Absolutely worth your time if you enjoy reading mysteries or creepy stories. This is a remake so I'm guessing there's more content (I haven't quite finished all the endings yet) and, instead of the anime-style art of the original game, this features real actors and backdrops of photos of real places. (I believe you can also play with the original art, if you prefer). Many of the places you visit in Root Letter Last Answer are lovely and all the actors have great facial expressions. This has been a pure delight to play. When I played the original, I got stuck so never finished it but NOW there are guides to both games by lylat - wonderfully detailed guides that lead you to each ending and cover all achievements as well. If you don't enjoy visual novels, this probably has too much text for you. But if you enjoy a good mystery story, don't let this game pass you by.

+ Point : A Japanese-style mystery adventure game that takes place in Shimane with beautiful natural surroundings and history.

√Root Letter Last Answer. It's an upgraded version of √Letter(2016-2017). This series has recorded over 400,000 sales worldwide. And it was introduced as the 1st title in a line of adventure games by KADOKAWA GAMES Mystery brand. This game was produced by Yoshimi Yasuda (安田善巳) and he character illustrations were designed by Minoboshi Taro (箕星太朗).


Its gameplay type is an adventure visual novel. In this game, you have to figure out what happened to your old pen-friend Aya, a girl who mysteriously disappeared after receiving a particular letter that was involved in a murder. Travelling to her hometown Shimane with beautiful natural environment and history, you should investigate the events, using her past letters as clues to uncover the confusing truth. The gameplay is split into the adventure parts and the simulation parts. In the adventure parts, you investigate characters who know her in order to find more information about Aya. And In the simulation parts, you play through prior interactions with Aya.

The new upgrade version, Last Answer story has added epilogues for the existing multi endings. It makes the original story richer and reveals secrets that have not been solved on each route. In addition, this upgrade version includes the drama mode and the original mode. In the drama mode, more than 90 real people actors represent game characters. This gives the impression that players are actually watching Japanese TV dramas. Of course, in the original mode you can play the game as it is in the original anime character design. The player can choose it according to his / her own taste, and its save file is compatible with each other.


√Root Letter Last Answer. It's a great remaster version. Its original pros are maintained and the cons are complemented. Thanks to the added convenience features, the gameplay environment is comfortable. The repetitive gameplay parts to get all the endings have been improved, and new added epilogues make it possible to know the additional truth about each route. The mystery adventure part lacks reasoning and gameplay time is rather short, but the story has a high immersion degree. And this last answer includes an official artbook in the form of an e-book. If you want to enjoy the mystery adventure game in beautiful Japan townscape, this game will be for you.

Note: I should warn you beforehand that so far, I have completed only the main route and one of the three bad endings. Please, keep it in mind while reading.

To be honest, I do not have that much experience with live action games. The previous one was 428: Shibuya Scramble, and it was an amazing experience. So I was quite intrigued by the news that KADOKAWA GAMES were going to release a new version of Root Letter. But has this game satisfied my expectations so far?



Fifteen years ago Takayuki Nakamura had a dear pen friend called Aya Fumino. They exchanged 10 letters and then Aya suddenly stopped answering. Takayuki never found out why…until recently when he found Aya’s eleventh letter, which was very strange. ‘I killed somebody and now I need to atone to my sins,’ it said. Was Aya trying to ask for help?

Without thinking twice Takayuki goes to Shimane, the town where Aya lived, to find out the truth. However, the only thing he sees is a vacant lot where a burnt-down house was. The very first person he asks about it says that Aya Fumino died 25 years ago, not 15. So, was his pen friend actually a ghost? Or are people lying to hide some horrible secret?

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1852591904


What are the differences between the first version of Root Letter and this newer one? As far as I understood, Root Letter Last Answer has new scenes in the form of side stories and the live action mode (the animated one is still present, by the way). I will update my review if I find anything new or special worth mentioning.

So, I decided to try out the live action version and all of my thoughts are specifically about it.

Let me start with positive features:

- The atmosphere and presentation. I am a huge fan of small Japanese towns with their genuine natural beauty and unique culture. There is something about these places that make them just the right background for ghost stories. There are lovely little shops, green parks, warm cafes, a welcoming inn, and many other locations that blend perfectly with the story. All background photos are very nice – food ones in particular (maybe I was hungry while playing?);

- The characters. Even though I did not like all actors, most of them did their job perfectly and looked almost exactly like their counterparts from the animated version of the game. The people they played are all interesting in their own way, and it was quite interesting to see what they were like at school and how they changed over these 15 years;

- The story. The authors brought everything together: the UFO, ghosts, mysteries, detective parts, secrets, slice of life, school, love letters, myths, and many other things. Through the whole story I was not sure how it will end, and it was such a pleasure to discover more and more about this elusive Aya Fumino;

- The letters. I think it was a great idea to start each chapter with Aya’s letter and then give us a chance to influence the main character’s answers to get – at least in some small parts. It made me more involved with the scene and is a pretty unique feature on its own;

- There are 10 chapters in total, but they are not very long: each one will take you about 1-2 hours depending on how fast you can read and how good you are at logical thinking. There are also alternative paths in chapters 9 and 10, as well as several different endings. I think you will need about 25-30 hours to complete the whole game, which is definitely worth the asking price;

- The voice acting. All characters had pleasant voices, and actors presented situations in the right way.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1852592802

Neutral features:

- Lots of interactive parts. Personally, I like doing something more in a visual novel rather than just reading. It actually reminded me of some point-and-click titles I had played before. On the other hand, replaying each chapter to discover new endings can be quite a pain as you will have to go through all interactive parts once again;

- I was a bit surprised to see that some photos and scenes still looked more like comic strips and hand-drawn pictures instead of live scenes. For example, all items in the inventory and some photos. Maybe it was done on purpose, though. So it is not really a complaint.

