It is no small secret that I am a big fan of anything that Kazutaka Kodaka touches. While it took me years to play Danganronpa, since then if Kodaka is leading the story, I’m in. So it’s been really interesting to see this past year where Kodaka has expanded beyond just visual novel in 2025 alone. Earlier this year we saw The Hundred Line Academy a tactical visual novel game. Then we had Tribe Nine, a gacha game that will unfortunately be shutting down but will see the remainder of the story told in doujin format.

Now we come to SHUTEN ORDER which feels like not just one but multiple games neatly, or at times not so neatly, packaged into one product. In SHUTEN ORDER you play as Rei, the Founder of Shuten Order, who must solve the mystery of her own murder to overcome “God’s trial” which also involves getting the murderer to confess and then kill them. All before saving the world from ending. Of course, this won’t be one easy straightforward game. In fact, the game has five different paths, all of which you must complete to find the truth.

This is where Kodaka and team really do take a swing. Who exactly is this team? Kodaka reunites with Takekuni Kitayama who worked on Master Detective Archives: RAIN CODE for this endeavor. Also on the team is Takumi Nakazawa known for Ever 17 – The Out of Infinity. This is just for the story. The illustration is done by simadoriru who has worked on RAIN CODE and this year’s The Hundred Line. The music once again reunites Kodaka with a familiar name, Masafumi Takada who did music for the Danganronpa series, RAIN CODE, and Hundred Line. With a team line up like this, how could they not take quite the swing with SHUTEN ORDER?

In SHUTEN ORDER, each path is also a different type of game. The narrative and game style is quite different as you explore the paths so each of these will have a bit of a mini review below.

Prologue

To be fair, in reviewing these mini games, we also must start with what ties them all together. This is where we meet our main character and start to understand the world we’ve been thrust into. We awaken with no memory of who we are and where we are only to be told that we have been murdered! However we have two angels who will explain everything we need to know and accompany us on our journey.

Thanks to the power of God we’ve been revived in a temporary body. The problem with temporary bodies is they have a time limit. We have just a few days to solve our murder. In these few days we must overcome the trial of God. That is get our murderer to confess and then we kill them to get our soul back. It wouldn’t be a Kodaka game without some element of murder right? Did we mention that the power of God is forbidden and the order exists to defy God?

The prologue plays much like what you can expect from a Kodaka visual novel type of game. Enjoy a lot of dialogue to set the scene as typical of visual novels. Interact with items around you to try and learn more about your situation. That is only if you’re clever enough to get the hints and eventually be on your way. As it is the prologue you’re a bit more streamlined through the story and it is not short.

The voice acting really helps carry the strength of the story. Even if you don’t speak Japanese, the acting allows you to understand the confusion of our character Rei Shimobe and the urgency put forth by our angels. Once we meet our murder suspects, the ministers of the order, we also get quite a sense of who they are thanks to the voice work that accompanies the visuals.

Ministry of Justice: Mystery Adventure

This feels much more like what you can expect from the mastermind behind Danganronpa. You accompany the Minister of Justice, Inugami, a seemingly attractive man in a white suit who upon meeting him clearly has some issues. The unhealthy usage of grass can definitely change the way this minister sees the world, but it may not always be a bad thing.

In this path you’ll join him to be a witness to a reading of a will and see who will inherit a fortune. It won’t be that easy though as the will states the ones who will inherit the fortune must survive the next few days. Funny enough, those few days line up well with the expiration date on our temporary body. Welcome to a murder game scenario that we all know Kodaka for. This won’t be the last time we see this either but this is quite smaller in scale.

Despite the small scale this is a path where the Kodaka touch shines through. Pay close attention to everything people say and how they react. You’ll also have the power of God that will allow you to SNAP when you, the great detective, note something that seems off. Again this chapter plays very much like a visual novel with the puzzles being more about what people say and how guilty they may be. There’s more happening on the estate than just the murder though. This is really where we see the shady side of the Minister of Justice. He finds us quite amusing, but don’t let your guard down. He has an ulterior motive as well. This chapter reminds us that what you see on the surface is not the full story.

Ministry of Education: Romance Adventure

Is this love that I’m feeling? It’s in the small details that this area shines. The font changes to something softer, more round, and these little details let you know the team was focused on making this stand apart from the others. The edges of everything feel softer, the visuals are a bit more cute at times, and the idea of high school romance is nostalgic for those who are beyond their high school years. The speech bubbles are all different as well to give each character additional personality. Some are sharper edges, others feel more subdued.

