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SHUTEN ORDER

SHUTEN ORDER Game Cover
88%Game Brain Score
story, gameplay
stability, grinding
88% User Score Based on 184 reviews

Platforms

Nintendo SwitchPCSteam DeckWindowsNintendo Switch 2
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SHUTEN ORDER Game Cover

About

SHUTEN ORDER is a single player action adventure game. It was developed by Neilo Inc. and was released on September 5, 2025. It received positive reviews from players.

"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.

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SHUTEN ORDER screenshot
SHUTEN ORDER screenshot
SHUTEN ORDER screenshot
SHUTEN ORDER screenshot
SHUTEN ORDER screenshot
SHUTEN ORDER screenshot
SHUTEN ORDER screenshot
SHUTEN ORDER screenshot
SHUTEN ORDER screenshot
SHUTEN ORDER screenshot
SHUTEN ORDER screenshot
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88%
Audience ScoreBased on 184 reviews
story71 positive mentions
stability4 negative mentions
  • Unique and engaging story with satisfying mystery and character development, typical of Kodaka's style.
  • Outstanding art direction with vibrant, comic book-like visuals and a highly praised soundtrack by Masafumi Takada.
  • Five different gameplay styles across routes provide variety and keep the experience fresh, enhancing the visual novel format.
  • English localization suffers from numerous issues including awkward phrasing, grammar mistakes, and some untranslated or partially translated text.
  • Some routes have pacing problems, with excessive repetition and unnecessarily long dialogue that could be shortened for better flow.
  • Technical problems including occasional crashes, bugs, text boxes cutting off dialogue, and a lack of manual saving during the final chapter hinder overall experience.
  • story
    179 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The story in this game is richly complex and engaging, featuring multiple routes that gradually reveal an intriguing mystery with interwoven narratives and satisfying plot twists. While praised for compelling characters, emotional depth, and strong world-building, it is sometimes criticized for pacing issues, occasional filler content, and inconsistent writing quality, including localization problems. Overall, it offers a unique, multi-genre visual novel experience that strongly appeals to fans of story-driven games despite some narrative and structural flaws.

    • “The story as a whole and the plot are genuinely amazing.”
    • “The setting comes across as a really weird and fascinating place, and learning about the order, its ongoing problem with violent and fanatical heretics, and what exactly the game means when it shows you the order's countdown to the end are all interesting story beats.”
    • “With super sick art direction and a ton of variety across the five main routes, Shuten Order makes for a very fun visual novel with lots of mystery, intrigue, and plot twists (some of which are quite funny, in a good way).”
    • “It actively hinders its own storytelling and wants you to know it before dropping the biggest nothingburger plot reveals you've ever experienced.”
    • “It's just that there are plot holes the size of entire games, and that everyone acting completely stupid for the game's plot to work does not distract from that.”
    • “The world setup and meta plot is worse than Danganronpa V3; it's so offensively boring and has so many random detours that it never comes to a point; the endings are exactly what you think they will be by the last quarter of the game (that you can't save in for no good reason).”
  • gameplay
    95 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The gameplay in Shuten Order varies widely across its five narrative routes, each featuring distinct mechanics inspired by different visual novel subgenres, but it generally remains light, simplistic, and at times underdeveloped or tedious. While some gameplay elements like puzzle-solving and detective mechanics are engaging, many are superficial, inconsistent in quality, and do not deeply integrate with the story. Overall, the gameplay serves more as a structural complement to the strong narrative rather than a standout feature on its own.

    • “On the gameplay part, this game has a very original concept where you have to play 5 different routes, each one having its own gameplay, each one paying tribute to one of the big genres of visual novels (death game, investigation, dating sim, etc.).”
    • “From the gameplay perspective, it plays like an old school visual novel with multiple branches and endings; I enjoyed experimenting with the multiple choices and seeing every possible bad ending and the small (but rewarding) bits of info you get if you explore with the options.”
    • “Each of them features a different gameplay, which influences the way the story plays out and serves nicely to its narrative.”
    • “Each path features 'unique' gameplay but don't be fooled, it's still a visual novel, to the point where only the 'gameplay' of 2 of the 5 paths was used in the epilogue.”
    • “The gameplay is often shallow and lacks some obvious quality-of-life features like being able to skip dialogue the player has already read in the branching paths or being able to reference evidence when making deductions in certain detective route elements.”
    • “For example, you have the classic flow-chart section, a murder mystery, another section where you use stealth to escape, and so on, but none of those gameplay elements are implemented well and none of those elements is woven into the story.”
  • music
    35 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The music, largely composed by Masafumi Takada, is universally praised for its emotional depth, variety, and fitting atmosphere across diverse game scenarios. Reviewers highlight the soundtrack as a standout element, enhancing the game's unique art style and storytelling, though some note occasional tonal repetition. Overall, the soundtrack is considered exceptional and a major contributor to the game's immersive experience.

    • “The soundtrack was extraordinary, providing a huge range of songs for all types of emotions and situations, which makes sense when the game offers five different types of adventures (horror, romance, sci-fi...).”
    • “The soundtrack is astounding, as expected from Masafumi Takada.”
    • “The art direction and music of the game, as is typical with this studio, are incredibly unique and fresh.”
  • graphics
    32 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game's graphics are widely praised for their unique, vibrant art style that blends 2D and 3D elements with rich character and world design, creating a visually stunning and cohesive experience. While the visuals are considered some of the best in the genre with exceptional CGs and varied routes, some minor graphical bugs and optimization issues have been noted. Overall, the aesthetics strongly complement the story and atmosphere, making the graphics a standout aspect despite occasional rough edges.

