinion, while it will never replace the SNES masterpiece, it's a fine way to play this game, and it's a miracle we even got it in the west. If you really do care about the interesting games Nintendo has made, and if you want to see an interesting turning point in the Japanese adventure game/visual novel scene that lead to games like Ace Attorney, please support this game and actually buy it. Because a lot of what makes the game special is still here, and it should be experienced 1st hand.
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Nintendo Switch
The Famicom Detective Club duology is, at its core, a beautiful set of remakes that will please players that can look past some of the dated mechanics.
Despite the not-so-popular price and the game mechanics of their time, the Famicom Detective Club series is an interesting work and a video game restoration operation that could open the door to other similar episodes. Rebuilt from scratch, with beautiful two-dimensional graphics and enriched by the dubbing of all dialogues, the two games retain intact their charm and are proposed to new generations in a truly sumptuous. The genre of belonging, however, is to be taken into account, since the developers have done very little to modernize the playability of the work, which is - in the long run - slightly cumbersome. Although the interactivity is not comparable to the most modern investigative games, Famicom Detective Club has an undeniable vintage charm. Despite a few too many stereotypes, The Missing Heir and The Girl Who Stands Behind are two stories that deserve to be experienced.
I don’t think anything is gained by playing either Famicom Detective Club that can’t be gained by watching a playthrough because the puzzles are at best throwaway and at worst barely present. These are inherently flawed games, but if somehow the idea of slogging through menus isn’t a turn off there are absolutely two great, down to Earth murder mysteries to be experienced here.
Famicom Detective Club: The Missing Heir and The Girl Who Stands Behind are well-told and compelling mystery games presented in a loving remake that improves on the original titles while sometimes remaining a little too faithful to outdated designs.
Why take such efforts to unearth them in a remaster that goes above and beyond in so many ways, only to leave basic flaws intact? A puzzle for future generations of podcasters, perhaps. [Issue#359, p.114]
A prequel to the first Famicom Detective Club, this remake offers an equally riveting mystery. Just like the Missing Heir, the music and visuals have been completely overhauled, both of which are fantastic in this version. The scope is increased from the first title, the amount of characters and locations is noticeably larger. The narrative manages to be just as engaging as it's predecessor, with there being many satisfying pay-offs. While most of the game is of about the same quality as the Missing Heir, I found the finale of this story to be superior in terms of narrative cohesiveness. Unfortunately this remake does still retain a few of the dated mechanics and obtuse systems from the original Famicom game, but they're minor enough that these don't detract very much from the overall experience. I highly recommend playing this phenomenal duology of games, both are well worth taking the time to play.
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Nintendo Switch
So, i played this game after 9 years for the last time i completed the SNES remake.
Famicom Detective Club part 2 is an old game, a really old, 30 years from the original famicom release, was one of the many experiments of Nintendo to made IPs from their console, so i can pass a lot of "mistakes" that i felt when i played this game and the SNES remake.
Don't forget that this game is form the 80's so much things are from that era, there where a lot of improvement on graphics and music, and of course an AV on the switch release, which is a full air refreshing thing, Nintendo keep the mechanics and the story like the original game, so there's no much changes about it.
This game makes you thing and even backtracking somethings in one place, you can't go foward a lot of times because you need to keep an eye on every detail after you choose a desition thing when the MC is thinking about the situation.
Like a detective game, there's plot twist that mades you thing "oh, im in the final part of the game" but its only another thing that you might be research from your main investigation, until you're on the final part of the game.
The game itself is short, if you're not experienced with this kind of games, you can spend like 15-20 hours of gameplay, replaying this game can short that gap even in less than 5 hours.
This is one of my favorites games of Nintendo itself, i recomend it to explore the early years of the Famicom, obviously playing on the switch.
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Nintendo Switch
After 30 years of being locked in Japan, Nintendo has remade and released the Famicom Detective Club games stateside giving a chance to try their only murder-mystery visual novels to date. These games (made by the creator of Metroid) were a wonderful ride with beautiful visuals, an amazing soundtrack that is worth pausing to jam out to, and two incredible stories filled with twists and turns all the way to the very end. Each journey tells a very different type of story, this one being a straightforward murder mystery. Both hint at supernatural elements, overturn theories you may have come with along the way, and save the biggest plot twists for the final hours. Never at any point were these games predictable, and even if you can guess some things, you can never guess everything and it's a great feeling.
These games are not perfect, as they're very faithful remakes that sometimes make the greatest challenge of the game just trying to play it. You'll have to mash the same prompts over and over, check random things, then try prompts again... It's frustrating, and sometimes finding a guide is the only practical solution. But even with those frustrations aside, seeing the groundwork that would inspire games like Phoenix Wright was an absolute joy, and a must play for fans of murder mysterious that keep you on the edge or your seat, visual novels that seemingly come to life with flawless uses of the environments, or really anyone who wants to experience a lost piece of Nintendo history, these are definitely worth picking up as a bundle. I'll always remember my time with these games fondly, and I'm certain I'll find myself listening to the soundtrack on more than one occasion.
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Nintendo Switch
GAME IS CENSORED! Don't buy this game, if you are against censorship. Nintendo acts themselves as the Chinese government and they are no different than communists in this aspect. Look it up, there's a good video explaining the censorship
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Nintendo Switch
Summary Find the secret behind a grizzly rumor haunting a Japanese high school. Interrogate suspects and hunt for clues to piece together chilling conundrums plaguing a high school in Japan. Suspense (and a little bit of horror) ensues as you try to free students from their nightmare. Play at home, on the go, or in your favorite reading nook—onl...
Rated T
for Teen
Platforms:
- Nintendo Switch
Initial Release Date: May 14, 2021
Developer:
- Mages.
Publisher: Nintendo
Genres:
