Violentvixen
(She/Her)
The current Steam Visual Novel Fest made me realize there's a subgenre of visual novels I really enjoy: bartending/barista games.
The first one I ever played was VA-11 Hall-A. I was not expecting the social commentary and the intense themes and dialogue. The characters all start out as a one-note first impression but expand to have interesting backgrounds (except for your first customer who is an asshole and never becomes less of one). You'll learn more about certain characters versus others based on your conversations and drinks and how the main character Jill is doing mental-health wise. It is a political sci-fi game in tone and there's a lot of serious conversations in there, but I really recommend it. There is a Steam page for a sequel but the studio has put it on hold to focus on other games. Hopefully someday.
Next was Coffee Talk, then Coffee Talk 2. Coffee Talk does have a Steam demo and was on Gamepass but doesn't appear to be right now. This is a cozy game about talking to your customers and helping them, I don't recall any need to manage your own character's finances or mental health like in VA-11 Hall-A. You drive a lot of plot through conversations and drink choices and can end up with pretty different endings. It is very mundane and chill and I acknowledge that some people find it boring, I get it! But I like it. The creator passed away not long before Coffee Talk 2 was released but it seems like it's continuing as a Coffee Talk Tokyo was announced for this year. Will be curious to see if any of the characters from the Seattle setting show up.
As part of the current sale I picked up Tavern Talk after really enjoying the demo. The drink mixing was different enough from the games above it took me a moment to figure it out, but I like the way the parts add up and the use of fantasy stats. But two things in the demo really intrigued me. First is the quest system, as you talk to your patrons you hear rumors. You then have a chance to compile these rumors into a quest posting, which is an interesting mechanic. I wonder if patrons can give you more or less helpful information and you have to pick? The second system is the drinks, the demo ends with a patron about to go on a quest to hunt a werewolf. I have the choice of giving them a drink that raises charisma or a drink that raises strength, and it implies that charisma could mean a peaceful resolution while the strength one means they fights the werewolf. That sounded really cool! Again, only played the demo for now but really liked what I saw.
So that's my roundup. What games have others played? Any thoughts about the ones above? I'm definitely curious to try more games in this genre.
The first one I ever played was VA-11 Hall-A. I was not expecting the social commentary and the intense themes and dialogue. The characters all start out as a one-note first impression but expand to have interesting backgrounds (except for your first customer who is an asshole and never becomes less of one). You'll learn more about certain characters versus others based on your conversations and drinks and how the main character Jill is doing mental-health wise. It is a political sci-fi game in tone and there's a lot of serious conversations in there, but I really recommend it. There is a Steam page for a sequel but the studio has put it on hold to focus on other games. Hopefully someday.
Next was Coffee Talk, then Coffee Talk 2. Coffee Talk does have a Steam demo and was on Gamepass but doesn't appear to be right now. This is a cozy game about talking to your customers and helping them, I don't recall any need to manage your own character's finances or mental health like in VA-11 Hall-A. You drive a lot of plot through conversations and drink choices and can end up with pretty different endings. It is very mundane and chill and I acknowledge that some people find it boring, I get it! But I like it. The creator passed away not long before Coffee Talk 2 was released but it seems like it's continuing as a Coffee Talk Tokyo was announced for this year. Will be curious to see if any of the characters from the Seattle setting show up.
As part of the current sale I picked up Tavern Talk after really enjoying the demo. The drink mixing was different enough from the games above it took me a moment to figure it out, but I like the way the parts add up and the use of fantasy stats. But two things in the demo really intrigued me. First is the quest system, as you talk to your patrons you hear rumors. You then have a chance to compile these rumors into a quest posting, which is an interesting mechanic. I wonder if patrons can give you more or less helpful information and you have to pick? The second system is the drinks, the demo ends with a patron about to go on a quest to hunt a werewolf. I have the choice of giving them a drink that raises charisma or a drink that raises strength, and it implies that charisma could mean a peaceful resolution while the strength one means they fights the werewolf. That sounded really cool! Again, only played the demo for now but really liked what I saw.
So that's my roundup. What games have others played? Any thoughts about the ones above? I'm definitely curious to try more games in this genre.
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