Root Double: Before Crime * After Days

Root Double: Before Crime * After Days

Cover art for the Microsoft Windows version.
Developer(s) Regista, Yeti
Publisher(s)
Director(s) Takumi Nakazawa
Producer(s) Takumi Nakazawa
Artist(s)
  • Mikeou
  • Wadapen
  • Narumi Ōtaka
  • Eco
Writer(s)
  • Souki Tsukishima
  • Tora Tsukishima
  • Moyashi Himukai
Composer(s) Takuma Sato
Platform(s) Xbox 360, Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Vita
Release date(s)

Original version

  • JP March 29, 2012 (X360)
  • JP September 28, 2012 (Win)

Xtend Edition

  • JP October 24, 2013 (PS3)
  • JP July 24, 2014 (PS Vita)
  • WW March 2016 (Win)
  • WW March 2017 (PS Vita)
Genre(s) Visual novel

Root Double: Before Crime * After Days, stylized as ROOT√DOUBLE, is a visual novel video game developed in a collaboration between Regista and Yeti, and released by Yeti for Xbox 360 and Microsoft Windows in 2012. An updated version with a new ending, titled Xtend Edition, was released for PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita in 2013 and 2014, and is planned to be released in English by Sekai Project for Microsoft Windows and PlayStation Vita in 2016 and 2017.

The game is set in 2030 in a combined city and research hub whose residents are unable to interact with the outside world without permission from the local government. After an accident at an institute in the city, one of the game's two protagonists, Watase Kasasagi, is sent in as part of a rescue team; the other, a high school student named Natsuhiko, happens to be in the institute as well at the time of the accident.

Plot

Setting and characters

Root Double is a visual novel,[1] set in September 2030 in a combined city and research hub with 180,000 residents.[2][3] The residents of the city cannot interact with the outside world unless given permission by the local government; in exchange for this, and for giving up their privacy, they get exemption from taxes and access to high-quality medical facilities. In the city, there is an institute called "6th Laboratory of Atomic and Biological Organization" ("LABO"), which is rumored to be conducting experiments for the government. In the beginning of the game, there is an accident at the institute.[3]

The story is split into two routes – A and B – which each has its own protagonist. The protagonist of route A is Watase Kasasagi, who is sent in to LABO as part of a rescue team, but, due to an incident separate from the accident at LABO, wakes up inside the institute with memory loss and with all escape routes closed off. He is joined by Kazami Tachibana, who is the heroine of the route; Jun, a rescue team member who is well-versed with machines; and Ena, a woman who was in LABO at the time of the accident, and who dreams of becoming a teacher. The protagonist of route B is Natsuhiko, a high school student who is a loner, and who is neglected by his mother, a scientist who spends more time on her research. He is at LABO at the time of the accident, and is joined by his childhood friend Yuri, and his classmates Mashiro and Louise.[3]

Development

The game was developed in a collaboration between Regista and Yeti. It was directed and produced by Takumi Nakazawa,[1][4][5] and written by Team Tsukishima, which consists of Souki Tsukishima, Tora Tsukishima, and Moyashi Himukai, based on an original concept by Nakazawa;[5] the writers were recruited and chosen through a competition.[6] The music was composed by Takuma Sato.[7] The main characters were designed by Mikeou, and the side characters by Wadapen and Narumi Ōtaka. Eco was the colorist and the supervisor for the creation of the event CGs.[5] According to Nakazawa, the key concepts of the game are "escape from a locked room", "lethal crisis", "suspect everything in an extreme situation", "near future sci-fi", and "group drama".[8] He cited the works of Christopher Nolan and J. J. Abrams as heavy influences on Root Double, mentioning Nolan's Memento and Inception, and Abrams' Fringe and Lost; another work that inspired him was the film The Poseidon Adventure.[6]

In early 2016, Nakazawa said that he had originally come up with the concept for the game around ten years prior. His concept was a story depicting two protagonists with opposing ideologies. At this point, the game was not an escape story; that element was added later to make the story more entertaining. He started with thinking of its twist, then its setting, its characters, and the story. As he developed the story, he made changes to the characters and setting. While Nakazawa's previous works focused on characters awaiting rescue from dangerous situations, he wanted to reverse that situation with Root Double; he wanted the protagonists to be in opposite situations, so he had one be involved in the rescuing and the other being rescued. The protagonists' differences were also reflected in their respective routes, with route A focusing on suspense and survival, and B focusing on mystery and drama. The route structures were made to be polar opposites, with A starting out thrilling, and with B gradually becoming more thrilling.[6] Root Double was Souki Tsukishima's first work on a long "novel game"; he felt that he did not have much experience with this, so he put a lot of effort into writing the story. He found the first draft that he received to be interesting, but also thought that it would be hard to write; he took care in making sure his scenario matched up perfectly with Nakazawa's idea of the game's world.[9] The story was written by Team Tsukishima, and was refined and revised over the course of several meetings.[6]