And the last but not least - negative features:

- The writing is not flawless, unfortunately. I have noticed several typos in various chapters. Some sentences repeated within the same scene, and there were few coding problem (when parts of the code appeared in the text). I cannot say that it really spoiled my playthrough, but these issues were still noticeable;

- Some scenes looked more like parts of some comedy rather than a serious detective story that they were supposed to be. Mostly because of the actors’ faces – it is OK to have something like this in an anime, but in a live action version it looks rather strange, to be honest. Just look at the first interrogation scene, for example.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1852591077


One person in the discussions said that Root Letter Last Answer is actually an enhanced version of √Letter - Root Letter -, and I quite agree with it. Is it really worth buying the newer game if you have already completed the original one? Yes, I think it is, because you will get a really good live action series, as well as additional stories that will tell you more about many characters.

All in all, it is a wonderful visual novel with a lot of features to enjoy: from story and characters to music and artwork, from still photos to animated parts. The story of Aya Fumino is intriguing and has a lot of twists, and the main character will have to use his Max mode more than once to unravel this mystery.

Note: I have not played a full route with the actual people gfx option yet as it was suggested that I start with the animated version since I hadn't played it yet.

Where do I begin? I ADORE this game! First off, the VO is spot on. Secondly, the interface and whatnot was perfectly intuitive even for me who doesn't usually PLAY VNs. But I was intrigued by the mystery/detective aspect of everything. The story sucked me in immediately. Its got laughs, and tears (yes, tears, honestly), and enough creepy/scary/wtf moments to entertain ANYONE. I've only done the one route so far (out of 5), but I look forward to seeing it all unfold! The setting is quaint and lovely, and I personally love all the backstory from the guidebook. (And their mascot is ADORABLE!)

GFX and animation is well done, and the sound effects aren't too jarring, which is nice in a game like this.

HIGHLY recommended to anyone who enjoys a good VN, a good mystery, Japanese settings, and such. Hell, Id even recommend it to people who don't usually LIKE VNs (such as myself). If you're looking for an adventure with a lot of Japanese flair (and a crazy as hell gym instructor to boot), look no further!


Another gem from Kadokawa!

This game...

I kind of hate everything about it, but I still enjoyed it?

It's poorly written, poorly designed, frustratingly linear, tries too hard... but still somehow intriguing and begrudgingly endearing?

The base premise of the story is interesting. It's just a shame that the game then tries to cheapen itself and the story at every possible opportunity. The arrogant, narcissistic, sociopathic protagonist, "Max," has all the charm and personality of a sack of wet potatoes. At one point, he has a respectable opinion. Can't remember what it was now, but it was memorable that he had one.

The story is bizarre and often doesn't make much sense, but there's a base intrigue that carries throughout the game. For the most part, you're touring the Japanese city of Matsue and arguing with people, always in the exact same format: they deny being the person you're looking for, you say/think/show things in the order the devs want, and then they admit that they're the person you're looking for. These conversations punish you for "wrong moves," which is annoying and unnecessary gameplay because this game is really just a visual novel but you have to replay the entire conversation if you get it wrong too many times. "Max Mode," which is basically a timed dialogue pop-up minigame, is annoying and serves no purpose other than, arguably, as a further demonstration of Max's inflated ego. It feels like the devs don't think the story is good enough on its own and have therefore tried to jam the game full of unnecessary "gameplay."

The real-life pictures of Matsue are cool, and you can "look around" in them, but the devs missed this opportunity to deepen the setting of the story and dive into cool details about Matsue by forgetting to hire a writer. Max only provides such enlightening insights as "This looks like a painting" or "There are a lot of trees." In general, the game provides the illusion of free choice, but in reality, it's extremely linear and you have to do everything in the exact order the devs were thinking, except for exactly one part that requires you to aimlessly wander to a few random locations before the game will progress. When talking to people, you're typically given two dialogue options, but one of them is just the "wrong" thing to say, often obviously so, and serves absolutely no purpose other than making Max look stupid or insane.

You control the ending you get by choosing Max's responses to the letters. Generally, the options range from boring and unremarkable to bizarrely vapid (e.g., "Do you like black hair?") to sexual harassment (e.g., "Tell me your (body) measurements.") The first eight chapters will proceed the same no matter what, but then the last two diverge hard. The different endings are completely unrelated and fundamentally change the personalities of characters like Aya and her father, which makes it hard to keep things straight. Also, there are lots of plot issues because each of these very different endings have to stem from the same first eight chapters.

