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LTTP: 428 Shibuya Scramble

ULTROS!

ULTROS!

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
1,474
So I got this game since it was on sale for 19.99. I completed the game and was able to get the platinum.

have to say, it's definitely worth it. It's definitely an interesting visual novel and if you're a fan of 999, I'd say you'd probably like this VN too since Jiro Ishii was involved (producer of 999, story and director for this game).

To be honest I found Steins;gate boring, dragging and tropey, and I was having the same expectations with this game but nope, this game was definitely interesting and I lost track of time while playing the game. What made this game interesting is that each story made each individual stand out and the stories didn't have the "same story dialogue, just different perspective" feeling.

Now onto end game spoiler territories:
The only issue I had with this game is Episode Canaan, it wasn't interesting for me enough to care because it had a completely different feeling compared to the rest of the game and Episode Suzune. This episode was pretty dragging (2 hours straight for one episode) and it had tropey vibes. I left this episode on auto play while I did other things.

I'm guessing Episode Canaan is supposed to connect to the Canaan anime series.

Would anyone mind summarizing this episode for me?
 
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Robin

Robin

Restless Insomniac
Member
Oct 25, 2017
3,504
Jawmuncher said:
Wait, it's the same author as 999? I was on the fence about getting it, but that seals the deal.
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I had no clue either! Me and Ketkat have been working through Nonary Games (I've played 999 and she hasn't played any of them) and we've been having a blast. I was planning on revisiting Ave Attorney next but maybe we should try this next.
 
Strings

Strings

Member
Oct 27, 2017
31,582
Jiro Ishii was producer on 999. He did not write or direct it (that was Kotaro Uchikoshi).
 
Damn Silly

Damn Silly

Member
Oct 25, 2017
7,224
Glad you enjoyed it. Played it myself relatively recently and it's just so goddamn charming.

Jawmuncher said:
Wait, it's the same author as 999? I was on the fence about getting it, but that seals the deal.
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Robin said:
I had no clue either! Me and Ketkat have been working through Nonary Games (I've played 999 and she hasn't played any of them) and we've been having a blast. I was planning on revisiting Ave Attorney next but maybe we should try this next.
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Not quite. Kotaro Uchikoshi wrote (and directed) 999. Ishii (the writer of 428) was a producer. I'd still recommend 428 if you enjoyed 999 though, even though they're a bit different to each other!
 
Alastor3

Alastor3

Attempted to circumvent ban with alt account
Banned
Oct 28, 2017
8,297
I have the game but just did the intro, i thinkni wasnt into ready much when i started so i stopped. I didn't wanted to get into a huge heavily text related and lots of japanese name to remember
 
Miker

Miker

Member
Oct 25, 2017
3,028
I posted this in another thread, but I'll expand on it here:

I just finished it a few weeks ago and found it extremely disappointing after reading effusive praise for it since release. I went into it with an open mind and didn't get much enjoyment out of it until the final time block.

The bad endings were amusing when I first started playing, but I personally thought they frequently impacted the pacing in a negative way. When you're getting bad end after bad end and have to "correct" the timeline after each, it's difficult to hit that Ace Attorney feeling of "holy shit I have to keep playing to know what happens next." In my experience, getting a few bad ends in a row just resulted in me putting my PS4 to sleep and coming back later. The final time block was the only instance in which I actually felt compelled to keep playing despite getting one bad ending after another.

The plot and characters are all cliches from Japanese dramas, and my wife and I were both able to guess most twists well before they happened. Amnesia, tragic backstories, prolonged flashbacks, etc are all present and accounted for. It seemed like another one of those, only presented via an overly long visual novel, and that's the harshest criticism I can give to a "pure" VN like 428.

I didn't like a good portion of the cast, either. Osawa's brooding got old a handful of hours in (VIRUSES), and Minorikawa frequently toed the line between obnoxious and insufferably obnoxious (*points*). I always played their sections first in a new time block because otherwise I'd never get past them in a longer session. Kano and Achi were tolerable in comparison, and their various interactions with their respective supporting casts were far more enjoyable.

The comedy is extremely YMMV - if you're into Japanese slapstick comedy, you'll be at home, but I didn't care for it a lot of time. Case in point is a character whose weight serves as an excuse for comic relief - and that's basically her entire role in the story. Oh, and Mr. Yanaghashita is like Mr. Satan from DBZ if he wasn't funny or endearing.

It's also just too long for its own good. There's a lot of things that happen that serve minimal purpose in the grand scheme of things, and don't really do much for character development. It's a 20-25 hour game and I don't feel like it earns it. It doesn't help that Aya Kamiki's presence is shoehorned into way too many scenes.

