"168 remaining until the end of the world..."
Humanity is approaching its end. A sudden dismemberment murder of the leader of a religious nation that advocates an apocalyptic ideology... Five adventure games are combined into one, centered around a suspenseful story full of mystery and intrigue.
Shuten Order is a grotesque visual novel that experiments with various game formats, with varying degrees of success. Its greatest strength lies in its storytelling and the abundance of ideas that create a rich world set in a country ruled by a cult. Unfortunately, in some places, it falls short of its ambitions. Even so, you should give Shuten Order...
While some of the diverse gameplay styles seem more like a tech demo, the detective and story styles can stand on their own, but it's really the story and how it's presented that steal the show.
Still a must-play Must-play Rated M for Mature multi-genre journey now Nintendo Switch 2
Shuten Order may be Kazutaka Kodaka’s most ambitious work, but it’s not his best. Its multi-genre experiment, while bold and brave, doesn’t work as intended, resulting in an uneven adventure with several shallow, overlong vignettes.
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.
