Check this game out if you like mystery VNs

[turniplord]

Root Film is set in the same location as Root Letter, but it's a completely new story that doesn't refer to the previous game at all - other than the mascot.

If you weren't aware, Root Film was directed by Hifumi Kouno, the same guy who directed the first Clock Tower games. The game itself will take around 10-12 hours if playing without skipping the text and there are no missable trophies as you can skip chapters upon completion. Just like Root Letter, the trophies are mainly based on the choices you make and getting the interrogations correct or wrong at each point. 

Sadly, there are no multiple endings, so you could play it as you wish the first time - as I did - then go back and grab the trophies. I really enjoyed it, it had me guessing who was the person behind it all constantly as those I guessed would end up dead.


I have done a full review, with no spoilers, here: https://www.gamepitt.co.uk/root-film-ps4-review/ (if you wanted to check it out). There's not been much noise for this game so if you like VNs and ar looking for a new one to read through, don't overlook Root Film

[Rozalia1]

Thank you for this @turniplord, always good for people to give extra attention to these things. Happy to hear of the length as while some can very much manage it, some of these can overstay their welcome. 

 

I did by accident had my eye wonder and I saw on the list that there are trophies for clearing each max mode without failing once and also failing each of them so... two playthroughs?

[turniplord]

1 minute ago, Rozalia1 said:

Thank you for this @turniplord, always good for people to give extra attention to these things. Happy to hear of the length as while some can very much manage it, some of these can overstay their welcome. 

 

I did by accident had my eye wonder and I saw on the list that there are trophies for clearing each max mode without failing once and also failing each of them so... two playthroughs?

Surprisingly, no.

When you enter Max Mode (the interrogation parts), if you want to do it all in one playthrough, simply fail. Pick the wrong answer until you lose and the continue screen pops up. Press continue and then get all the answers right. When you continue, it auto loads the point before you entered the mode and failed - so it doesn't register you lost. It's not a case of "get them all right in a single playthrough", it's just have the game register you got them all right and all wrong at some point. So, if you fail first, it then lets you do the same section and get it right to proceed.

As it remembers these things, if you miss one or two quiz meetings, or you didn't get the right answer, you can replay that chapter and get it right and it'll trigger the trophy without having to replay the entire game. 

Hopefully that makes sense

[Inuty]

Looking forward Ford this Game. Played lately raging Loop which i didnt know about and did find ist pretty nice as VN.

[Ranari_Kai]

I started the EU-version a few days ago and I like it quite a lot. I am only in the second chapter, but I already enjoy the story and the characters more, than its predecessor Root Letter.

[Rozalia1]

23 minutes ago, turniplord said:

Surprisingly, no.

When you enter Max Mode (the interrogation parts), if you want to do it all in one playthrough, simply fail. Pick the wrong answer until you lose and the continue screen pops up. Press continue and then get all the answers right. When you continue, it auto loads the point before you entered the mode and failed - so it doesn't register you lost. It's not a case of "get them all right in a single playthrough", it's just have the game register you got them all right and all wrong at some point. So, if you fail first, it then lets you do the same section and get it right to proceed.

As it remembers these things, if you miss one or two quiz meetings, or you didn't get the right answer, you can replay that chapter and get it right and it'll trigger the trophy without having to replay the entire game. 

Hopefully that makes sense

 

Ah... I see. So you fail instantly when you start it to mark it down as having been failed. Then when it restarts (don't load) you do it without failing and clear it. I take it you can get stuff wrong at times, as long as you don't hit a failure state yes?

[turniplord]

5 minutes ago, Rozalia1 said:

 

Ah... I see. So you fail instantly when you start it to mark it down as having been failed. Then when it restarts (don't load) you do it without failing and clear it. I take it you can get stuff wrong at times, as long as you don't hit a failure state yes?

No, if you make one mistake, you may as well get all the answers wrong and then continue. In order to get the trophy for getting them all right, you can't answer anything wrong - even though most segments give you 2-3 guesses before you officially fail. The answers aren't hard to get right though, as long as you've been paying attention to the story in that chapter.

