Even with the strange text glitches in the game, I found the story super engaging, spooky, heartwarming and heart wrenching. It tackles some pretty deep themes, and tells a story worthy of being read. I’d recommend it to any visual novel lover with some spare moolah burning a hole in their Nintendo-online-store-pocket.
Coffee Talk is a sweet little visual novel game with amazing artwork, and the one of the chillest soundtracks I’ve ever heard in a game, ever. The point of the game is that you are a barista at a coffee shop in Seattle. The year is 2020, and this is no ordinary coffee shop; this coffee shop is open late at night. Now if you think that’s strange, it gets stranger: this coffee shop exists in a version of Seattle where humans aren’t the only race. Coffee Talk is definitely worth picking up! The creators, artists, musicians, programmers… everyone who worked on this game should feel proud of what they’ve done! Thank you for such a fun and interesting experience!
A tale of self-discovery, forgiveness, and all the love, life, memories, and regrets that make us human. A philosophical journey that will have players thinking deeply about their own life and place in the world. This game is an amazing experience wrapped up in a charming artistic style. There is also the hint of a lesson in this game as well; the lesson being that humanity needs to do better. The way we treat our fellow living creatures we share this planet with is, quite usually, not all that great. As the intelligent beings we are, we can – and should – strive to do better. Just as Vivi discovers: perhaps we can’t change everyone, but we can try… and we can most certainly change ourselves. That’s all it takes to make the world a more kind and beautiful place. The game is short and sweet, and you’ll easily be able to finish it in one sitting. However, keep a box of tissues handy, as you’re probably going to need a whole box of them by the end of What Comes After.
The artwork is just as amazing as the story, and the music is cute and sets the mood for every single scene nicely. In common visual-novel-style, there are different choices you can make (do you want to make pancakes for Licia, or go buy her a crepe?), these choices will lead you to one of six different endings, making for plenty of replay value. On top of that, there are your standard artwork collectibles (which are all beautiful artistic creations) of the characters and your more-specific-to-this-game splendid drawings of food. I can feel how much love went into this game. The author clearly loves each character, and the artist clearly loves food! Ratalaika Games hits another home run for publishing this one, and the developer ebi-hime is an excellent author. Ebi-hime has other visual novels under their belt as well, and I am really looking forward to checking them out too. Strawberry Vinegar has such a modest price point that I would highly recommend it to any fan of visual novels. Also, I think it’s an excellent starting point for any young gamer looking to try out a visual novel.
I will be honest, this game was TOUGH for me. I died a LOT, and I became very frustrated with myself a lot as well. As someone who enjoys a slow-paced farming sim, I can tell ya that a fast paced one is a whole different ball game. Nevertheless, I had a lot of fun with it and enjoyed myself immensely. Congrats to the developers Bird Bath Games: you have created a fine work of art that deserves to be experienced by many. And Kudos to Raw Fury for knowing a good game when they see one, and being the people who help make it come to life. Get. This. Game. (Unless you know for SURE that this a genre you will always hate). But hey, I know Enter the Gungeon was a well received game, and I tried it and didn’t like it very much… so if you’re like me, maybe Atomicrops will change your mind too.