Back when we first looked at Root Letter, an upcoming visual novel/adventure game about an old mystery, I compared it to Ace Attorney.
Now the comparison is official, as the publisher’s CEO described it as “Phoenix Wright for adults.” (Although I’m not sure I’d say Ace Attorney is for kids.)
A preview from Rice Digital shows more clearly how the gameplay resembles that of the Ace Attorney series.
In Root Letter, you receive a 15-year-old letter from an old pen pal, Aya, who disappeared around the time she sent it. In the letter, she says she killed someone. You decide to investigate the murder as well as Aya’s disappearance by looking through your old letters and questioning seven of her classmates.
Gameplay is divided into three types:
- Letters
- Investigation
- Questioning
We discussed the letter gameplay before. You look through the letters for clues and also choose the responses you sent to Aya 15 years ago.
Investigations sound similar to Ace Attorney’s investigation sections. You search the Shimane Prefecture for clues, talk to other characters, and try to learn the identities of Aya’s classmates.
In the Questioning segment, you confront a character and present evidence to expose their lies. You can eventually enter “max mode” in order to crack their lie and learn the truth. (It sounds like a mix of Ace Attorney’s cross-examination and Psyche-Locks.)
Root Letter sounds pretty interesting, especially for Ace Attorney fans like me. It will be out for the PS4 and Vita later this year. Like Steins;Gate 0, Root Letter has a release date listed on Amazon (October 28), but it hasn’t been officially announced.
What do you think about Root Letter? Are you looking forward to solving an old mystery and learning the truth about Aya?
