This was such a beautiful visual novel! I loved the detail in the backgrounds and the little animations the characters had. It all went a very long way to make the world feel so much more alive compared to other VNs I've played. The game also sports a very nice, simplistic, no-bullshit interface that never felt cumbersome or in the way, which I appreciated.

I was very impressed by the story overall. For a good chunk of the game everything felt uncertain and like my character wasn't making much progress in the case I was investigating, but then things slowly started to come together. The game did a great job of feeding me just enough so I could figure out major details myself only just before they were directly revealed. By the end all the plot details felt pretty well tied up. It was very satisfying.

That all said, this game really could have used some updating in the gameplay department. There are many many points where it's impossible to tell what it wants you to do to progress so you start just guessing everything and anything in the hopes you'll stumble onto it. If you've played an Ace Attorney game, you know what type of guesswork I mean, except multiply it in severity a few times.

This game loves making you pick the same dialogue option multiple times in a row to progress. Sometimes that makes sense, like when a character is being difficult and you need to persist with your line of questioning. Most of the time though it felt totally unnecessary. This type of weird repetition also extends to when your character is examining a scene for clues. You will have to click the same spot multiple times until you really find the thing you want. Because I guess you didn't search thoroughly the first time? That's all fine and good irl, but in a game like this it only adds pointless tedium.

After playing normally in this way through the first few chapters (it was excruciatingly slow progress) I finally decided to use a spoiler free guide which just told me which dialogue options to pick and what order to pick them in to progress. It made the game immeasurably more enjoyable, but it's hard to recommend a game that in my opinion requires a guide throughout the entire playthrough to get full enjoyment out of.

It's a shame, because it really is one of the best VNs I've played from the perspective of both story and presentation, but I just can't recommend playing it without a guide. Maybe someday I'll pick up the prequel, since I did genuinely enjoy myself. I'll definitely have a guide loaded up from the start if I do though.

Famicom Detective Club was the surprise remake that no one knew they wanted but with a excellent amount of polish on a captivating story, even some rough edges in the core gameplay system can't keep this game from winning my heart.

The main gameplay loop consists of moving from location to location, with visual novel style prompts and a selection of commands (Look/Examine, Talk, Show, Take, Call/Engage, etc). The player must select the right commands to proceed, presenting a bit of rigidity and sometimes confusion as the player must select options repeatedly until a new location appears, jump around some inflexible prompts (Take Lock instead of Open Lock??) and get into some creative solutions (using the Quit option) that can frustrate people looking for a more streamlined experience. That said, the game is also very simple in progression, with no game over sequences and yellow highlights for newly discovered options. It's about as polished as this system can get, which is fine - the game also features a memo option to help catch players up on the story and any details.

The story is where this game really shines. As our main character has amnesia from a fall off a cliff, they must figure out their identity amidst an investigation they were in the middle of. Crimes pile up and the mystery thickens, with surprising twists, emotional story beats, and some incredible storytelling for a Famicom Disk System game.

As for graphics and sound, the game has a slick interface, GORGEOUS anime (sprites? models? What is their secret) characters that move a little odd but have their own unique feel, and the option for either arranged music that fits the high quality voice acting or the option to use the original Famicom soundtrack at anytime - this led me to constantly switching between soundtracks because I loved them so much.

The Missing Heir is a breezy adventure with navigating through some rough gameplay edges but the amount of polish given to the game and the heart at the story's core is commendable. The official localization is an amazing way to experience this game for what will be the first time for many.

I got into visual novels with 999: 9 Hours, 9 Persons, 9 Doors, and I've grown more interested in them since then. I was surprised to find that Nintendo was the originators of the genre with the Famicom Detective Club. I can see the influence this game has. It reminded me a lot of Root Film, another detective visual novel I played earlier this year, with Famicom's murder mystery around a wealthy family that is potentially supernatural. Unlike that game, The Missing Heir is about solving one mystery that grows bigger over the course of the game. The Missing Heir was also a more frustrating experience. It seems the developers didn't bother updating the gameplay in this.

The story is about a teenage detective who has recently suffered amnesia while investigating the death of the matriarch of the wealthy Ayashiro family. To find clues to solve the mystery, I had to question people connected to the family and look around environments for points or objects of interest. The frustrating part is in the questioning. I'm used to having to ask the same question twice to make sure I get the all the information the question has to offer, but this game sometimes required me to ask the same question 5 times or maybe even more. Then there are times where I had to ask one question that goes nowhere, ask another question that goes nowhere, and then ask the original question again to proceed through the story. The game doesn't bother giving a hint in some of these cases either. Too many times I had to resort to just selecting every option I had to see which one would lead to an answer that will progress the story. This gets worse in the cases where I had multiple people to question and multiple places to visit: go to one place, exhaust all options with all characters, go to another place exhaust all options with all characters, and then go back to the original place to finally get new information. Luckily, the game's story is good enough for me to push through this bullshit.

The Missing Heir is surprisingly dark for a Nintendo game. There are multiple murders that happen throughout this game, and I was required to examine the corpses too. Many surprises and twists I didn't see coming. There was a feeling of dread from chapter to chapter as it felt like any of the characters I met could end up dead. The game's art is bright, colorful, and pleasant to look at with simple but beautiful animations, so seeing a corpse can be quite shocking.

The game could've used more upgrades in the gameplay, but I enjoyed my time with this game. I'm excited to get to the prequel.