428: Shibuya Scramble Reviews

428: Shibuya Scramble is ranked in the 93rd percentile of games scored on OpenCritic.
PlayStation LifeStyle
Noe Ponce
Top Critic
10 / 10.0
Sep 3, 2018

I have never played a game quite like 428: Shibuya Scramble. It's hands-down the best visual novel I've ever experienced. Anything you could want in a VN it offers. Deep character development, a rich, meaningful story, humor, action, romance, you name it! Hell, it even teaches you things! Did you know that in Japanese law a kidnapping is different than an abduction? The more you know, am I right? I can see why it's one of only 25 games to have ever earned a perfect 40/40 from Famitsu Weekly, Japan's largest circulating video game magazine. The bottom line is, that as far as visual novels go, 428: Shibuya Scramble is one of the best. Download the demo on the PlayStation Store today and try it out for yourself.

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RPG Site
Top Critic
10 / 10
Aug 31, 2018

Inventive, thrilling and brilliantly executed, 428: Shibuya Scramble is a masterpiece of the visual novel genre.

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10 / 10.0
Sep 3, 2018

When all is said and done, this visual novel is absolutely incredible through and through. Again, having no VA on a console VN is a shame, but the game is just fine without it. The camera work is superb while admittingly the amount of motion blur in some shots are definitely a bit much in some situations. But other than that, I can’t give any praise higher to a work like this. The use of Live Action truly elevated what would be considered just another good visual novel. Everything here is just spectacular.

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Sep 3, 2018

The way 428: Shibuya Scramble is presented is unlike any other translated title, but if you value games with strong stories you owe it to yourself to not let this creative crime drama fly under the radar. Like Shibuya's scramble crossing, the events are chaotic and the passing moments between characters are sometimes fleeting, but crossing that iconic intersection is one hell of a memorable experience.

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10 / 10.0
Sep 4, 2018

428: Shibuya Scramble is, by far, the best narrative based visual novel you’ll ever experience. Sure, there is no voice-overs and the text is presented as a ‘wall of text’ from the point of a narrator, as you would see within a book, but the whole presentation, delivery, emotion and overall narrative is simply amazing. You’ll laugh, cry, shout, become emotionally attached, and pray for each and every character throughout their ten-hour adventure. However, even though it’s ten hours for them, expect many more hours on your side as you work your way through over five separate stories which are all connected in some form to one another, even if our protagonists aren’t 100% aware of this.

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oprainfall
Chris Melchin
Apr 5, 2019

Overall, I really enjoyed 428: Shibuya Scramble. The story is excellent; incredibly engaging, getting my very emotionally invested in all the characters especially as things ramped up in the later hours. The writing style perfectly combines seriousness and occasional lighthearted jokes when appropriate, making it enjoyable even during relative downtime. None of the main characters stand out as particularly weaker than the others, and each of their stories carries the same weight and quality all the way throughout the game. That’s a long way, too; completing everything took me just shy of 50 hours, with just playing through until the end of the epilogue taking just over 40 hours. Even though it’s on the longer side, it still kept me fully engaged through all of it, and is definitely worth the $49.99 USD, having easily earned the respect it has among visual novels. If you’re at all interested in visual novels, mystery and detective stories, or you just want something exciting and different (there’s even a demo on PS4 if you don’t want to take the full plunge right away), I can’t recommend 428: Shibuya Scramble highly enough.

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95 / 100
Sep 25, 2018

428: Shibuya Scramble may have taken ten years to arrive in the West, but it tellls its engaging story like no other game in all these years.

Review in Portuguese | Read full review

90 / 100
Oct 30, 2018

Quote not yet available

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Wccftech
Top Critic
9 / 10.0
Dec 4, 2018

Never before have I played an interactive novel that kept me so compelled to the very end, and once it was wrapped up all neatly, 428: Shibuya Scramble continued to surprise me with more and more story than I could've ever asked for.

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9 / 10
Oct 2, 2018

428 : Shibuya Scramble is clearly a game worthy of its Japanese reputation. Spike Chunsoft's Visual Novel tells a riveting story and makes a really clever use of its multiple bad endings system. The game gives you a tour of the real Shibuya and introduces you to a cast of characters that grows on you very fast. It grows on you so much in fact, that once the game ends, you're sad that you'll never see them again.

Review in French | Read full review

4.5 / 5.0
Oct 8, 2018

428: Shibuya Scramble is clearly the child of Spike Chunsoft as it brings together some of the best features from Zero Escape and Danganronpa into a new title.

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Digitally Downloaded
Lindsay M.
Top Critic
Oct 11, 2018

428: Shibuya Scramble is storytelling via video games at its finest. The multiple parallel stories, the twists and turns, the characters, each is reason enough to pick up this title despite the initial release being a decade ago. It plays with ease, allowing you to completely lose yourself if the story of Maria's abduction and the ten most important hours spent trying to save her.

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9 / 10.0
Oct 1, 2018

It won't satisfy those who like a lot of action in their games, but anyone who likes to take their time and devour a good book will be in their element, that's for sure.

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87%
Sep 19, 2018

428: Shibuya Scramble's Western release is a miracle. Don't sleep on it.

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8.5 / 10.0
Oct 2, 2018

428: Shibuya Scramble may be a ten-year-old game, but it's such a unique experience that it feels like a slightly flawed, modern classic even today. If you have any love for the genre, don't skip this one.

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8.5 / 10.0
Oct 22, 2018

After a wait of ten years, finally 428: Shibuya Scramble has also landed in our area. With a fantastic setting like Japan surrounding a compelling and intriguing story, the game deserves to be widely promoted with few reservations. Absolutely recommended both to those who appreciate visual novels, and to those who are entering the genre for the first time even if for the latter the impact may not be immediately the best. If you do not let yourself be discouraged by the presence of the English language alone, you can therefore prepare yourself for a story made up of many, many paths to follow to trace your destiny.

Review in Italian | Read full review

GameSpot
Top Critic
8 / 10
Sep 12, 2018

The unique presentation and excellent storytelling of 428: Shibuya Scramble make it a great visual novel experience.

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8 / 10.0
Oct 1, 2018

Despite some minor issues, 428: Shibuya Scramble is one of the most unique visual novel ever seen.

Review in Italian | Read full review

GameMAG
xtr
Top Critic
8 / 10
Nov 2, 2018

428: Shibuya Scramble is a classic nonlinear visual novel that requires you to be attentive. More than 50 hours of delight are guaranteed to the fans of good detective stories.

Review in Russian | Read full review

8 / 10.0
Aug 26, 2018

Despite my minor frustrations at the way I had finally reached the epilogue, upon watching the credits roll and various screens appeared bringing up memories of earlier game moments I felt a fondness for each of the characters. Over the course of 428: Shibuya Scramble I had grown to know these characters and see them through tough situations. I was genuinely concerned when some were put in danger, and often found myself chuckling at whatever ludicrous situation or funny ending I happened upon. 428: Shibuya Scramble left an empty feeling in my stomach once I had finished, as I realized my time with these characters had come to a close and no new significant time would be spent with them. It's a familiar feeling, one that punctuates the end of stories that I was always sad to have to finally put down.

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