Shuten Order is a new game by Too Kyo Games, a wild visual novel of the highest order, telling a harrowing tale of a young cult leader’s life being cut short. She soon finds herself on a mission to track down her killer and regain her life. It’s an interesting story, and players really can take down each of the possible killers in any order. It definitely would be wild to wake up not knowing who you are, and immediately having to find out who killed you. Everyone she does meet does love the Founder, and she can tell she’s important, it’s up to the player to help her truly piece everything together.
There is a lot to be said for a game’s opening hours. This game is no different. Shuten Order starts with the young protagonist waking up to find that she’s died. She’s forgotten the fact that she is a cult leader too. She basically just knows what she knows in the moment and has to connect the dots through finding her killer. She’s reeling from these facts when she learns the people she is talking to are angels.
Mirotoku and Himeru are two angels who are here to help our young hero. Himeru is a small blonde angel, who’s rather spunky. She does seem to genuinely have love for our hero, and really wants to find her killer posthaste. Mirotoku is a tall, green haired gentleman, who also wants to help. He’s quieter and works as a foil for his partner. These two angels are key to the story, because without them our hero wouldn’t feel like they could take on the arduous task before them. They talk about the power of god, and that through this power, she can change many things. She is shocked by the fact that she needs to pray to God, because the cult’s rules forbid it. The cult is a wild thing, it guides the town completely and ties everything together. There are five ministers that are the potential killers. These characters are very developed, and it’s interesting to see what they are motivated by.
Using the Power of God, the player will choose who the killer is, though inevitably they will play through each storyline. Each of the ministers has their own thoughts, desires and feelings, so to truly find the culprit it’s important to go through all the leads. Each Minister leads the player through a different type of visual novel.
These games are where the real meat of the story lies. The player and Rei will find out who the killer is by playing through these stories, and get the confessions they need. They will also retrieve the various parts of the Founder they need to resurrect her, and without that she’s definitely not going to live again.
Kishiru Inugami, Minister of Justice is a calm, cool, and collected young man. He seems from the outset to be the most suspicious, but that has to be a red herring, right? He’s a calculating detective and will always operate on his beliefs as Justice is key to his existence. In his Mystery Adventure game players must find a killer, and stop him from killing more.
Using a feature called snapping players will analyze statements and the world around them to deduce who’s the killer. Until they find the killer they aren’t going to get his confession. This game mode is the simplest of the bunch, with it being a rather standard detective story. There are plenty of twists and turns no doubt, and it’s interesting, but it has a small amount of players and a dwindling group at that. Players will likely be taken back by how it wraps up and that shows how good the story really is.
Yugen Ushitora, Minister of Health is a loud mouthed man, who takes his job seriously. Like the rest of the Ministers he is worth suspicion. Being far taller than the cult leader, he could easily do whatever he needed to, kill her. In his Extreme Escape Adventure, players will need to play a death game. This game will not only test the player’s intellect but will also test their ability to trust.
Sometimes players will need to work with others and other times they will need to deceive. This game mode is clearly reminiscent of the Zero Escape Series. It’s an amazing thing to have such an intricate game style show up in a game like this. Highlighting how vicious minds can be, and how even in an atrocious game, it is important to trust at points. If the player doesn’t find who imprisoned them and why, Yugen definitely won’t confess.
Teko Ion, Minister of Health or the Prodigy, is a small genius. He doesn’t really show emotion but he does seem to care for his contraptions in his way. He’d rather spend time in the lab, working on creations than do anything else. When push comes to shove, he may be the least likely to have committed the crime, but his intellect proves he could deceive anyone.
In the Multi-perspective Novel, players will travel through a flow chart of chronologically branching routes. Different choices lead to bad and good ends. The characters may need to work together, and without some basic trust it might seem impossible. Is it worth listening to someone if there is no trust?
This game mode is an interesting one as it tells such a vivid story. Players really do get to see into the mind of the characters and having everything connected makes it all worth it. Until the case is solved Teko won’t confess, and by that point how will the player see this genius? There are truly so many layers as players play through this story. It’s fun seeing how all the incidental bad ends happen, and how everything leads to a true end if the player just thinks for a moment.
Honoka Kokushikan, Minister of Education is known as the manipulator of words. She is a tactile and manipulative soul that guides the nation. She’s the one minister who truly wants to take over the cult. Her Romance Adventure game has players running around a school romancing the Kokushikan sisters. Using reasoning and the right words is important. Players will have to woo them all, and as they bond with the girls tensions rise. This game mode offers up another world and it’s interesting to see how love can change a person.
These girls are eccentric on the service and the player will feel a bond with each of them. They have their motivations, dreams, and the love is real, even if the Founder is lying. If she doesn’t find the true Kokushikan, she will die and definitely won’t secure the confession she’s seeking.
Manji Fushicho, Minister of Justice is a rough and tumble woman. She will kill any heretics without a second thought, but truly love the cult order, and want things done right. She is the most vicious of the Ministers, and truly does not care what anyone might think. Her Stealth Action Horror Game is one for the books. Exploring a 3D map, players must escape Nephilim, a vicious killer and survive. This may be the most brutal game, as death is always around the corner. If the Founder doesn’t survive and unmask the killer they won’t be getting the confession they may be hunting.
Nephilim is a wicked and terrifying killer, and will endeavor to gouge out as many peoples’ eyes as they can. He is uncaring and even if the Founder protects Manji he isn’t going to get far. Working together with her to take down this killer is the only way they will ever be able to pin Manji as the killer. This is the most ambitious mode in its way, as players will need to run from the psychopath in a 3D space. The other modes definitely rely on being more novel based, so it is nice to jump into this mode later as a break from the other true visual novels. Though hunting a psycho also does help change things up.
The story itself is a large one with around 360,000 words. It’s a little dense and at points it’s a good idea to skip through dialogue that the player has already read. It’s still a great story, and while dense, if the player is enjoying themselves they will find a tale that’s well written, full of twists and turns, and moral dilemmas that will keep the player hooked from beginning to end.
Personally, as a fan of voice acting it is sad there isn’t an English dub, but the Japanese voice acting is still great. The simple fact is that there is simply too much to record to make it feasible to give us other languages. It’s still worth saluting because with such a large script, they still did give us voice acting, albeit just in Japanese.
The character art is amazing, and definitely has its own style. The characters show wild amounts of emotion, and they all shine with the stellar animation. It’s always interesting seeing what is going to happen next, and because of the story and art it’s easy to connect with the characters and feel something when something happens to one of the more central characters.
The game has some pretty solid music, albeit no vocal tracks but the music bops at just the right points. Similar in tone to other games like Danganronpa, it’s softly electric. Percussion plays a good part in the sound, and the other instruments help to keep it flowing. The sound effects really do help sell success and failure. When certain sounds play, it’s obvious the player has done something correct. Otherwise some sounds highlight that maybe the player needs to readjust their thinking and that is also helpful.
This visual novel is jam packed with words and nuance. It’s a fantastic story that tells an insane tale of distrust, chaos, and a need to change things when you’re backed into a corner. Shuten Order might be denser than it seems, but it’s definitely worth cracking into as its characters and world building are excellent. Will the player help the Founder find her killer?
Disclaimer: A review key was provided