Of course it’s not just the speech bubbles, it is also the music. When the girls aren’t having a fit of jealousy, the music feels sweeter. At times the music is quirky and cute. But we all know there’s more bubbling underneath the surface. The visuals change due to bouts of jealousy but don’t worry you can talk them down when need be.

The scenario feels like a straight forward scenario at first. Rei finds herself needing to make the Minister of Education, Kokushikan, fall in love with Rei. However, she thinks Rei is a boy. This is a recurring theme in the paths so it is something to keep an eye on during your play through. Gender, romance, and sexuality all come up throughout the different paths and are worth noting to get your final resolution.

In this path, build your harem, deal with their jealousy, and hope that these girls don’t find out about each other. Again for the most part this plays like a visual novel but includes more about persuading your romantic partners and less about proving a truth or falsehood. Emotions run high in this path and you have to truly get to know the girls if you don’t want to see the dreaded game over.

Ministry of Security: Stealth Action Horror

It truly is a stealth action horror experience but one that I could enjoy. While not insanely scary, it is creepy enough to have you a bit on edge and there was a moment or two where I became jump scared. If anything, this again proves that the team understood the assignment. While cut scenes are still very visual novel, the game play shines when you are running from your pursuer.

Heretics are everywhere and the Minister of Security, Fushicho, has made it her mission to remove them all. While trying to see if she could be your murderer you find yourself as her sidekick of sorts. The problem with being her sidekick is that it means you are being hunted down by Nephilim who is gouging out the eyes of everyone. You’ll find yourself in situations away from Fushicho and while navigating a maze, Nephilim is stalking you. Don’t get caught or you will become his next victim.

I almost expected some of the movement to be clunky but I was pleasantly surprised. The movement felt better in this section then when moving in the rest of the chapters. The atmosphere also lent itself to just a bit of creep factor but not enough to make me quit playing. The unsettling laughter of Nephilim made me question my sense of direction as well. Everything even down to the game telling you where you are feels like it’s borrowed from some of the best action horror out there. Kudos to the team absolutely nailing the vibe. The ending of this chapter will leave you questioning and ready to dive into the next chapter.

Ministry of Health: Extreme Escape Adventure

In this scenario, you’ll find yourself investigating Ushitora to see if he has murdered you in your previous life. While asking the Minister of Health about the Founder’s death, you’ll be interrupted, kidnapped, and awaken in a new setting. You won’t wake up near Ushitora so you’ll have to find him once again to interrogate him. Through a few conversations, you’ll find out that you are now in bit of a murder game. This time, it’s televised on a streaming platform for others to see and the game is narrated by an adorable vtuber, Noa Fukune, who will also tell everyone the way the game is to be played. Of course, a plain murder game wouldn’t be fun so you must also escape the area you find yourself in.

It’s important to watch what this vtuber says as she will sometimes give hints or tell you a bit more about your situation. She’s not always the best narrator though so be careful with what you listen to and when. This adds to the complexity of this chapter as you try to once again escape a maze, solve puzzles, and survive.

This may have been the chapter I had the most fun with as it was a mixture of the puzzles, interactions with other participants, and a true escape room of sorts. You have to use all of your wits to make it through. I’ll admit this chapter gave me quite a few “Rei Shimobe has been eliminated” because playing late into the night I could not solve puzzles quite as easily. This is definitely a chapter to do when you’re wide awake.

You can be a little less awake as you approach the ending. The ending of this chapter may have been the one that shocked me the most. Not for it being grotesque or for the twist the entire death game takes, but due to the addition to the overall narrative of SHUTEN ORDER. Remeber that not everything is what it seems. The truth of some aspects are much more in your face in this chapter though. Adding it to the larger story may take some solid thinking and reflection.

Ministry of Science: Multi-Perspective Adventure

Full transparency, this tells a very compelling story, possibly in the worst way. It’s not because the multi-perspectives are bad. In actuality, it’s a great way to tell the story. The problem I had was much more with how much the story jumped from character to character. There were moments where it didn’t feel necessary to bring you back to the main screen to select between characters. The jumping from perspective to perspective made this chapter feel much longer than it was. However, I am glad this was the last chapter I played through as it really started to solidify some information I previously uncovered. It also pairs nicely with some of what players learn in the Escape Game with Ushitora’s chapter.

