A visual novel that tackles a mystery around a kidnapping through the (mis)adventures of several fancy characters. The choices you make on one of the routes impact the others, and the way these interactions affect the outcome of each individual's story is basically the core of the game. The game reminded me a lot of 13 Sentinels, and while the story is somewhat simpler and there are less characters in 428, the way their fates intertwine is certainly a lot more elaborate. There are over 80 outcomes that you might encounter, though most of them are just comical, and it's really fascinating when you try to prevent a certain situation of happening.
The game doesn't have an anime artstyle, instead it's live action with a mostly Japanese cast. I wouldn't say I'm used to that kind of games that emit jDrama vibes, but I didn't mind it at all and even if some of the actors seemed a bit off, others felt perfect on their role. This stylistic choice made it pretty unique in my eyes, over other games of the genre, and it managed to sell the absurdness of some scenes really well.
As far as the story goes, while I feel I wasn't really engrossed with some of the characters at the start, by the end of the story I think I was attached with everyone. Some of the routes start a bit slow, with seemingly irrelevant plot threads, but as you progress through them and the stories start to converge, things become a lot spicier. There are several big twists in it, some are kind of easy to guess, others felt a lot more shocking, the story is certainly very enjoyable though, full of funny or cool moments. Worth mentioning that a lot of side characters are also very amusing, even if they play a small role in the bigger picture. Osawa's route was probably my favorite, and a certain detective contributed to that.
Overall, even if some elements like the live action aren't everyone's cup of tea, I'd still recommend this game in a heartbeat, especially to fans of stuff like the Nonary Games or 13 Sentinels. The mystery and the characters are more than enough to engross you to this story about Shibuya completely.
The game doesn't have an anime artstyle, instead it's live action with a mostly Japanese cast. I wouldn't say I'm used to that kind of games that emit jDrama vibes, but I didn't mind it at all and even if some of the actors seemed a bit off, others felt perfect on their role. This stylistic choice made it pretty unique in my eyes, over other games of the genre, and it managed to sell the absurdness of some scenes really well.
As far as the story goes, while I feel I wasn't really engrossed with some of the characters at the start, by the end of the story I think I was attached with everyone. Some of the routes start a bit slow, with seemingly irrelevant plot threads, but as you progress through them and the stories start to converge, things become a lot spicier. There are several big twists in it, some are kind of easy to guess, others felt a lot more shocking, the story is certainly very enjoyable though, full of funny or cool moments. Worth mentioning that a lot of side characters are also very amusing, even if they play a small role in the bigger picture. Osawa's route was probably my favorite, and a certain detective contributed to that.
Overall, even if some elements like the live action aren't everyone's cup of tea, I'd still recommend this game in a heartbeat, especially to fans of stuff like the Nonary Games or 13 Sentinels. The mystery and the characters are more than enough to engross you to this story about Shibuya completely.