428: Shibuya Scramble - PlayStation 4

Yes, Shibuya Scramble is a visual novel. You may or may not go for visual novels. I understand. However, should you not be opposed to act of reading and find yourself willing to entertain something a little different, Shibuya Scramble is a video game of rare quality, well paced, with an outstanding localization and a story and cast so very capable of enlarging your faith in what is beautiful in humanity (or so I found it). There are no anime shenanigans: real life actors portray the characters, a sizable portion of whom are adults, and the content is entirely tasteful. Which isn't to say Shibuya Scramble is either overly serious or utterly toothless, but that it possesses a rare balance between comic absurdity and heartfelt candidness, with some genuine gravity along the way as well. It also plays pretty well, with an engaging gameplay hook, a rarity in a genre that often doesn't play at all. I can't guarantee Shibuya Scramble is for you, but if it is, you might just walk away with the feeling that life's a little better for having played it. Not just because you completed another game, but because something distinctly human and passionate, at once silly and yet oh-so-warming, was imparted to you. Enjoy.

428: Shibuya Scramble is clearly the child of Spike Chunsoft as it pioneered many of the features that fans know and love from the Zero Escape and Danganronpa games. Yet, it manages to forge a totally distinct identity from both those titles. The ridiculous sense of humor and over-the-top drama is hard to tear away from. The biggest complaint is simply that, as an extremely long visual novel, its text options are not as fully featured as they should be. Simply put, 428: Shibuya Scramble is unlike any other visual novel out there.

Heads up: This game is an actually a visual novel which means there is no gameplay except for a few button prompts to make a decision. Now for the actual content, the story is entertaining and unpredictable. The story starts out slow but the pace picks up speed after the introductions. It's fun to see how a character's choice affects another character's story. The fun part is figuring out how to get all the bad endings. I still haven't found them all but I hope I find them all.

428: Shibuya Scramble is a visual novel, with the story taking place in Shibuya (Japan.) The story won't be spoiled in this review, but if you're looking for a similar title consider the games from Spike Chunsoft (like Danganronpa.) Granted this game wasn't directly developed by Chunsoft, but apparently they had some influence in the game's design. In either case, if you enjoy titles from Spike Chunsoft, give 428: Shibuya Scramble a try.

Story line was solid. The story was overall serious but had comedic elements common in Japanese media. Also, this is a visual novel that does not have gameplay/puzzle elements. You simply go through each character’s story arc until you reach the ending of the game, which should take you several hours.

I know it’s a niche genre but I’m into light novel video games. The western market doesn’t get much and if some how it lands here, it gets lost in the sea of other games. Honesty didn’t even know of this game had been released in the West if it wasn’t for my recommendations. A great crime drama game.

This is not a regular game...this is more of a visual novel with multiple characters and multiple endings, no voice acting but the story is so compelling that it doesnt bother you after awhile. This is game is about 10 years old so i kept my expectations in check and enjoyed this great experience

One thing I love about the PS4 is that games will be released that are unique. They might not be all-time best-sellers but they achieve niche, cult followings. This is one of those games. If you like puzzles and novels with twists, I'd recommend this one.