Root Film

Capsule ComputersTravis Bruno

8.5/10

Root Film features a great mystery filled story with plenty of twists but some poor exploration and a few predictable mysteries hold it back.

WayTooManyGamesLeo Faria

7/10

I’ve been having such a good time with some excellent visual novels like Across the Grooves and The Life and Suffering of Sir Brante that I’ve decided to tackle one of most prevalent (and mysterious) types of games available in the Nintendo eShop: the anime visual novel. I’m not exaggerating when I say there’s basically one or two new Japanese visual novels released on the eShop every single week, but the vast majority of them don’t look appealing at all. The one exception was Root ...

Checkpoint GamingEdie W-K

7/10

Man, I love a good mystery game. A lot of video games will have elements of the genre, often including plot twists and foreshadowing into their narrative. But games that actually have you hit the pavement to discover the clues and take down the bad guy courtroom-style are few and far between, which is a shame seeing as it’s one of my favourite genres. The Japanese mystery games generally come in the form of visual novels, another of my favourites, so Root Film is right up my alley. It’s a...

Nintendo World ReportWillem Hilhorst

5.5/10

Root Film is a story first and foremost. Admittedly, this is a pretty good story with fun twists and some memorable characters. I would have loved to have experienced it in literally any form other than a video game. The gameplay is dull and rarely gives the player any urgency or control over what’s happening. Visually the game is fine but rarely does it do anything that makes it truly stand out. Animating the characters or key scenes would’ve worked wonders, especially with the filmmaking theme. But combined with the frustrating controls and repetitive music, Root Film becomes a drag to p…

Root Film tells a wonderfully winding, thrilling mystery in a true Edogawa Ranpo style, but what’s more important is that Root Film is a gorgeous visualisation of an often-ignored but deeply valuable part of Japan. If you walk away from this game with a deep desire to see Shimane for yourself, then you’ve played it the right way.