I do recommend saving when the Quiz guy appears though, as you only get one shot at correctly answering his question - otherwise you'll need to load a save or start the chapter again to have another go. His questions are a bit more difficult as they're based on general knowledge someone may have talked about at some point.

 

[Rozalia1]

10 minutes ago, turniplord said:

No, if you make one mistake, you may as well get all the answers wrong and then continue. In order to get the trophy for getting them all right, you can't answer anything wrong - even though most segments give you 2-3 guesses before you officially fail. The answers aren't hard to get right though, as long as you've been paying attention to the story in that chapter.

I do recommend saving when the Quiz guy appears though, as you only get one shot at correctly answering his question - otherwise you'll need to load a save or start the chapter again to have another go. His questions are a bit more difficult as they're based on general knowledge someone may have talked about at some point.

 

 

Oh... I see. I suppose I'll have to see for myself then. Would this describe what you should do in max segments?

 

1: It starts. Get the first question wrong on purpose until it fails you.

2: Save. Now do it without getting anything wrong, loading if you get anything wrong.

 

When it comes to finding Shimanekko and the Quiz guy... 1 in each chapter or something like that?

[turniplord]

1 minute ago, Rozalia1 said:

 

Oh... I see. I suppose I'll have to see for myself then. Would this describe what you should do in max segments?

 

1: It starts. Get the first question wrong on purpose until it fails you.

2: Save. Now do it without getting anything wrong, loading if you get anything wrong.

 

When it comes to finding Shimanekko and the Quiz guy... 1 in each chapter or something like that?

That's pretty much it, to get it all in a single playthrough. you don't need to save though (as you can't load mid-Max Mode), just force yourself to fail if you get one wrong

Regarding the mascot and Quiz guy - no. I think the Quiz guy appears four or five times and the mascot only twice. As long as you explore every location, you won't miss them. The one you may miss is the Mysterious Encounter trophy, as you have to go into a certain location twice - one which seemingly has nothing there. 

As I said though, if you miss it then you can replay the chapter and just speed through and grab it if you miss it

[Rozalia1]

21 minutes ago, turniplord said:

That's pretty much it, to get it all in a single playthrough. you don't need to save though (as you can't load mid-Max Mode), just force yourself to fail if you get one wrong

Regarding the mascot and Quiz guy - no. I think the Quiz guy appears four or five times and the mascot only twice. As long as you explore every location, you won't miss them. The one you may miss is the Mysterious Encounter trophy, as you have to go into a certain location twice - one which seemingly has nothing there. 

As I said though, if you miss it then you can replay the chapter and just speed through and grab it if you miss it

 

Thank you so much for detailing that. I'll certainly be picking this up.

[JourneySilvers]

Is this expected to get any kind of physical version or should I just pick it up digitally? ? I love these kinds of games, currently playing Spirit Hunter NG.

[BENJAM1N_LINUS]

2 minutes ago, JourneySilvers said:

Is this expected to get any kind of physical version or should I just pick it up digitally? ? I love these kinds of games, currently playing Spirit Hunter NG.

It is available physically. I got mine from funstock, the NA and EU version is available. I'm not sure if other retailers are selling it, I don't see it on amazon or best buy.

 

https://funstock.co.uk/products/root-film-limited-edition-ps4?variant=32143288238169

[Cloud_Squall78]

12 minutes ago, JourneySilvers said:

Is this expected to get any kind of physical version or should I just pick it up digitally?  I love these kinds of games, currently playing Spirit Hunter NG.

 

7 minutes ago, BENJAM1N_LINUS said:

It is available physically. I got mine from funstock, the NA and EU version is available. I'm not sure if other retailers are selling it, I don't see it on amazon or best buy.

 

https://funstock.co.uk/products/root-film-limited-edition-ps4?variant=32143288238169

Amazon is the only US retailer with it available to ship:

 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08QJBS87H/

[dedennesteph]

-

Edited July 27, 2022 by dedennesteph

[Spraragen88]

12 hours ago, turniplord said:

Root Film was directed by Hifumi Kouno, the same guy who directed the first Clock Tower games.

SOLD! Damn this director is amazing. Those were my first gaming experiences on Super Famicom and PSX (hated Clock Tower Ghost Head though, but he had nothing to do with that...)

