A perfectly pleasant little cozy game.
Root Letter, its predecessor game, is pretty bad. The main character is bizarrely cruel, and the answers to the mysteries vary wildly depending on player actions. Its just a mean, inconsistent game.
By comparison, Root Film is just kind of a cozy time. The mysteries aren't particularly complex and the mechanics are equally simple. Your main task is just hopping from place to place, trying to activate dialogue. The confrontation sections are really simple with the evidence you have and there's not a lot of concern to be had over failing. Its just simple little mystery time.
The core film gimmick is also kind of delightful. The two alternating leads, Yagumo and Riho, fill different roles of the film industry. Yagumo is an aspiring director trying to catch his big break. Riho is a model who's traveling as part of a media personality gig she's hoping to nab. You would think that mean they'd encounter the same kinds of characters, but not really. Riho's public visibility and charm gets her invited into fancy parties or happily welcomed into private succession conflicts. She can mingle among the rich, even when she's just scrounging for jobs. Her mysteries all focus on her easing her way into these superficially pleasant social spheres and poking holes into the facades.
By comparison, Yagumo's down-on-his-luck status in life forces him into an underdog position. I kind of wish the game leaned into Yagumo as a dipshit more, even if it was a quality I hated in the Root Letter protagonist. Riho solves mysteries out of the goodness of her heart. Yagumo, for much of the game, seems to be solving mysteries because these murders are getting in the way of his location scouting. He really, REALLY needs this job, so he'll dig through the dirtiest corners to solve a crime and get back on the path of getting paid. Even if I preferred Riho's cases to Yagumo's, its a fun distinction.
The final case is sort of a shrug for me. The game pulls out its Twists to reveal how Riho's story and Yagumo's story connects, but it doesn't fit together for me. It means a lot of pretty grim endings for Riho's charming cast, endings that don't line up with the characterizations that I thought were established.
But its hard to complain too much. I didn't go in expecting a masterpiece, just a distraction for my lunch breaks. It filled that purpose with a solid Good Enough.
Root Letter, its predecessor game, is pretty bad. The main character is bizarrely cruel, and the answers to the mysteries vary wildly depending on player actions. Its just a mean, inconsistent game.
By comparison, Root Film is just kind of a cozy time. The mysteries aren't particularly complex and the mechanics are equally simple. Your main task is just hopping from place to place, trying to activate dialogue. The confrontation sections are really simple with the evidence you have and there's not a lot of concern to be had over failing. Its just simple little mystery time.
The core film gimmick is also kind of delightful. The two alternating leads, Yagumo and Riho, fill different roles of the film industry. Yagumo is an aspiring director trying to catch his big break. Riho is a model who's traveling as part of a media personality gig she's hoping to nab. You would think that mean they'd encounter the same kinds of characters, but not really. Riho's public visibility and charm gets her invited into fancy parties or happily welcomed into private succession conflicts. She can mingle among the rich, even when she's just scrounging for jobs. Her mysteries all focus on her easing her way into these superficially pleasant social spheres and poking holes into the facades.
By comparison, Yagumo's down-on-his-luck status in life forces him into an underdog position. I kind of wish the game leaned into Yagumo as a dipshit more, even if it was a quality I hated in the Root Letter protagonist. Riho solves mysteries out of the goodness of her heart. Yagumo, for much of the game, seems to be solving mysteries because these murders are getting in the way of his location scouting. He really, REALLY needs this job, so he'll dig through the dirtiest corners to solve a crime and get back on the path of getting paid. Even if I preferred Riho's cases to Yagumo's, its a fun distinction.
The final case is sort of a shrug for me. The game pulls out its Twists to reveal how Riho's story and Yagumo's story connects, but it doesn't fit together for me. It means a lot of pretty grim endings for Riho's charming cast, endings that don't line up with the characterizations that I thought were established.
But its hard to complain too much. I didn't go in expecting a masterpiece, just a distraction for my lunch breaks. It filled that purpose with a solid Good Enough.