Future Classic
Modern games you’ll still be playing in years to come
For a whole decade, Spike Chunsoft’s classic visual novel was only available to Japanese speakers. Now it’s in English, find out why you shouldn’t sleep on its striking real-world presentation and complex web of intersecting stories
Words by Nick Thorpe
Info
» System: PC/PS4
» Year: 2018
» Publisher: Koch Media/ Spike Chunsoft
» Developer: Spike Chunsoft
» Key People: Koichi Nakamura (producer), Takeshi Furuta (director), Ayumu Iino (director), Yukinori Kitajima (writer)
Go Deeper
» Despite being highly reviewed and having a strong fan following, Koichi Nakamura has stated that 428: Shibuya Scramble barely made back its development costs.
» Shooting footage in Shibuya is illegal unless you possess a difficult to acquire permit, so Chunsoft took some risks and broke the law to make 428: Shibuya Scramble.
» [PS4] The principal players of the game (L-R): Minoru Minorikawa, Shinya Kano, Achi Endo, Kenji Osawa and Tama.
428: SHIBUYA
SCRAMBLE
THE BACKGROUND
In 1998, Chunsoft released Machi – a ‘sound novel’ that followed many people who pass one another in Shibuya, Tokyo. Playing from various perspectives including those of a gangster, a politician, an actor and a conman, the various stories came together in one tale. Released for the Saturn, PlayStation and PSP, the game became one of Japan’s most beloved adventure games. A decade later, Chunsoft would create a spiritual successor to Machi in the form of 428: Shibuya Scramble, a thriller that returned to Shibuya and adopted a similar gameplay style, featuring multiple character perspectives and a variety of different endings. This time though, a new cast of characters would become entangled in an unfolding crime in Tokyo’s busiest district.