SHUTEN ORDER – angels, ministers, and absolute madness.
SHUTEN ORDER is said to be a mix of 100 Line Last Defense Academy, which was released in April of this year. It’s a crazy mix of a strategy RPG, a visual novel, and pure madness. We now have something new called SHUTEN ORDER, similar to 100 Line Last Defense, but not quite the same.
This game was made with help from Neilo Inc. and released in the West by Spike Chunsoft. It looked like it would be another crazy mix that would break the rules of its genre. The idea also had a lot of history behind it. It included Kazutaka Kodaka, who made Danganronpa, Takekuni Kitayama, who worked on Master Detective Archives: Rain Code, and Simuaru, whose art direction stands out right away.
This was never going to be just another visual game, to use other words. Instead, SHUTEN ORDER was sold as a collection of five games, each linked by a riddle that could only be solved by a character who was previously dead but had been brought back to life.
You are Rei Shimobo, a transgender soul who has forgotten who she is. When she wakes up in a hotel room, angels tell her she’s dead. Was dead, anyway. After a last-minute, urgent prayer, Rei was given a temporary body to finish a divine test: figure out who killed her and kill them before time runs out. Don’t stress
The suspects? Five officials in the SHUTEN ORDER, a government that is like a cult. These leaders aren’t like most people; they’re strange, dangerous, and might even be the reason Rei was cut up in the first place. You’ll question the Ministers of Justice, Health, Science, Security, and Education, and each question will lead you down a different story rabbit hole.
The interesting thing about SHUTEN ORDER is that each way feels like a separate story. For a moment, you and the Justice Minister are solving a classic mystery. The next thing you know, you and the Health Minister are stuck in a death game being shown by a YouTuber. At that point, you have to deal with terrorist plans, dating sim parodies, or scary stealth scenes. The main question stays the same: who killed Rei and why?
You can play through these scenes in any order, which sounds freeing but also throws off the story a bit. There are parts of the story that are purposely unclear so that you might not have found the right background information yet. If the order had been set, the buildup might have been tighter, but the nonlinear approach lets you experience the madness in any way you want.
That’s what SHUTEN ORDER is all about: an adventure. You’ll spend most of your time reading beautifully styled text, interacting with interesting people, and figuring out how to handle Rei’s awkward social situations. There are point-and-click parts, light exploration in 3D areas, and chapter-specific mechanics in the game that keep things interesting.
The Justice route is like a mystery game from Ace Attorney, but instead of yelling “Objection!” you gather proof and dramatically snap your fingers. On the Health route, the game changes into a first-person escape room, with puzzles and dangerous traps being streamed live for fun.
The Science route transforms into a multi-perspective VN with numerous bad endings and flowcharts. The Education route becomes a parody of a time-management dating sim, complete with bomb mechanics reminiscent of Tokimeki Memorial.
The Security way puts you in a scary, stealth world where a killer with a jackhammer is after you through dark areas. Indeed, it’s a lofty goal. Even though some routes only hint at their genres instead of fully embracing them, the sheer range makes for an interesting ride.
The Health route’s escape room parts are where puzzle-solving is most important. To stay alive in the crazy game set up by the so-called Gatekeeper of the Afterlife, you’ll have to search rooms, move things around, and figure out codes. The Science route also has puzzle-like branching lines that you have to balance between different points of view to stay safe.
There isn’t really any combat in the usual sense. Instead, tension arises from sneaky encounters and the use of reasoning to figure things out. You’ll sneak through buildings on the Security route to avoid a serial killer who won’t stop. When you go the Justice way, “combat” is verbal sparring and using logic to figure out who killed someone.
This is where expectations need to be managed. The marketing talks a lot about the five different ways to play, but most of them are just short riffs and not full systems. The stealth is useful but not very complex, the escape room tasks are exciting but easy to solve, and the dating sim features are more of a joke than a real challenge. You might be let down if you expect deep game principles.
But as extras that add character to the visual novel, they work great. Each feature adds to the story and helps you get to know the minister you’re talking to. It’s never easy to forget that this is mostly a VN, but the variety makes the 40-hour trip feel fresh instead of boring.
In SHUTEN ORDER, there isn’t a normal XP system. Getting more information about Rei’s death, which is saved in a special menu, lets you move forward. As you find out more about each minister’s path, the database fills up with clues that all add to the overall puzzle. Basically, “leveling up” means slowly putting together the truth, which is a story grind that keeps you interested just as much as any RPG’s stats list.
SHUTEN ORDER is beautiful to look at. The art style of Simuaru gives the world of Shutin a lively but disturbing energy. Sprites are big and bright, and they stand out against styled backgrounds. There are special effects for each character, like halos in angel conversation boxes, distorted effects when Rei gets too anxious, and even custom laughter graphics for some ministers.
Routes also have unique user interfaces that distinguish their different types. Small CG elements appear in the middle of a scene to add movement and sometimes even make short cartoons. It’s crazy how much art there is, and it’s too bad there’s no CG gallery to look at it all in afterward.
Even the most basic 3D exploration parts are full of charm and don’t feel like filler. It’s the kind of high-quality work that makes you grateful when visual novels aim high.
The soundtrack was written by Masafumi Takada, who also wrote the memorable music for Danganronpa. He didn’t use his normal style again; instead, he went for something more like what he did on The Silver Case. Each way has its own sound, but the OST as a whole feels like it all fits together. With about 100 songs, there is almost no repetition.
The voices in SHUTEN ORDER are all in Japanese, and the ministers and other characters come to life with lively acts. Unfortunately, there isn’t an English dub, and there are some translation errors in Rei’s speech when she talks about gender confusion. Even though it’s small, it’s obvious enough to sometimes break the flow.
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.
It’s a lot like The 100 Line Last Defense Academy in a lot of ways: it’s crazy, it breaks the rules of its genre, and it’s full of confidence. But while 100 Line was fun because it was silly, SHUTEN ORDER is more refined. Its crazy plot is tied into a puzzle that makes you want to keep reading.
You’ll be disappointed if you expect five full games. You’ll find one of the most interesting games of the year if you see it as a high-budget visual novel with an experimental edge. Shuten Order isn’t just a game—it’s an event. It has over 40 hours of content, various story arcs, and the best presentation in its genre.
