Written by: Jason Boucher, Follow me on: @Jboo_777 on Twitter!
Calling All Coffee Lovers!
Do you enjoy coffee? I love coffee. I worked at a Starbucks for over ten years and I enjoyed for the most part being a barista. We have seen games like VA-11 Hall-A that let you be a bartender, now Toge productions will let you play as a barista in your own coffee shop. This game will have you chilling, kicking back to some awesome music, and making coffee, all while listening to the various customers that come in.
I have spent almost two hours with the game so far and I am enjoying this game a lot. If you have played VA-11 Hall-A then you will have a really good idea of what this game is. In VA-11 Hall-A you play a bartender that makes a variety of alcoholic beverages for customers and listen to their problems or whatever is going on in their life. Coffee Talk is the same thing, except you listen to your customers and make a variety of coffee beverages.
The Story So Far:
To paint the scene you own a coffee shop that is open overnight in Seattle, in the year 2020. The setting is in an alternate universe where there are dwarves, orcs, elves, vampires, werewolves, and humans all living in peace. The race wars have ended and now everyone is trying to live in peace with each other.
Two Small Gripes:
Let’s get my two negative issues out of the way. The first thing that I think might be a problem for some people is that it’s a very text-driven game. You will be reading lots of dialogue. If you are the kind of person that doesn’t enjoy reading, then maybe this game isn’t for you. Besides reading the customers’ dialogue and stories, you will be making coffee drinks, so if that isn’t your thing you may not find much here for you to like. The other small gripe I have is that sometimes a customer will order something a little vague and it will be up to you to make the correct drink. For example, a customer wants a drink with caffeine and a little bit of sweetness. The thing is you have multiple ingredients that could sweeten the drink, it’s up to you to decide and hope they like it.
Presentation:
Let’s get to the things that I enjoyed. First was the presentation. From the graphics to the look of the coffee shop, to the ambiance the game creates, it’s all top-notch. Graphics have that great 2D pixel game look, similar again to VA-11 Hall-A. The animations are great and the characters will change their expressions often. You will see shadows of people walking by outside in the rain, true to how Seattle is. They nail the feeling of a coffee shop. There is a counter, an espresso machine and what good coffee shop out there doesn’t have a great soundtrack. The music just nails that ambiance of a local coffee shop. Low-if beats just really set the mood for great conversations and making coffee drinks.
Gameplay:
I can’t tell you how many times as a barista where I would be making someone’s drink and trying to have a little conversation to help pass the time when they dump some problems or issues they are having onto you. This game will do that, where customers will come in and tell you everything that is going on with their life. Freya is the first person you will meet who is aspiring to be a writer. She got to pitch her idea to a higher-up at her job and offered to get her a publisher if she could deliver a manuscript in a month. Of course, she tells you that it has been a couple of weeks and she hasn’t even started on a draft, as she doesn’t have any idea of what to write about. Another story starts between a woman and her elf boyfriend. They long to be together but there is bad blood between the families because her boyfriend is an Elf and their relationship hangs in the balance. You meet another couple that is a werewolf and vampire. They can be together because their races have made peach with each other. Each person that comes in so far has an interesting story and I am looking forward to learning more about each one of them. The writing in the game is done very well.
The other half of the game is making a plethora of coffee and tea drinks. As you progress you will unlock new ingredients like ginger, honey as well as teas. When you make a drink you will have three slots, one base slot, then two other to put whatever you want in. At one point I got a customer that wanted a coffee with a little sweetness. So I put coffee in the first slot, then milk, then honey. On the side of the slots, you have a few stats listed to help you determine heat, bitterness, and sweetness to name a few. As you put different ingredients in the slots it will affect these stats and can help guide you in making the perfect drink for the customer. You can also make latte art and people will request it. The first time I failed as I accidentally hit the “A” button and it said finished when I hadn’t even started. That was a bummer and seemed from others that had tried the game did the same thing. There is no way to go back it just gets put out to the customer and it’s a missed opportunity.
Conclusion:
If you like heavy narrative games or always wanted to be a barista, or if you are a fan of VA-11 Hall-A, do not hesitate to pick this up. I don’t know the long term longevity of the game, I imagine there are at least a few more hours to complete the game. It is $9.99 right now and can highly recommend picking this game up.
