Root Film

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

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.

The game plays as a murder mystery visual novel; much of the game is spent reading text to advance the story.^[1] The core gameplay involves investigating locations by selecting them on a map, to advance the story. In many locations the player can investigate specific sections-these are either areas of the scene they can investigate or characters present in the scene they can talk to.

Yagumo and Riho both have an "Synesthesia" ability that lets them sense when statements and claims are important (during certain gameplay sections this is replaced with the similarly functioning "Magari Memo" ability). The player must press a button to memorize the clue when prompted.

Max Mode" occurs when the Yagumo or Riho interrogates a suspect. During these sections, the player must select the correct clues when prompted. The goal is to fill the "true revealed" gauge, by presenting the correct clues, and to avoid filling the "unresolved" gauge, by presenting the wrong evidence. "Max Mode" is presented in a verbal debate "fighting style", with more dynamic sprites for both Yagumo/Riho and the suspect then the rest of the game, in a style somewhat similar to Ace Attorney.^[2]

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]

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]

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]

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