Review Roach 3/5 · Feb 4, 2024
send this review to 5 of your friends
I completed this game at 11:59pm last night and was left with a lot of unanswered questions that resulted in research to understand the ending I unlocked. I found out there are 17 different endings (according to the Letter's official Kickstarter page) and to experience the game's lore in its entirety will require multiple playthroughs. I probably won't replay this …
I completed this game at 11:59pm last night and was left with a lot of unanswered questions that resulted in research to understand the ending I unlocked. I found out there are 17 different endings (according to the Letter's official Kickstarter page) and to experience the game's lore in its entirety will require multiple playthroughs. I probably won't replay this game since it took 20 hours to complete my first run.
I did enjoy this visual novel though and would recommend it to others. The art style is pleasant, the branching narrative explores different character perspectives, and the interactive quick time events added some excitement to the gameplay.
The horror aspect was atmospheric and creepy but the sound effects used during these sequences didn't have enough variety, the same screams, screeches, and spooky audio recycled for these encounters.
There were several grammar, script and voice delivery errors as well, progressively getting worse in the later chapters. Some examples include the written script being different than the voice acted script (in one instance, the character screamed bloody murder while the written dialogue was just a normal sentence and had nothing to do with what they were screaming about), a voice actor's recording outtake (voice actor reading their lines, cutting off halfway through its delivery, and then restarting again), and many general spelling/grammar errors.
The characters overall were enjoyable, though they leaned into stereotypes heavily. An Irish character binge-drinking, a Black character dealing with racism and hate crimes, and a Filipino character having to send money back home to support her family. It feels as if the developers wanted a diverse cast of characters representing different countries, races, sexual orientations, and wealth. I just wish they put more effort into their development instead of settling for low-hanging fruit. The voice acting was decent though some characters felt like they were constantly yelling in their delivery.
The plot left a lot of unanswered questions during my first playthrough. It appears more of the story is unraveled the more you play. There were some arguments between characters that felt forced but I found most conversations to be good. The ending I received just felt like the game suddenly ended with no real climax occurring. I feel this is a common issue with horror narrative driven games.
Overall I recommend this game to those who enjoy many endings/choices to unlock, a diverse cast of characters, the Grudge or the Ring, and something spooky to play in bed on the Steam Deck.