Review: Shuten Order

Shuten Order is a new project by Too Kyo Games, Neilo and DMM Games. Published in the West by Spike Chunsoft, the game explores multiple facets of text adventure to create an experience that’s truly one of a kind.

Time to Figure Out Who Killed You

Without memories, a young individual wakes up in a hotel room and receives the visit of two angels. According to them, the protagonist was once the Founder of a religious group and nation called Shuten Order. This group looks forward to a mysterious “end” and faithfully follows the guidance of the Founder.

The worst part, however, is that this messiah has been killed by someone and has only come back thanks to the power of god. Assuming the name Rei Shimobe and the persona of a detective, it’ll be up to the player to figure out what happened by investigating the main suspects.

As Rei’s body is only temporary, time is of the essence and it’ll be necessary to choose only one of the five potential culprits to investigate. Each of the suspects commands one of the ministries that rules over the Shuten Order, and besides being powerful individuals within the nation, they also have different routines that don’t intersect.

This early choice of whom to investigate will define what route the player will see. Since Rei doesn’t have memories of being the Founder, there are a lot of odd details that are revealed in each story. None of the stories feel like a waste of time and they all manage to add significant reveals to create the complete picture of what the nation is and the relationships between characters.

A Fresh, Wild Combination in Multiple Routes

Not only is each route in Shuten Order completely different in its narrative developments, but the gameplay also significantly changes. While the whole game is text-heavy, as expected of visual novels and text adventures, each of them features different mechanics to keep in mind for each route.

In one story, the player has to investigate an unrelated murder mystery for one of the culprits. In another, Rei must run away from a fearsome serial killer, using shelters to hide and shutters to try to slow them down. There’s even one that mimics a romance adventure with the player having to flirt with girls, learn more about them and confess for the sake of investigation.

For the murder investigation route (Ministry of Justice), players must interact with the areas in a point-and-click fashion and gather testimonies. Some words are highlighted and may lead to further conversation, but if the player tries to pick on terms that just aren’t relevant, it may cost Trust points, and losing all of them means game over.

On the death game route (Ministry of Health), players need to move through a labyrinth-like area from a first-person perspective like a traditional dungeon RPG. Specific doors require players to solve simple puzzles, most of which revolve around connecting dots, moving image pieces or filling in areas with Tetris-like pieces. This section is accompanied by a fictional live stream with a VTuber commenting on the player's actions.

Meanwhile, the Science Route is entirely text-based and follows a structure of multiple perspectives, like the classic visual novel 428: Shibuya Scramble. The player has to advance through the story and pick choices to reach different outcomes. At times, progress may be locked and it’ll be necessary to use the flowchart to change perspective to another character to unlock it.

The Education Route is a “dating sim” in which players have to choose how to spend their limited time slots. The school map has various points to go to which will have different students and the goal is to find the girl you’d like to date, increasing their relationship points until it’s time to confess your feelings. The last conversation will demand picking the right choices in time-sensitive conversations in which the girls will grow irritated if the player makes mistakes.

Finally, the Ministry of Security provides a horror experience in a 3D area seen from a top-down perspective. As the player explores corridors and rooms, it’ll be necessary to run from a serial killer and to avoid being seen as much as possible. Failing to be stealthy means running around trying to reach a locker room to hide in.

Variety and High Quality with a Touch of Technical Frustrations

The result of each route playing so differently is that there’s always a fresh new look to be had in the game. Meanwhile, the way the game divides its revelations and twists in the routes makes it so that players are always gaining more insight and evolving to a more significant understanding. As a result, the whole experience is not just fragments, but something that comes together as more than its pieces alone.

Besides those two elements, Shimadoriru’s character designs are vibrant and help make the characters remarkable. The visuals as a whole are flashy, colorful and detailed in a way that stands out, whether it is using 3D assets or 2D illustrations. The soundtrack, sound effects and Japanese voice acting are also fantastic at setting the mood, making the full package feel like a world that’s alive.

Not only is each route in Shuten Order completely different in its narrative developments, but the gameplay also changes significantly.

While the general product is fantastic, the English translation is unfortunately lacking polish at times. There are many typos and issues like incorrect lines, with even formatting and the position of the text on screen getting in the way of the experience. On Switch, the sound also cuts off from time to time, which can break immersion.

It’s a shame that those technical issues exist as it would otherwise be a perfect experience that truly showcases the mastery that Too Kyo has over text adventures. After the insane release of The Hundred Line earlier this year, Kazutaka Kodaka’s team and director Takumi Nakazawa have managed to create another impressively unique game.

Closing Comments:

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.