√Letter - Root Letter - on Steam - User reviews, Price & Information
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When a letter is delivered 15 years late - you discover an old pen-friend was involved in a murder, before she disappeared. Travelling to her hometown, you must investigate the murder, using her past letters as clues to uncover the disturbing truth.
√Letter - Root Letter - is a adventure, visual novel and anime game
developed and published by DRAGAMI GAMES and LTD..
Released on July 07th 2017 is available only on Windows
in 3 languages: Japanese, English and Traditional Chinese.
It has received 548 reviews of which 435 were positive and 113 were negative resulting in a rating of 7.5 out of 10. 😊
The game is currently priced at 19.99€ on Steam.
The Steam community has classified √Letter - Root Letter - into these genres:
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System requirements
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Windows
- OS *: Windows 7
- Processor: Intel Celeron G540
- Memory: 2 GB RAM
- Graphics: Intel HD Graphics
- DirectX: Version 9.0c
- Storage: 4 GB available space
- Sound Card: HD audio
- Additional Notes: Windows Media Player 11
User reviews & Ratings
Explore reviews from Steam users sharing their experiences and what they love about the game.
√Letter (Root Letter) — 14.5h played | 26/26 achievements | Visual Novel / Mystery TL;DR — A Japanese mystery visual novel mixing heartfelt nostalgia, pen-pal drama, and a long-buried murder story. Elegant presentation, clever interrogation mechanics, and top-tier soundtrack. A must-have for VN fans. You ever get that letter that changes everything? That’s the premise of Root Letter (stylized √Letter): fifteen years after your high-school correspondence, one last message arrives… and it hints at murder. So off you go — back to your hometown, chasing memories, classmates, and ghosts (emotional or not). The story blends small-town melancholy with investigation and psychological tension — very Japanese in tone, but universally relatable in theme. What makes √Letter stand out is its hybrid structure: half mystery VN, half light detective sim. You don’t just “click to continue” — you dig through menus, question people, and use a “tension system” where you must press the right words at the right time to break through their lies. It gives the genre a touch of energy that most visual novels sorely lack. Visually, it’s beautifully crafted. Anime-style art with a realistic, almost cinematic sense of atmosphere. The characters feel like they stepped out of an actual anime adaptation (which, honestly, wouldn’t surprise me if one day it happened). The environments — cafés, schools, harbor towns — ooze authenticity and nostalgia. The soundtrack is stellar. Gentle piano themes, melancholic strings, and ambient soundscapes that immerse you instantly. Easily a 5/5 on the audio side. Story-wise, it’s original without going off the rails: a blend of slice-of-life, thriller, and emotional catharsis. The mystery evolves naturally, the emotional beats land, and even though it’s not full of plot twists, it keeps you engaged till the end. The difficulty also scales nicely thanks to the interrogation system — you actually need to pay attention, which makes it more interactive than most of its peers. Technical side? Clean and stable. Everything works as intended — maybe a bit stiff in the UI, but solid overall. Bottom line: √Letter is an excellent example of how to do a slow-burn, emotionally charged mystery VN right. It’s stylish, heartfelt, and satisfying. Fully recommended — no sale excuse needed. QUICK SNAPSHOT Category Verdict Genre Visual Novel / Mystery / Investigation Premise A 15-year-old letter reopens a cold case and an old friendship Playtime (me) ~14.5 hours Achievements Yes (26/26) Steam Deck Verified Mature content Mild themes (crime, death, emotional distress) Buy advice Full price or sale — both fine Recommendation Highly Recommended RATINGS Category Score Overall ★★★★☆ Story / Emotion ★★★★★ Originality ★★★★★ Gameplay ★★★★☆ Art / Presentation ★★★★☆ Audio ★★★★★ Pacing ★★★★☆ Tech Polish ★★★★☆ Bottom line: a touching, well-written, and beautifully executed VN that proves you don’t need explosions to feel tension. Buy it, play it, and let it haunt you a little. Curator group: https://steamcommunity.com/groups/mexargaming