All characters are fully voiced except for Max. Max has a few generic "half-lines" that sometimes play when he talks and that I guess are supposed to indicate his emotional state, but they do a terrible job of it, especially the over-the-top "NANDATTE" that he screams whenever mildly surprised.

The real-life pictures are cool for scenery and I guess somewhat for the characters, but what I found really stupid is that the actors apparently tried to exactly replicate the anime characters from the original game. I mean... the anime characters are meant to resemble real humans. Humans don't need to turn around and try to resemble the anime characters. I guess this is subjective, so if you like that style, that's fine. In my case, I found it tacky and thought it cheapened the entire story. It's especially a problem with "Four-Eyes," who's the first character you argue with, which makes the issue immediately prominent.

If you play the game in Japanese, you can learn the Shimane dialect, which is interesting. Also, fyi, from what I've seen of the English translation in guides etc., this game was definitely translated by a Japanese native speaker with a weak understanding of English nuances. Not sure if that makes it better or worse.

The bonus chapters... well, two of them are fine, I guess. They bizarrely change Aya's cause of death randomly and for absolutely no reason, as if the writers just forgot what was in the original story. The UFO one... I had literally no idea what was going on at any point. I mean, nothing seemed to even remotely connect to the original story and it was just running off in five directions at once. The marriage one is sweet, I guess, but it almost seems deliberately written to not make sense.

But for some reason I enjoyed this trainwreck. I 100%ed the game and felt some sort of weird, begrudging bittersweet feeling at the end of the true ending bonus chapter. All the characters except Max and Shorty, who's an attempted rapist but no one seems to care about that for some reason, grew on me. If you get the game on sale and go in with low expectations, I think it's fine.

The new drama version that included real-life photos truly captivated me! (The actors & actress are all good-looking)

While the game is already pretty straight-forward, there are a lot of hints and tutorial given. Hence, the game was in fact a 'relaxing' visual novel rather than a challenging thriller game. The story is rich and engaging enough for someone who hasn't been to Shimane (wants to go there) like me. While the interface could have been better, the game's investigation mechanics are fine. Overall, the story line is great. If you are into Japanese urban legends and anime mysteries, I would recommend this title.

Root Letter is a mystery AVG game with terrible plot.

As a tourism promotional material, this game misses the chance to highlight the attractions,
For example, the game didn't show the wonderful river view, no pictures/videos.
and the epic castle is a plain background photo.
No one is explaining the back story of this spectacular fortress...No one knows the structure of it.
It's like: "hey guys, come to Shimane, we have a castle!!" kinda weak promotion.
There's no way to browse around and take a close look to it.
If you want some information??? check out on Google.

Moreover, detective element is insignificant,
you're required to hit all tourist spots rather than tracking the villain...
nor there's any critical thinking...

There're too many plot twists,
the reasons why the 7 characters conceal the truth are insanely weak.
"You promised that we were going to the same Uni, and you went to Havard!!! You're a bxtch!!"
Come on, you're freaking adults, stop these non sense already!!!!!!
There're too many WTF moments you just don't care.

The inter person relationship among the 8 classmates are supposed to be complicated,
they're about friendship, betrayal ,rivalry and so on.
But the presentation is like kids' bullying. That's all.

Few characters are terribly disgusting. (4-eyes and bartender)
Their behavior could be naive, some of them almost commit/ had committed crime.
And they have no ground to complain about others. Thus, no way the player could agree with their acts.
Why should I listen to a sex criminal??? fuxk off!!
Some endings are ridiculously unacceptable.

The mechanism is also a disaster,
first of all, the path you walk on is determined by how you reply the letters.
It means everything is settled at the beginning of each chapter, Why should I care about the progress when they're settled already? My acts won't change anything.
And the max system is basically interrogating your opponents aggressively or politely.
Multiple choices but only one correct answer. If you pick the wrong one, the story won't progress and have no impact on endings, so there is no reason to care about them,
you get it wrong and repeat until you get it right.

Even for promoting tourism, this is a bad pick, you should look for Go Go Nippon! which is 10X more informative and 10X more relaxing.

The only thing that kept me playing is the casts and voice acting.

I don't hate Root series, and I still have hope on Root film.
But it's unlike anything you should purchase at full price.
Below $15 might be a deal.

If you want to play Root Letter, play the original one(Recommended) and skip "Last Letter". Root Letter's original story is actually told quite well, and there are no story changes(thankfully) in "Last Letter", so you're not missing out on anything.

Most of my issues are directed at "Last Answer"'s extra content, which are not worth paying more money for. Live-Action Mode is worthless, as most of Live-Action facial expression are comically inappropriate due to being overly acted(Most of them make me laugh instead). The extra "Epilogue" are too short, lazily done, and kinda ruined the original endings abit. Sure, the MC is "voiced" in these epilogue, but only partially so what's the point.

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A great mystery visual novel game. Some of the best characters I've ever read. Great music. Overall a 10/10 game.