The game was first mentioned on a teaser site in December 2010, where it was called a "new sci-fi suspense adventure".[10] In January 2011, Yeti announced the game, and said that they planned to release it in 2011.[11] In March 2011, Yeti announced that they would not publicize the game, because of its themes and the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami;[12] development was put on hold, but in July 2011, Yeti revealed that it had been taken up again, and that it would be released for the Xbox 360. They had considered changing the background story of the game, but eventually decided to keep the story unchanged and follow their original plan,[11] while also portraying the in-game disaster "more carefully and conscientiously". There had been some discussion about whether the game should be released or not, but the development team felt that it was important to portray how "hope can be found even in the deepest despair".[6] Xtend Edition, an updated version of the game, which features a new ending, was developed for the PlayStation 3;[13] according to Nakazawa, it felt necessary to make Xtend Edition to get more people to play the game.[6]

After Nakazawa heard English-speaking people ask on Facebook if the game would be available in English, he looked into it, finding that the English-speaking audience for visual novels had grown. He thought that the content of Root Double would be enjoyable for English-speakers, so it was decided that the game would be translated.[6] At their panel at Anime Expo 2015, Sekai Project announced that they would localize Xtend Edition in a collaboration with Lemnisca Translations, and release it for Microsoft Windows.[4][14] They launched a crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter for the game in January 2016, with a goal of raising 135,000 USD.[15] 53% of this would go to licensing, programming and porting, 27% to translation and editing, 10% to Kickstarter and card processing fees, and 10% to shipping fees. If they manage to raise more than the goal, they have three planned "stretch goals", allowing for the production of a fanbook and the translation of drama CDs based on the game.[16] During the campaign, Sekai started examining the possibility of releasing the game for the PlayStation Vita;[17] they announced that they had managed to get it approved by Sony, and that they would be able to release it for that platform. This required additional programming by Regista, as the PlayStation Vita version's engine needed to be reformatted to support the English script.[18] The 135,000 USD goal was reached on February 2.[19]

Release

In 2012, a demo was made available in which the player can play all the way to one of the game's endings.[20] The game was released by Yeti on March 29, 2012, for the Xbox 360,[1] and on September 28, 2012, for Microsoft Windows.[5] Xtend Edition was released on October 24, 2013, for the PlayStation 3,[13] and on July 24, 2014, for the PlayStation Vita.[21] The English version of Xtend Edition is estimated to be released in March 2016 for Microsoft Windows,[15] and in March 2017 for PlayStation Vita.[7] As the PlayStation Vita version's file size exceeds the size limitation for physical PlayStation Vita games, both the Japanese and English PlayStation Vita releases are only available digitally.[18]

Reception

Reception
Review scores
PublicationScore
Famitsu32/40 (8, 8, 8, 8) (X360)[22]
33/40 (9, 9, 8, 7) (PS3)[23]

