√Letter - Root Letter - Reviews

Scooby-Doo but make it anime—and have unhinged endings. TL;DR: A solid visual novel with mystery, point-and-click elements, and 5 absolutely unhinged endings. Starts normal, ends in what the hell just happened? territory. No Drama Mode or epilogue scenes here which is added on the remastered version, just pure anime-style storytelling. Still worth playing—unless you haven’t bought it yet. In that case, get the remastered version (Last Answer) instead. Would chase fake penpals again. 7.5/10. Longer bit below. Gameplay: VN + light detective mechanics. Point-and-click room searches and simple branching structure (8 shared chapters, then diverging final 2). You’ll go through all endings in one sitting if you’re determined—expect 6 to 8 hours to 100% depending on reading speed. I got mine on 3 hours, since I actually own this first, but played the remastered first, so i just skip everything to recheck, and get platinum basically. Has a couple clunky systems compared to the remaster. Skipping for all endings is a little slower, and you’ll have to replay Chapter 3 partially to access different routes, since the branching options was in the middle instead at the beginning of the chapter which is changed in the remastered version. Story: Starts as a basic “what happened to my old penpal” mystery. You follow her trail 15 years later in a small town and interrogate her classmates. Then the endings hit… and it's like each one came from a different writer, genre, or reality. They're chaotic in the best way. Predictable? Nope. Entertaining? Absolutely. One moment you’re solving a disappearance, next you're knee-deep in wait, is this still the same story? Presentation & Voice Acting: Full Japanese VA is great. This version only has anime-style character sprites, which gives the game a clean, idealized visual novel aesthetic. Honestly, I preferred this over the live-action ones in Last Answer. Some scenes feel more emotional with 2D art instead of stiff real-people stares. But you do get the anime version on the Last Answer version too. Personal bit: If you’ve already played this, the remastered version (Root Letter: Last Answer) doesn’t add much unless you’re curious about the live-action Drama Mode or the extra epilogue chapters. That said, it does remove one annoying achievement and simplifies another, so if you’re an achievement hunter, the newer version is more convenient. It also improves the inventory UI and lets you branch from the beginning of Chapter 3 instead of halfway through like in this version. If you haven’t bought either—get the remastered one. It’s often on sale at similar price, which make me question why this version still sold, and has all the QoL improvements baked in. Final Score: 8/10 Still a good mystery VN with some unforgettable endings and a strong sense of place. Just a bit dated compared to its updated twin. If you already own this, go ahead and play it. If not, grab Last Answer.