SHUTEN ORDER Review Summary

Beautiful, unique art and a strong story across five distinct routes, but widespread crashes plus no saving in the final chapter and replay for a second ending hurt it.

Beautiful and unique art: The art style is visually striking, distinctive, and gorgeous. Many reviews praise the art direction and character designs as outstanding.

Strong and engaging story: The story is consistently praised as excellent, compelling, and well-constructed. Many reviews highlight its tight plot and entertaining narrative.

Satisfying twists and foreshadowing: The story features many twists and foreshadowing that keep players engaged. Plot twists are satisfying and well-received.

Great soundtrack: The soundtrack is a major highlight, with music that fits every moment and is consistently good. Many call it amazing and extraordinary.

Unique visual novel experience: The game stands out as a one-of-a-kind visual novel with a unique world. It is nearly perfect for dedicated fans of the genre.

No saving in final chapter: Players cannot manually save during the final chapter, which lasts several hours, forcing long uninterrupted sessions. This design is widely criticized as frustrating and inconvenient.

Replay required for second ending: Due to the lack of saving in the final chapter, seeing the second ending requires replaying hours of identical story. This is a major complaint among players.

Translation and localization problems: The game suffers from patchy, awkward translation and localization errors, including missing words and cut-off sentences. This causes confusion, especially in important text.

Pacing issues: Many reviewers note that the story pacing is slow and dragging, which negatively affects the overall experience.

Expensive price: The full price is considered too expensive and does not match the quality or content of the game.

Five distinct routes: The game features five main routes, each with a different gameplay style or genre. This structural choice is frequently highlighted as a core feature.

Visual novel core: The game is fundamentally a visual novel, often described as story-driven with extensive dialogue and reading. Many routes include visual novel elements even when mixed with other genres.

Route structure and final chapter: The game is structured as a prologue, five routes, and a final chapter that unlocks after completing all routes. The final chapter includes branching choices and multiple endings.

Genre diversity per route: Each of the five routes represents a different genre, such as detective mystery, dating sim, stealth horror, and escape room. This variety is a key selling point.

Multiple endings and choices: The game has multiple endings, including a choice between human and robot endings. Branching choices and route branching are present.

Crashes and Freezes Widespread: Many players report frequent crashes, freezes, and black screens across different game modes and routes. Switching to mouse and keyboard may eliminate crashes for some controller users.

Resolution Cannot Be Adjusted: Players are unable to change the game's resolution, which is locked to 1080p, and the issue also occurs in windowed mode. This lack of display options frustrates many users.

Controller Input Problems: Controller usage leads to regular missed QTE inputs, forcing players to repeat sections or fail, and sometimes the controller stops working entirely. These issues can also cause crashes for some users.

Text and Subtitles Off-Screen: Subtitles and text frequently extend beyond the screen boundaries, making them unreadable in certain sections. This affects the ability to follow dialogue and instructions.

Science Route Menu Bug: On the Science route, players cannot open text recall or menu pages, blocking progress. This bug appears consistently and prevents access to essential features.

Recommended for visual novel fans: The game is highly recommended for fans of visual novels, especially those who enjoy mystery and varied gameplay. It is also recommended for fans of point-and-click adventures.

Wait for a sale: Many players recommend buying the game only on sale or waiting for a price drop. Some find it not worth the full price, while others are unsure about its value at full price.

Recommended route order varies: Many players suggest specific route orders, with Justice, Education, Security, Health, and Science commonly appearing. The most frequent recommendations start with Justice or Education and often place Science last.

Game is worth playing: Players generally agree that the game is worth playing despite flaws. It is considered a worthwhile experience and not a waste of time.

Recommended for Kodaka fans: Fans of Kodaka's work, including games like Danganronpa, highly recommend this game. It is also recommended for fans of Uchikoshi and Zero Escape.

Community fair range: $20.00 - $30.00.

Game completion: 50.0h.

Story completion: 32.0h.

Session length: 5.0h.

Endgame: 5.0h.

Shuten Order has an engaging premise for some players, but many report that early tedium, slow pacing, and slog-like routes delay the real payoff until the game reaches its 'good part' after a long investment. Patience and tolerance for repetitive mechanics are key conditions for enjoyment.

Reported time to anchor: 10h.

Mystery ADV Veteran: Plans route order, reads closely, prioritizes story over gameplay, and compares twists to genre classics. Motivation: To unravel a layered mystery and see how it fits alongside classic ADV titles. Stance: buy.

Kodaka/Tookyo Loyalist: Plays through all routes, tolerates rough edges, and compares the game to the creator's previous works. Motivation: To follow Kodaka and Tookyo Games' signature characters, twists, and directorial style. Stance: buy.

Casual Multi-Genre Newcomer: Plays casually across routes, enjoys the variety, and does not chase hard challenges. Motivation: To enjoy an accessible mix of genres and a story without demanding gameplay. Stance: buy.

Steam Deck: Audit of Steam Deck feedback finds major stability failures: multiple reports of black screen freezes requiring restarts, Steam button input causing dialogue fast-forward, controller and keyboard icon switching, missing cloud saves, and text readability and localization complaints. The game is not seamless on Deck and shows repeated technical barriers.

External guides: The reviews primarily complain that the game is opaque, unfriendly, and requires a walkthrough to understand choices, systems, and routes. There is no mention of farming, drop rates, inventory management, crafting, navigation, or bugs. The core issue is a need for instructional data to learn systems and make decisions, classifying the Wiki Tax as Tier 3: The Student.

Compared Favorably to Hundred Line: Many reviewers compare the game to Hundred Line and prefer it, citing shorter playtime, less tedium, and a better overall experience. It is seen as a rival or superior to that title.

30-40 Hour Playtime: Many players report a completion time of about 30-35 hours, with some variations up to 40 hours. This is a common point of reference for the game's length.

Similar to Danganronpa and Rain Code: The game is frequently compared to Danganronpa and Rain Code for its style, structure, character interactions, and mutual killing scenario. Some call it Danganronpa-level but not as stunning.

Five Routes Plus Final Chapter: The game structure consists of five distinct routes that converge in a final chapter. This is a defining feature mentioned across multiple reviews.

Fully Voiced in Japanese Only: The game features full voice acting with a lavish cast, but only in Japanese. There is no English dub available.