That said, I have nothing but praise for the localization, especially the flavor text. It's top tier stuff. Apparently Alexander O. Smith served as editor, which explains a lot. And as much as I have my reservations on the actual plot and characters, the live action cast has a ton of charm and clearly enjoyed hamming it up for the camera. Even I felt attached to all of them by the end of the whole ordeal. Btw, people who have finished the game should definitely skim through the behind the scenes video (spoilers).
 
MegaMix

MegaMix

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
786
The most hilarious thing about the game is that the girl stood by the hachiko statue in the middle of the day., in order to not look suspicious or have eyes on her.
 
Thuddert

Thuddert

Member
Oct 25, 2017
4,298
Netherlands
The canaan episode is interesting because it has a distinct vibe and dwells more into the middle east conflict without feeling like it glorifies or disapprove of it. It just is.

Does come with some anime shenanigans, but yeah it's written by Nasu lol.

I agree it is a long read and probably something you don't want to binge in one go.
 
CannonFodder52

CannonFodder52

Member
Oct 25, 2017
9,010
Canada
Haven't played that many VNs, but 428 is easily at the top of the list, right beside The Silver Case.

I loved the humour, was constantly either grinning or outright laughing. Some of the more goofy story beats felt reminiscent of the best of Yakuza's substories. The game manages to balance out the hijinks with pretty serious and grounded emotional moments that had me tearing up at least once. This is all benefited by a wonderful cast and a tremendous OST from multiple notable composers.
 
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t26

Avenger
Oct 27, 2017
4,591
Type-Moon was responsible for Episode Canaan. The art and writing style are similar to other Type Moon games.
 
Mupod

Mupod

Member
Oct 25, 2017
5,906
Just started it today, been slowly working through it. As a huge Type Moon nerd I've been vaguely aware of its existence due to that connection, but I wasn't quite certain what it was. When I saw it on Giantbomb I wasn't sure if I was gonna be terribly into it but I'm hooked now. It's a little weird playing a VN on PC with a controller though...
 
Lordji

Lordji

Member
Oct 30, 2017
29
How funny, I also played and finished it over these past few days.

I had a really hard time with it. Yes it's very clever in story design and all and overall the story is great but some characters and arcs are just... Dumb. I don't like that kind of humor and it was a snore fest for me. If we could get rid of the green and the yellow characters (no spoil), that would be pretty thrilling in my opinion.

I think I have a hard time with JP VNs in general. The fact that they keep insisting on retelling me things over and over like "hey you're dumb we gonna force feed you the info" even when it's pretty basic... Makes me drop the pad. I had the same thing with 999 (but got to the end) or Danganronpa (abandoned after 2h).
 
mogster7777

mogster7777

Member
Oct 27, 2017
3,994
How long does it take to platinum? I've just started it. Went to Japan last year and it's cool to see Shibuya in a videogame again lol.
 

electroaffe

Member
Oct 28, 2017
1,206
Berlin
I experienced the exact opposite. I think most VNs are quite boring but I really enjoyed Steins;Gate despite the anime tropes. The pacing is perfect, the characters likable and the story interesting. 428 on the other hand felt really slow. It seems you play every scene several times and the switching between timelines breaks the pacing. The game also can't just get to the point and bored me with a lot of filler dialogue/descriptions.
I guess I could have enjoyed it more on a handheld though. Maybe I'll give the game another chance with Vita remote play.
 

Deleted member 51789

User requested account closure
Banned
Jan 9, 2019
3,705
One of the only VN games I've ever really got in well with as I really have trouble with the anime aesthetic and boy do Japanese VNs love that. A superficial thing maybe, but basing the story in the real world really helped me become invested. Are there any more in this style out there?

The story was fun and although it's obviously seriously implausible that these people's lives would intersect so much in a day, I went along for the ride and had a great time with it - felt like 24 (the TV series). Characters were entertaining, and I loved the 'keep out' mechanic, making you switch and make choices in other stories to progress through the hour.

Music is top drawer as well, I loved getting to the end of every hour and hearing the 'next episode' preview sting.



On top of that, there's a scenario within the story that only unlocks after getting all the good and bad endings that was really funny and made me notice something that had changed in plain sight in the main game that I hadn't realised had happened.

electroaffe said:
I experienced the exact opposite. I think most VNs are quite boring but I really enjoyed Steins;Gate despite the anime tropes. The pacing is perfect, the characters likable and the story interesting. 428 on the other hand felt really slow. It seems you play every scene several times and the switching between timelines breaks the pacing. The game also can't just get to the point and bored me with a lot of filler dialogue/descriptions.
I guess I could have enjoyed it more on a handheld though. Maybe I'll give the game another chance with Vita remote play.
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I found the game worked really well for me only playing in the story hour chunks and then finishing for the day. There's definitely some prolonged exposition but even as someone who gets bored quite easily, I was intrigued enough by the world, story and characters to get through that quite easily.
 
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