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Root Film is an adventure visual novel video game by Kadokawa Games. The game is a spiritual successor to 2016's Root Letter visual novel and the second entry in the Kadokawa Mystery Games series. The game released on the Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4 in Japan in July 2020, and on March 19, 2021 in North America and Europe.

Root Film
Root Film game cover released in all regions
Developer(s)	Kadokawa Games
Publisher(s)	JP: Kadokawa Games WW: PQube
Writer(s)	Hifumi Kono
Platform(s)	Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4
Release	JP: July 30, 2020 WW: March 19, 2021
Genre(s)	Visual novel
Mode(s)	Single-player

Gameplay

The game plays as a murder mystery visual novel; much of the game is spent reading text to advance the story.[1] When the player is ready to accuse a suspect, a fighting video game-styled segment ensues.[2] Other segments include mini-games where inconsistencies must be fixed and stories put together into a narrative, similar to aspects of the Danganronpa and Ace Attorney series of games.[2]

Story

Similar to its predecessor, Root Letter the game's fictional story takes place in the real-life Shimane Prefecture in Japan.[3][4] The story follows dual protagonists; Rintaro Yagumo, an aspiring but poor film director, and Riho, an up-and-coming actress who hasn't quite had her breakthrough yet.[5][1] In the game, a TV series called "Shimane Mystery Drama Project" has been green lit, and both Rintaro and Riho are excited this could be their breakthrough roles.[4][1] However, a real life murder mysteriously occurs on the set very early on in the process and puts things to a halt, and the two, along with various other crew involved try to find out what happened.[4]

Development

The game is generally considered a sequel[4] or successor[6][7] to the Root Letter visual novel, grouped together by what is called the Kadokawa Games Mystery series moniker.[8] The two game's stories are unrelated and unconnected, but share thematic similarities, and many voice actors, to give a feeling of a running series.[9][10] Sequel ideas for Root Letter were being considered as early as late 2016.[11] The game's existence as a formal project was known as early as October 2018, when it was announced under its tentative name Root Letter 2.[12] The game was formally revealed and announced under its official name, Root Film, a year later in October 2019.[1][13]

The game was originally scheduled for release on April 23, 2020 in Japan,[5] but received a short delay to July 30, 2020.[4] The game was announced for an English localization in September 2020, with an intended Q1 2021 release date,[14] later solidified down to March 19, 2021. A limited edition version of the game was also announced for its Western release, which includes a 100 page art booklet packaged with the physical copy of the game.[14][4]

Reception

Root Film received an 8/8/8/8 (32/40) rating from Japanese magazine Famitsu.[15] However, the game did not fare well on the Japanese video game charts; the PS4 version debuted at number 30 in the top 30 selling video games of the week, moving 1679 copies, and the Switch version charting somewhere under it.[16]

References

External links

• Official website (in Japanese)
• Official website (in English)
• Root Film at The Visual Novel Database

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