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    Root Letter

    Game » consists of 10 releases. Released Jun 16, 2016

    A mystery visual novel where an old letter leads the main character to start looking into the disappearance of a high school pen pal from 15 years ago.

    riostarwind's Root Letter (PSN) (PlayStation 4) review

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    A good mystery may be a good starting point unless a stilted translation and one note characters get in the way

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    One of Aya's letters about one of her friends.
    One of Aya's letters about one of her friends.

    Do I have some fascination with playing visual novels with Root in their name? This is the second time this word choice has shown up in a game I’ve played recently. Unlike the last one with its time bending chicanery this one relies on one big mystery. One day protag-kun decides to look over his old letters from a pen pal he had 15 years ago. Yet this day he notices a new letter that he didn’t read before and it has no post mark on it. In the letter it states that Aya had to kill someone and that she would no longer send any more letters. This peeks the protag’s interest so he decides to head out to her hometown to solve this mystery. After all each of her letters mention one of her friends by their nickname so he has some basis to work off of yet it is never that easy since it seems all of them have a secret they have to hide.

    Which leads directly into the main unique gameplay hook. Most of the game is a standard visual novel setting of wandering around places to see scenes play out that continue the story. Yet once it comes time to confront one of the seven friends it turns into a Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney scene. With no one outright willing to say anything without prodding them picking the right item or dialogue choice is key to getting them to let their guard down. Each of these confrontations play out differently and it was fun to see the drama play out each time. Once the player starts going down the right path it starts to ramp up until MAX mode comes into play. That may sound cool but it is literally just a multiple choice answer that lets the player keep choosing answers till they get the right one.

    The developers certainly wanted the player to play through this game multiple times. Yet I don't think the changes in the narrative are enough of a reason to replay it.
    The developers certainly wanted the player to play through this game multiple times. Yet I don't think the changes in the narrative are enough of a reason to replay it.

    The overall mystery is the strongest point in this games favor since even after making each of the friends admit that they know Aya they never give out much more than that. Which made me want to see what happened next even more than before since I had no clue where this ride was going to end. A solid emotional hook is tacked on with each of the 11 letters the protag reads during each of the chapters since you learn a bit more about Aya and her friends each time. Plus his reply is left up to the player to decide which does play into how the game concludes since it has 5 different endings. Which might be neat if it didn’t only change the final few chapters of the game. At least the developers thought to add in a skip function so you could get to the finale quickly.

    Yet all the good things do get countered by the simplicity of the characters since they are all rather one note. Sure some do break the mold like Fatty who lost a lot of weight since high school but in general they are all the same. In most cases this isn’t something I notice in a story but when it takes place in two different time periods it becomes a bit more obvious. Also one of the nicknames may be a direct translation but just calling one of the characters “bitch” all the time is just a step to far. Sure she may be that archetype but it’s kinda weird to see everyone call her that nonchalantly. Most of this is thanks to a stilled translation that may be correct but it doesn’t read correctly all the time.

    In general this is just a run of the mill visual novel that has good mystery. Yet you will have to go through a cavalcade of somewhat one note characters and a uneven translation. Making this a game that I can’t just automatically recommend anyone play. If stuff I bought up in this review peaked your interest then check it out otherwise it might just not be for you.

    Other reviews for Root Letter (PSN) (PlayStation 4)

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