We learn that Ion is quite intelligent and he already knows more than he lets on. A recurring them for sure, but it doesn’t take as much pressing to learn more from Ion. In fact, you’ll find yourself in a position where you can leverage the situation to have him share more.

What is also quite interesting is that this story isn’t just about Rei and Ion. There are other characters that become intertwined and just as important to the story and the world at large. While Ion is a genius, that can get a bit lonely can’t it? You’ll get to meet Ku Otsuki who is a criminal now finding their way towards a sort of redemption. I actually found Otsuki to be such an endearing character, I wished I would’ve been able to spend time with him in other settings. Mostly because this setting just jumped so much at times I wondered what was the point?

The multi perspective jumping can be a great thing, but when not perfectly executed, it’s more of a disruption. The disruption feeling came all too often in this chapter for a story that is so strong. Learning about the relationship, or lack thereof, between the Founder and Ion, finding if Ion had a motive for murder, and what that could be, is amazing. I think there may be two best ways of playing this chapter. Play this first, to then use the other chapters to find hints that tie the story all together. Or, play it last, to then have all those previous hints tie together to give you a better picture of what the SHUTEN ORDER truly is.

Ion as a character is also quite interesting. I wanted to hate him, I found myself understanding some of his actions. It was not what I expected to feel towards him, but was a good counterbalance to the pacing of the this multi-perspective chapter. Ion’s perspective on the world is also what feels the most real although his actions seem far fetched at times. Once you get past the jump of perspectives, you’ll be in for a real treat.

The jump of perspectives can also be frustrating for one other reason than pacing. There were times where I found myself wanting to go back six scenes to see how another option may have played out. Unfortunately if I did that and was locked, I’d also have to replay other previous scenarios to “unlock” movement forward. The ability to see how each choice goes would be ideal for us who are a bit more completionist.

It’s Not A Perfect Game

We’ve kept everything spoiler free thus far and will continue to do so. In fact, as you play through and complete it, you may feel the ending isn’t a perfect ending. To some extent, you may be right. That also depends on how you interpret some of all you’ve seen so far and will see. You should enjoy the game on your own and solve the murder for yourself, but keep in mind, it’s not perfect.

At times you’ll notice that there are some translation errors that come up. Notably, the misgendering of Rei is not one of these, but occasionally you’ll see spelling issues such as devided instead of divided. Occasionally, there will be no translation list for outbursts from the characters either.

Another thing that feels off is that sometimes characters will be half way in the scene as shown above. It feels like the camera is almost off center bringing in just a portion of the body. Other times speech bubbles will be slightly off from the rest of the screen. You’ll be able to reach the text but the speech bubble seems just past the border of the screen. To be fair though, if you’re playing this game, you may not be looking for the most optimized game, just the best story.

The Verdict is

While flawed, the story is quite intriguing. The different styles of game play are also a nice twist to add to the visual novel genre. Visual novels can be hard for others to get into, understandably so. Having chapters play in different ways allow visual novel fans to try something different but not too far out of their comfort zone. Having different game genres in one also allows others who may be toying with visual novels a chance to try something different.

If you play on PC, fair warning, that the controller did not always work with the game. While there isn’t much needed on controller, it may have been nice to run away from Nephilim with a controller.

The game took me about 32 hours to complete although I did not read all scenarios in the Multi-Perspective chapter, so expect to add on another hour or so if you choose to read everything. It can also be difficult to try and rush through this game. Rushing through the game means you’ll see a lot of the same information again, or feel as though you are. This isn’t a bad thing as this typically means the information is important, but it can feel repetitive. Perhaps in some ways it is better as a slow burn. With each chapter between 4-5 hours you’ll be able to play it within a week if you choose to. I can confirm it will be well worth your time if you give it the chance it deserves.

Will this game be a contender game of the year? Probably not as it is a bit too niche. Will it tell a compelling story and make you work for the conclusion? Absolutely. Visual novel fans who like their stories a bit darker should absolutely have this on their radar and in their libraries. It may not be Danganronpa, but it sure is just as satisfying at the end of it all.

Thank you to publishers EXNOA LLC and Spike Chunsoft for the review code. SHUTEN ORDER was reviewed on PC.

SHUTEN ORDER is now available on Nintendo Switch and PC.