[Demortuus]

"Ok, Boomer", "Yeet"

Who translated this, a 15 year old kid?

[Rozalia1]

I finished it and while it has been a good while since I played Root Letter... I am pretty sure I enjoyed Root Film significantly more. 

 

@turniplord going by your review I'd say you miss a few things. To start with when it comes to missables there is a very easily missed trophy in chapter 4 involving the bottom secret trophy (who are they anyway? I thought at first maybe Root Letter but doesn't seem to be...). Additionally, I would say recommending a solution to the issue you found due to how you played the chapters would be nice. That being that the trophy order, that being Yagumo chapter 1/2 - Riho 1/2 - Yagumo 3/4/5 is the optimal way to play. Playing 3 before doing Riho is bad yeah as 3 gets you hooked... but it loses momentum if you then have to do Riho 1/2 before you can go into 4.

 

The ending bit in the credits I also felt was done perfectly. Could it have been a playable section with dialogue? Sure, but I think it would have detracted from it rather than added to it. From the images shown you are able to make out all the details of what happened and it ends on a strong image too, though the whole sequence is so nice. It has just this one ending unlike Root Letter which has several yes, but the one ending is strong, and I felt the several endings of Root Letter were gotten to in a bad way to start with, and came off as more of a joke than a serious thing. 

 

Overall I enjoyed the game before it reached its apex, but I felt the game got really good when it got to Yagumo 3/4/5. I had in my mind the idea of doing a chapter a day as too much VN can be a bit much... but I was enjoying myself so much I had to keep going once I got to that solid run. I also felt that having Magari/others around really helped improve things... it was a while back but weren't you more often than not alone in Root Letter? The music was nice too. They kept at least one track from Root Letter as I recognised it instantly. The confrontation themes are great but I especially liked Yagumo's, gets you hyped.

 

On 29/03/2021 at 5:21 PM, Demortuus said:

"Ok, Boomer", "Yeet"

Who translated this, a 15 year old kid?

 

I didn't see an issue with the localisation. Magari who is the one who states stuff like "Boomer", "Yeet", whatever else is a former delinquent so rather than use terms unique to Japan that we might not get, they use lingo that we in the west are far more likely to have heard of. This is a positive thing, not a negative, as long as it doesn't destroy the spirit of what the original dialogue was which I don't think it does. 

Edited April 1, 2021 by Rozalia1

[stargate1995]

On 4/2/2021 at 1:02 AM, Rozalia1 said:

The ending bit in the credits I also felt was done perfectly. Could it have been a playable section with dialogue? Sure, but I think it would have detracted from it rather than added to it. From the images shown you are able to make out all the details of what happened and it ends on a strong image too, though the whole sequence is so nice. It has just this one ending unlike Root Letter which has several yes, but the one ending is strong, and I felt the several endings of Root Letter were gotten to in a bad way to start with, and came off as more of a joke than a serious thing. 

 

Overall I enjoyed the game before it reached its apex, but I felt the game got really good when it got to Yagumo 3/4/5. I had in my mind the idea of doing a chapter a day as too much VN can be a bit much... but I was enjoying myself so much I had to keep going once I got to that solid run. I also felt that having Magari/others around really helped improve things... it was a while back but weren't you more often than not alone in Root Letter? The music was nice too. They kept at least one track from Root Letter as I recognised it instantly. The confrontation themes are great but I especially liked Yagumo's, gets you hyped.

 

I'm playing through right now and was sure I recognized at least one of the tracks from Root Letter as well so glad I wasn't imagining things. I have to say personally I felt the ending/s to Root Letter were probably the weakest part, the game has this really great mystery that drew me in and then just... 

Spoiler

Ends in either the most mundane way possible or various gags. The buildup didn't feel like it payed off in terms of mystery elements the game had throughout.

 

But yes I remember Root Letter had a lot of solo moments like you mentioned.

[Eraezr]

Only found out this existed a couple of weeks ago. I'll be picking it up at the next discount/price drop.

[Gommes_]

So, is this better than Root Letter? I remember Root Letter being a letdown after I've played Virtue's Last Reward and Steins;Gate.