Root Double was the 15th highest selling video game in Japan during its launch week, with 5,450 copies sold.[24] At the end of 2012, it was the 350th best selling video game of the year in Japan, with 6,599 copies sold.[25] The PlayStation 3 version was the 392nd best selling video game of the year in Japan of 2013, with 2,567 copies sold.[26]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Ishaan (2011-12-30). "Ever17 Director’s New Visual Novel Surfaces In March". Siliconera. Archived from the original on 2013-12-31. Retrieved 2015-10-24.
  2. ↑ Ishaan (2012-03-27). "Ever17 Director’s Next Game Out Soon, Here’s Another Look At It". Siliconera. Archived from the original on 2014-03-16. Retrieved 2015-10-24.
  3. 1 2 3 Spencer (2010-12-28). "Ever17 Director’s Next Project Is Root Double: Before Crime * After Days". Siliconera. Archived from the original on 2012-03-19. Retrieved 2015-10-24.
  4. 1 2 Ishaan (2015-07-04). "Ever17 Director’s Root Double: Before Crime * After Days Getting Localized". Siliconera. Archived from the original on 2015-08-18. Retrieved 2015-10-24.
  5. 1 2 3 4 "ルートダブル -Before Crime * After Days-" (in Japanese). Yeti. Archived from the original on 2015-02-13. Retrieved 2015-10-24.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Sekai Project (2016-01-05). "A interview with Takumi Nakazawa, director of Root Double". YouTube. Retrieved 2016-01-10.
  7. 1 2 Sekai Project. "Root Double- Before Crime * After Days- Xtend Edition". Kickstarter. Retrieved 2016-01-10.
  8. ↑ "Japanese developers tease new titles, PS4 included". Gematsu. 2014-01-31. Archived from the original on 2015-10-17. Retrieved 2015-10-25.
  9. ↑ "Interview: シナリオライター月島総記" (in Japanese). Yeti. Archived from the original on 2015-02-17. Retrieved 2015-10-25.
  10. ↑ Gantayat, Anoop (2010-12-03). "Yeti Teases New Title". Andriasang. Archived from the original on 2012-12-25. Retrieved 2015-10-25.
  11. 1 2 Gantayat, Anoop (2011-07-29). "Nuclear disaster themed adventure game Root Double resurfaces, confirmed for Xbox 360". Andriasang. Archived from the original on 2012-12-25. Retrieved 2015-10-25.
  12. ↑ "Anime with Disaster Scenes Face Changes After Quake". Anime News Network. 2011-03-15. Archived from the original on 2014-10-23. Retrieved 2015-10-25.
  13. 1 2 "ルートダブル -Before Crime * After Days- Xtend edition まとめ (PS3)". Famitsu (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 2013-11-15. Retrieved 2015-10-24.
  14. ↑ "Sekai Project to Release G-senjou no Maou, Chrono Clock, Root Double PC Games". Anime News Network. 2015-07-05. Archived from the original on 2015-09-28. Retrieved 2015-10-24.
  15. 1 2 "Sekai Project to Launch Kickstarter for Root Double Game on January 5". Anime News Network. 2015-12-30. Archived from the original on 2015-12-31. Retrieved 2016-01-01.
  16. ↑ Priestman, Chris (2016-01-06). "Root Double: Before Crime * After Days Launches On Kickstarter, Steam Greenlight". Siliconera. Archived from the original on 2016-01-06. Retrieved 2016-01-07.
  17. ↑ Priestman, Chris (2016-01-20). "Sekai Project Looking To Bring Root Double: Before Crime * After Days To PS Vita". Siliconera. Archived from the original on 2016-01-20. Retrieved 2016-01-20.
  18. 1 2 Priestman, Chris (2016-01-25). "Root Double Gets PS Vita Tiers Added To Its Kickstarter". Siliconera. Archived from the original on 2016-01-26. Retrieved 2016-01-26.
  19. ↑ "Sekai Project's Root Double Kickstarter Reaches Goal". Anime News Network. 2016-02-03. Archived from the original on 2016-02-03. Retrieved 2016-02-03.
  20. ↑ Ashcraft, Brian (2012-03-14). "This Xbox 360 Game Demo Is Ten Hours Long. Wait, What?". Kotaku. Archived from the original on 2013-01-27. Retrieved 2015-10-25.
  21. ↑ "ルートダブル -Before Crime * After Days- Xtend edition まとめ (Vita)". Famitsu (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 2015-06-23. Retrieved 2015-10-24.
  22. ↑ Gantayat, Anoop (2012-06-06). "Lollipop Chainsaw, Persona 4 The Golden Score High Marks in Famitsu". Andriasang. Archived from the original on 2013-06-03. Retrieved 2015-10-26.
  23. ↑ Cook, David (2013-10-16). "Sonic: Lost World scores big in Famitsu, this week’s scores revealed inside". VG247. Archived from the original on 2015-09-24. Retrieved 2015-10-25.
  24. ↑ Ishaan (2012-06-20). "This Week In Sales: Persona 4: Golden To The Rescue". Siliconera. Archived from the original on 2014-09-19. Retrieved 2015-10-24.
  25. ↑ "GEIMIN.NET／2012年テレビゲームソフト売り上げランキング（ファミ通版）" (in Japanese). Geimin.net. Archived from the original on 2015-06-27. Retrieved 2015-10-25.
  26. ↑ "GEIMIN.NET／2013年テレビゲームソフト売り上げランキング（ファミ通版）" (in Japanese). Geimin.net. Archived from the original on 2015-06-26. Retrieved 2015-10-25.

External links

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