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Root Letter is a mystery VN . When you find a letter from an old penpal that was delivered 15 years late you discover they were involved in a murder then disappeared. Travelling from Tokyo to her quaint hometown, you investigate the murder using your penpal's past letters as clues to find her old friends and uncover the truth. Overall the VN is okay. The exploration of the town can be slow paced but nicely depicted and atmospheric (I got hungry at the scenes at the local udon restaurant, Japanese food is so good). Nice drawn backgrounds and character art, fitting soundtrack and dialogue. There are a number of Ace Attorney style investigation scenes which work okay but there's also an incredibly pointless 'Max Mode' mini-game which is a pain and tensionless and largely just requires you to randomly pick each of the four options until you guess which one of the options the devs decided what supposed to be the correct one. The protagonist can also come off as a bit obnoxious and spends a lot of time trying to bring up the penpal's friends old traumas. Endings are a bit of a mixed bag. There's 8 shared chapters + 2 unique chapters for each of the 5 endings. When reading letters from the penpal during each chapter, you remember what response you send back to said letter and your choices here determine which of the endings you will receive. I would advise picking the 1st option all the time, then 2nd option and so forth to make it easier to get achievement for selecting every letter response. Luckily there is a way to quickly skip chapters after reading the letter letting you skip the first 8 chapters quickly as they are shared. The tone of each ending fluctuates quite a bit, some are a bit outlandish and lack emotional payoff while others are more grounded. 6.5/10
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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.
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great as a narrative FMV (a near one), story rich itself and also the voice actings are great, if you love reading novels or ace attorney type of games, just love it.
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In many aspects, it's a great Visual Novel game. Beautiful Visuals, Excellent Music, and Interesting Story.
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Frequently Asked Questions
√Letter - Root Letter - is currently priced at 19.99€ on Steam.
√Letter - Root Letter - is currently not on sale. You can purchase it for 19.99€ on Steam.
√Letter - Root Letter - received 435 positive votes out of a total of 548 achieving a rating of 7.50.
😊
√Letter - Root Letter - was developed and published by DRAGAMI GAMES and LTD..
√Letter - Root Letter - is playable and fully supported on Windows.
√Letter - Root Letter - is not playable on MacOS.
√Letter - Root Letter - is not playable on Linux.
√Letter - Root Letter - is a single-player game.
There is a DLC available for √Letter - Root Letter -. Explore additional content available for √Letter - Root Letter - on Steam.
√Letter - Root Letter - does not support mods via Steam Workshop.
√Letter - Root Letter - supports Remote Play on TV. Discover more about Steam Remote Play.
√Letter - Root Letter - is enabled for Steam Family Sharing. This means you can share the game with authorized users from your Steam Library, allowing them to play it on their own accounts. For more details on how the feature works, you can read the original Steam Family Sharing announcement or visit the Steam Family Sharing user guide and FAQ page.
You can find solutions or submit a support ticket by visiting the Steam Support page for √Letter - Root Letter -.
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Last Updates| Steam data | 23 January 2026 03:31 |
|---|---|
| SteamSpy data | 25 January 2026 04:57 |
| Steam price | 28 January 2026 20:43 |
| Steam reviews | 27 January 2026 07:56 |
If you'd like to dive deeper into the details about √Letter - Root Letter -, we invite you to check out a few dedicated websites that offer extensive information and insights. These platforms provide valuable data, analysis, and user-generated reports to enhance your understanding of the game and its performance.
- SteamDB - A comprehensive database of everything on Steam about √Letter - Root Letter -
- SteamCharts - Analysis of √Letter - Root Letter - concurrent players on Steam
- ProtonDB - Crowdsourced reports on Linux and Steam Deck √Letter - Root Letter - compatibility
Game modes
Features
Online players
1
Developer
DRAGAMI GAMES, LTD.
Publisher
DRAGAMI GAMES, LTD.
Release
07 Jul 2017
Platforms
Remote Play