Update Two Hundred and Thirty-Nine: 11 October 2018
Root Double -Before Crime * After Days- Xtend Edition
266 hours, 49 of 49 achievements
SWEET JESUS OH MY GOD IT'S OVER/10
☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆
WELL IT’S ABOUT GOD DAMN TIME.
You know!!! This VN isn’t awful by any stretch of the imagination - story-wise it’s a sci-fi tale that plays fast n loose with science (like most of them do) and the characters are varied and interesting and it’s its own interesting little thing. The ‘Senses Sympathy’ mechanic is fun and different and works well.
But there is no way I can recommend this game because it is unbelievably, unnecessarily bloated. It’s about 60% too long. It’s TOO MUCH, MAN!
SO much of the game is showing you flashbacks, and memories, and the same scene experienced by multiple people, and and and -
The WHOLE time I was thinking about, like, okay, Fata Morgana does this a lot but the effect is wildly different - it works because the context and perspective given the second (or third) time around is so radically different it feels as if you’re watching a new scene. Root Double is unbelievably basic in comparison - there’s no surprise, no difference, nothing beyond ‘this character experienced the scene this way, that character experienced the scene that way, exactly how you would expect.’
There’s four main routes, one of which is just fucking summarizing what just happened in the first two - yes, I know, I WAS THERE - and an extra bonus collection of memories… most of which are repeats and rehashes from the main game, FOR SOME REASON. I’m not ashamed to say I just skipped through all of them because I simply had to be done with this game.
If you want a gargantuan VN with less repetition and more payoff, my god, play Umineko. If you want sci-fi goodness, play the first two Zero Escape games. This review is a mess because I feel like I’m someone half out of their mind after narrowly escaping three months trapped on a deserted island.
Next up: I GET TO PLAY A DIFFERENT VISUAL NOVEL!
See you soon!
Woah I wanted the game but never expected that much hours…. but yeah I agree with msboring27 ive heard only good things about it and suddenly I see your review with those many hours and its just like what! Over 10days worth of content in what is put down a visual novel but congratz on finishing it
See my note above: I leave my VNs idling like ALL the time, so the playcount is inflated. There is absolutely at least 80 hours of content in there, though.
If you pace yourself better than I did, you might come out better with it, but on my end the good of the novel (and there IS good in it) is just completely buried under just the length.
glad to know its not that long. after all everyone claimed clannad was around 100 hours considering i had 30 after like 2 mini route i can get how long that was. so for this to be over would be horrifying
For me, CLANNAD felt very different because there, at least, was less repetition. That I was fine with (though it did get a little Much at the end).
I’m trying to think about it and I would say Root Double is longer, maybe not by a WHOLE ton but at least somewhat.
ill still my hardest to get it and probably regret it later with you
Ha! It’s a plan!
Ha, yeah, I know what you mean. Been there, done that :] :D
You know? I was warned! The warning was correct!!!!!!
….
Waaaait….
nin! YOU gave this game to me, didn’t you? YOU DID THIS TO ME
What? I DID? shock I’m not even aware o.o
I’m kinda sorry :P
Lmao and I’m the one who made nin play it with me
…you made it farther than me though I only played through route A/B then realised I hadn’t gotten the good ending in one to reach route C/D and gave up
OH NO lol that must have been a big kick in the knee.
Its only fun if you can make choices and as soon as you have to start using a guide to pick the right choices its insufferable
I get that feeling, even though I like using guides.
‘Insufferable’ is a good word to use for this game, as much as I wish otherwise. I’ll use it now as a testament to the idea of ‘take your final draft and then cut 10-15% of it, at least’.
hashahahahahauahusahuashahua i feel so bad alexa play despacito
despacito playing on a loop for 266 hours is a good fit for this experience
SWEET JESUS OH MY GOD IT'S OVER/10 - :hehe_dogo:
266 hours, 49 of 49 achievements - what the heck….
I’m not ashamed to say I just skipped through all of them because I simply had to be done with this game. - what, does she say it’s normally even LONGER than those 260h? Omfg
I leave VNs idle all the time, so that timecount is stupid inflated. - oh, ok… false alarm :D
yeahhhhhh the “story” is less but without a guide getting all the choices/changes (at least 40 missable points in the first arc) takes a long time :/
Your comment made me laugh hard @ work
The alarm isn’t TOO false, though - it’s a long long LONG ass VN.
I had played this game for all of five minutes and planned on it being my next VN to finish… I might let it sit there a while longer after reading this. Thanks for the heads up! ^_^
I’m starting to feel a little bad with how discouraged all the comments have been, but I still can’t disagree with my (emotional) reaction. There is good stuff to it, just buried.
You know, you might be better served by playing a route at a time, then doing other shit, then coming back to it to play some more, etc. There’s certainly enough repetition for you get clued in to what’s happening if you forget.
I’m starting to feel a little bad with how discouraged all the comments have been, but I still can’t disagree with my (emotional) reaction. There is good stuff to it, just buried. Buried too deep? That’s up to each person to say.
You know, you might be better served by playing a route at a time, then doing other shit, then coming back to it to play some more, etc. There’s certainly enough repetition for you get clued in to what’s happening if you forget.
266 hours wow 0_o. Is that because you want to 100% achievement, how long did the main storyline take? I have this game because I heard people praising as one of the better visual novels, but this review is making me think twice.
I leave VNs idle all the time, so that timecount is stupid inflated. This issue in my reviews keeps coming up and I feel bad that I keep confusing people, I’m going to do ‘estimated playtime’ counts from now on with vns or other games I leave idle a lot.
Even so, it DID take me a while - there’s at least 80 hours of content in this motherfucker, a lot of it repetitive. 100% completing it doesn’t take THAT much time out of your way, because it’s the getting through everything that takes such a long time.
I mean, yeah, it IS on the better side (on VNDB, where there’s no option for dramatics, I did rate it a 6), but ‘on the better side’ is kind of faint praise, isn’t it? If you pace yourself it might work out better, rather than locking yourself in a cage with exactly one (1) vn until it’s over.
80 hours is still a lot, and if a lot is repetitive then it must be exhausting to play. Kudos to you for finishing it.