Shuten Order Reviews
Despite some missed potential and a frustratingly poor localization, Shuten Order lands with such a tremendous note that it's worth experiencing. What it lacks in cohesion, it makes up for in spirit.
SHUTEN ORDER was honestly under my radar until Stu gave me a heads up about it. The game having so many different genres that falls on each Minster member which I completely love about it. Going from a survivor game to a slight dating sim really was breath taking for me. It keeps itself separate from any other game in the same genre wheelhouse. Basically, the game has it’s unique charm and story that will either have you already guess the plot of each attempt or open up more of the game’s lore to you. Honestly, when you learn that everyone is a █ █ █ █ █, God is really █ █ █ █ █, and that God’s power is █ █ █ █ █ █ █. It feels good getting all that off my chest. Either way, this game is really worth the pick up and see if you will also figure out who the murderer is. One piece of advice, always check the setting to see if auto-save is active or not. Because auto-save will literally be your godsend. I give SHUTEN ORDER the Thumb Culture Platinum Award.
While everything does eventually come together, what's perhaps pitched as a victory lap through what came before ends up a bit of a slog, spending an incredibly long time reiterating what you already figured out.
Shuten Order is a fantastic text adventure that truly sets itself apart from the crowd with its brilliant use of multiple routes to create the complete story. Other than some technical issues that hold the game back, it’s an impressive feat that shows how the Too Kyo team knows very well how to tell compelling stories.
Shuten Order is an ambitious visual novel that tells an intriguing story with consistently engaging characters and more than a few twists and turns. Unfortunately, with the inclusion of five distinct forms of gameplay driving the story, it ultimately feels bloated and directionless, and not one of the sub-genre sections is polished enough to stand on its own two feet.I wholeheartedly commend the audacious, multi-genre effort, but Shuten Order would have benefited from a lot more focus.
Many of the gameplay gimmicks ring hollow, with generic puzzles and busywork interrupting the stuff you actually care about and threatening to drag the momentum down. I mostly appreciated the novelty of this approach, especially as a fan of short stories as a format. Let’s just do without the slider puzzles next time, please!
Shuten Order is an excitingly fresh new kind of game, creating the same sort of one-of-a-kind identity for itself that Danganronpa did when it first released. I can't wait to experience more of this terrific terrifying world.
There are lots of bad anime tropes that are going to turn away anyone who isn’t already a visual novel fan. But if you love the genre, Shuten Order is one of my favorite new visual novels in quite a while.
Shuten Order is a game of great ambition, unfortunately lacking in execution and polish to properly shoulder the weight of said ambition. While there is a good story to experience and some great moments sprinkled throughout the adventure, the issues with its storytelling and half-baked gameplay elements makes it come far short of its lofty ambitions.
Shuten Order is so all over the place that its eShop listing doesn't even provide a genre. But don't take that as a lack of focus; this game knows what it wants to accomplish, and does so effectively. Players seeking a text-heavy adventure with uncomfortable choices to make are in for a wild (albeit occasionally overlong) time.
Overall, Shuten Order's real selling point is its sense of style. Each screen of the game is a feast for the eyes full of colour and interesting designs. While its main story is solid, the individual routes vary in quality and their gameplay often feels a little lacklustre. Even still, there is a lot to love in this strange world and it's hard not to enjoy the time spent there. Praised be the Shuten Order!
Shuten Order is a phenomenal Visual Novel experience that has a lot of different routes to take. The multiple visual novel types make it an experience that never dulls.
What may ultimately make Shuten Order memorable is not its moving story or shocking twists, but its unprecedented ambition: "100 endings" and "five different game types." Thankfully, its strong script and writing already make it one of the year's standout narrative titles.
Review in Chinese | Read full review
Everyone gets their moment to shine, and connecting with each one to try to probe them leads to some amusing situations. It’s a bit long-winded at times, but it’s fitting since Rei is trying to rush to solve a mystery and can’t let anyone know what’s going on, which in turn puts the player in the same headspace. Considering its pedigree, Shuten Ordern should have been a lot better, but its limited resources and ambitious promise hamstring it.
Shuten Order is a unique and stylish murder mystery visual novel with wild narrative ambition, but its lack of consistent execution, pacing issues, and underwhelming gameplay variety keep it from reaching the heights of its inspirations. It could have been really good if it was about a third as long. Each side branch takes 5-10 hours when about two is the max they should have ran. Mystery fans and visual novel enthusiasts may appreciate the experience, but most players might wish for a more focused, narrow adventure.
Must-play Rated M for Mature multi-genre journey on Nintendo Switch
Shuten Order is a great-looking game with a compelling story that you can't wait to finish. I couldn't wait to solve the mystery behind my character's death!
The varied gameplay styles are underdeveloped and rarely make it feel like you're playing anything other than a linear visual novel. The writing is boring at the best of times and actually insulting to me as a queer woman at the worst of times. This game clearly wants to swing for the fences, but it doesn't accomplish anything other than striking out every time it steps up to the plate.
There are a lot of things that SHUTEN ORDER does that are too much for some visual novels, but it works. It gives you a big, bold, and stylish experience by combining five different types of stories into one murder mystery. Some of the mechanics don’t hold up to close inspection, but the story hooks, smart writing, and stunning presentation more than make up for it.
Shuten Order strikes a mix between realistic character illustrations and whimsical designs that capture the Ministers' extravagant personas. Each suspect stands out in group scenarios because their look communicates their role and personality. The idea of a civilization disintegrating under the weight of divine dogma is furthered by backgrounds that combine religious imagery with a deteriorated futurism.