Amazing read.

428: Shibuya Scramble is the perfect mix of comedy, mystery and, suspense. It doesn't take itself seriously (at all) but also tells an engaging story from the perspective of multiple characters - with most incorrect choices spelling the death of the other characters or a ridiculous ending for the character, all to get to that fateful hour where all of their stories converge.

Through every twist and side story that the VN gave, I was hooked to read through to get to the bottom of everyone's case. While each story was engaging to read to various degrees, I felt invested enough and cared for what happened to each one of them, even the side characters. The way each story influenced each other was enjoyable to watch unfold. However the multiple timelines is also one of it's flaws - the lack of clarity on which stories continues which adds a level of tedium that is eliminated by using a guide, which sadly also removes the surprises of bad endings.

The live-action format, as opposed to the typical anime style, adds greatly to the read. Even with the escalating absurdity hour after hour, it helps that the characters remain grounded in reality (despite the ridiculousness) of it all. I wish to see more of that format in the future.

I highly recommend this VN to any reader. The read itself isn't too long nor overstays its welcome, I would advise not using a guide at the very start. I gave it a 9/10 on vndb.

as of this playtime i just came off the true ending, and let me say first and foremost that there is nothing else quite like this game either in the visual novel space or in the storytelling space. a police procedural, a thriller, a family drama, a farce, and a cat, all skipping and weaving through each other to make a tapestry so expansive in scope and so granular in its detail that i can barely keep it all in my head. imagine if 24 was good and there are 5 jack bauers each with their own incredibly involved storylines. and also it's pulp fiction

i cannot stress this enough: this is one of the coolest games i've ever played and probably the best piece of interactive fiction i've ever read. it's criminally underplayed. give it a chance to get its hooks in you and you won't be able to put it down