Spike Chunsoft (Danganropa, Mystery Dungeon, Zero Escape) announced during this year's Game Developers Conference that the visual novel 428: Shibuya Scramble will be coming West. The mystery story made it’s debut in 2008 for Japanese audiences and has since launched on Wii, PlayStation 3, PSP, iOS and Android. The localized version of 428 will be launching on PlayStation 4 and Windows PC early 2018.
428: Shibuya Scramble tells the story of a ragtag group of individuals caught up in a series of shocking events. These characters must come together to solve a mystery in ten hours when a ransom and kidnapping case reveals itself to be a much bigger problem. A combination of clever writing and succinct plotting has earned the game a good reputation. Next year English speaking players will get to experience the amusing mystery.
The visual novel features real actors and locations. Using a combination of still photography and live action footage, players will get to explore downtown Tokyo. Unraveling this mystery will mean experiencing 5 different stories from different character's point-of-views. Follow a hot-blooded detective, hard-hitting journalist, former gang leader, the head researcher of a big pharma manufacturer and a part-timer stuck in cat costume as the story unfolds.
The JUMP system allows players to switch between different scenarios in each character’s story-line that are happening at the same time. Choices players make will affect what happens to other characters. With over 50 different endings and a myriad of decisions to make, players will have to choose wisely. There are also multiple bonus modes and extra scenarios to keep players intrigued for multiple playthroughs.
428: Shibuya Scramble will have Japanese audio with Japanese and English text. The rating for the visual novel is yet to be determined. It will release in early 2018 for PlayStation 4 and Windows PC for the West.