Today British publisher Pqube released the western localization of Kadokawa Games’ latest visual novel Root Film.
Root Film is the follow-up to Root Letter, originally launched in 2016, and brings the player back to Shimane Prefecture in Japan. Even if it features a different cast, it holds onto the mystery theme.
To celebrate the release, we get to see a launch trailer, which you can find below.
You can read more about Root Film below. It’s coming west tomorrow (March 19) for PS4 and Nintendo Switch.
Hybrid of Two Genres
‘Root Film’ differs from a standard kinetic novel by fusing elements of both mystery themed visual novels with unique investigative and fighting-game-style mechanics to create an entirely unique experience for players.
Inspired to break the walls of the standard gameplay within the established visual novel genre, Kadokawa Games wanted players to draw from their personal intuition as well as pit them against rapid fire face-off mechanics as a central spoke of the games’ investigation mechanics.
Intuition Mechanics
Intuition is a vital asset for any budding detective, especially on the case of a mysterious and inexplicable string of murders. ‘Root Film’s Intuition mechanic allows players to dissect and assess in-game conversations with other characters.
Once activated, Intuition helps the player identify phrases, objects or clues that are essential to investigations and confrontations. By logging these small pieces of the puzzle, suspects can be pressed upon to uncover clues or leads in the investigation.
Synesthesia Mechanic
During the course of the investigation, the protagonist will spot keywords that cannot be ignored – identifying suspicious words or phrases using the Intuition system can activate Synesthesia, memorising that moment!
These critical pieces of information indicate clues, inconsistencies or leads that can later be drawn upon in Max Mode interrogations and debates to unravel a suspicious alibi, press for more details or unlock more clues.
Max Mode
After collecting enough keywords, players are able to confront suspects in Max Mode, a fast paced, reaction-based interrogation tactic, to press on suspects and expose their lies.
If you’d like to know more, you can check out our most recent interview focused on the game, the latest trailer, and the first hour of gameplay in Japanese.
