Coffee Talk

Cozy vibes, but a little bit too light on the mechanics and mediocre writing.

For as much as I would love to give this game the thumbs up based on concept alone, Coffee Talk is just more tepid than it should be, never rising above okay. I don't know how valid it is to compare this game to VA-11 HALL-A, but as a player, I cannot really help it, and in all manners of substance, this game falls well behind. The music and aesthetics are almost there but just aren't quite as engaging, but a visual novel lives and dies on its story and Coffee Talk is missing a huge x-factor.

I love a lot of urban fantasy, and when it develops its world of old fantasy races and clans into modern Seattle, it's a breath of fresh air. The game is at its strongest when it's leaning into its original elements, but it's at its worst when it comes to standalone storytelling, or the surprisingly few times it espouses its own moral takes at face value. The game lacks much of a throughline beyond its three or four patron-based storylines, so the pace grinds to a halt any time it talks about even underwritten issues like grind culture in the game industry, much less eye-rolling topics like the value of indie games vs. the mainstream, or the painfully obvious showbiz stalker angle. And as for the coffee making itself, there's just not a lot to say about it. The interface is probably better than in VA-11 HALL-A, but there's no recourse for screwing up orders, no sword hanging over the cafe's head in a dire economy to make sure you get it right. Overall, the experience is just too detached, which doesn't match with a fairly straightforward plot and rote, though still memorable, characters.

Honestly, its biggest problem might just be its scale. There are less customers, less stories, even less themes and quandaries pondered than in its sci-fi counterpart. Though an end-game plot twist threatens to shake things up, it turns out to be the one time the author is biting off more than they can chew, rather than treading water. This scores higher than average just on my propensity for these kinds of games, and many of the pieces for a successful concoction are there, but the game isn't substantive enough to truly recommend, even next to games of its ilk.