    • “The art style oozes with personality. I loved the character and world design, a myriad of details that bathes the Shuten Order with identity and emotion. The vibrant color contrasts (masterfully) with the plot. Each route has its own share of changes like different HUDs, perspectives, and color changes. When you combine all these elements, it turns the game into a kaleidoscope of shapes and colors, constantly changing yet beautiful.”
    • “The character, UI, and background artwork is gorgeous—100% absolute eye candy all the way through. It kinda reminds me of TWEWY in some ways!”
    • “On top of that, this is one of the most visually exciting games in this genre, with tons of CGs, different visuals for every route, mixing 2D and 3D, etc. It somehow toes the line between feeling thrown together and being extremely well executed.”
    • “Absolutely loved this game, although I would stop short of recommending it at full price in its current state - there are a number of translation issues as well as graphical bugs (such as text overflowing out of text boxes, or out of the screen entirely) that might take away from the enjoyment.”
    • “Artwork is reused relatively often.”
    • “Some parts of the game can certainly feel unpolished or a little jank (mostly graphically), but so far the gameplay has been overall extremely enjoyable.”
  • stability
    5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Stability in the game is mixed, with some users experiencing crashes, freezes, and bugs that can cause the game to get stuck, while others report few issues and no game-breaking problems. Overall, the game has noticeable glitches compared to higher-budget titles, so frequent saving is recommended.

    • “There's been some issues with system crashes or freezes that are being addressed, but overall the game has noticeable jank that contrasts with higher budget visual novels like The Hundred Line or the AI series.”
    • “Be sure to save frequently on multiple slots; this game is really buggy in its current state and I got stuck at least once on each route.”
    • “The game had some glitches and misspellings in parts, which can affect the overall experience despite its strengths.”
  • emotional
    4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Users found the game emotionally engaging, praising its effective emotional storytelling spread across multiple routes and creating strong attachments to unique characters. However, some felt that typos detracted from the otherwise impactful experience.

    • “Why can I become emotionally attached to a sentient white cube with tentacles?”
    • “I think they did a good job spreading out information and emotional beats across all 5 routes so that the order won't matter nearly as much as some other visual novels.”
    • “It was genuinely one of the most enjoyable routes I've had in any game, and seeing it riddled with typos felt heartbreaking.”
  • humor
    4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The humor in the game is a mix of unintentional laughs from translation errors and certain plot elements that unintentionally come off as funny. While the overall tone can be grim and serious, some plot twists and absurdities provide moments of genuine amusement.

    • “Sometimes it goes Shin Megami Tensei/Xenogears mode which I find really funny.”
    • “With super sick art direction and a ton of variety across the five main routes, Shuten Order makes for a very fun VN with lots of mystery, intrigue, and plot twists (some of which are quite funny... in a good way).”
    • “The translation is really off sometimes with some hilarious typos.”
  • character development
    4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Character development in the game is largely disappointing, with expected growth and narrative progression failing to materialize, making character interactions feel wasted. However, the appealing comic book art style and engaging character designs do provide some visual charm.

    • “The world described in this game does not make sense by its own rules, and even if it did, none of the actual character development you expect to happen ever does, so all your time with those characters is also wasted.”
  • grinding
    3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Grinding in the game is generally seen as tedious and unnecessarily time-consuming, particularly when trying to achieve multiple endings. Some players feel certain routes lack engaging gameplay, making the overall experience feel repetitive.

    • “I understand it's a visual novel and the focus is on reading, but the security route was tedious.”
    • “It was pretty good but some of the routes were lacking in gameplay or very tedious.”
    • “Getting both endings was so unnecessarily tedious.”
  • optimization
    2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game demonstrates solid optimization with smooth performance and no graphical issues, while only minor typos were noted. Users appreciate the stable experience, especially enjoying the Japanese voice acting without technical distractions.

    • “In my 16 hours, I've seen maybe 2 small typos, not uncommon in English-sub-only games, but no graphical or performance glitches.”
  • atmosphere
    2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game delivers a unique and phenomenal atmosphere, enhanced by Masafumi Takada's outstanding soundtrack, striking aesthetics, and Kodaka's signature intense scenarios. Notably, memorable moments like Honoka's route confession stand out, creating an immersive and emotionally impactful experience.

    • “The game is absolutely phenomenal; unique atmosphere, awesome OST brought and directed to you by Masafumi Takada, who just doesn't miss, incredible aesthetics, Kodaka's usual insane scenarios and the setting!”
    • “Brings out the perfect atmosphere, shoutout to the confession of feelings from Honoka's route, also known as my favorite route and character in Honoka, truly outstanding.”
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27h Median play time
22h Average play time
12-32h Spent by most gamers
*Based on 2 analyzed playthroughs
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Shuten Order Is Getting A Full Physical Release On Switch 1 & 2

December 4 on nintendolife.com

Shuten Order - Nintendo Switch 2 Edition Announced, Upgrade For Switch Owners Confirmed

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Frequently Asked Questions

SHUTEN ORDER is a action adventure game.

SHUTEN ORDER is available on Nintendo Switch, PC, Steam Deck, Windows and others.

On average players spend around 22 hours playing SHUTEN ORDER.

SHUTEN ORDER was released on September 5, 2025.

SHUTEN ORDER was developed by Neilo Inc..

SHUTEN ORDER has received positive reviews from players. Most players liked this game for its story but disliked it for its stability.

SHUTEN ORDER is a single player game.

Similar games include AI: THE SOMNIUM FILES, Urban Myth Dissolution Center, Zero Escape: The Nonary Games, AI: THE SOMNIUM FILES Nirvana Initiative, Tyrion Cuthbert: Attorney of the Arcane and others.