Coffee Talk

A solid "Get Va11HallA instead, unless this is on sale. Otherwise, maybe.".
Coffee Talk: Fantasy Coffee-brewing Action, is a day-by-day visual novel with slight coffee-brewing mechanics on the side. Its storyline is broken up into several days, of which customers visit your coffee shop and talk. The first few days are rather short: no longer than a few minutes, but as the story advances the days become more packed with story. The game as a whole is rather short, less than 3 hours to complete the main storyline. Overall, generally a well rounded game, but not $15. On the other hand, it compares rather poorly to Va11halla, a game with a nigh identical format, but has more characters, story, and charm. If you liked Va11halla, and really can't wait for N1RVAnnA, then get it on sale. Otherwise, just get Va11halla. But I'm still recommending it because steam doesn't allow maybes, and there's very little competition for this niche of VN.

Coffee Talk is a wonderful visual novel about the patrons of a night cafe in the city. You play as the barista of this cafe and listen to the the different stories of the lives of the customers. Playing through the game is relatively easy, and with an amazing soundtrack makes for an incredibly relaxing game to play. I recommend this game for when you need some time to wind down or destress, and I hope more people get to experience the sweet stories this game has to offer.
I suffer from anxiety and depression and this game easily lifts my mood whenever I play it, the soundtrack and characters all have a special place in my heart.

Let's be brief.
-You're here because you played VA-11 Hall-A
-You're reading reviews to wonder if this game is as good as Valhalla
-This game is not as good as Valhalla, but it will scratch your itch and then some
-Buy this game if you liked Valhalla, especially if you can find it on sale

I already heard of other coffee-brewing games before, with VA-11 Hall-A being one of the most popular ones. However, I never got around playing any of those games before — Well until now. The title "Coffee Talk" already includes everything you have to know about the game: It's about coffee and maybe involves a lot of talking as well. That's quite accurate as all you do is serve coffee to your customers while listening to their stories.
Coffee and Talking
The player slips into the role of a barista in Coffee Talk who owns a café. However, it's no ordinary café as it's only open at night. The reason for that is simple: There are people who are craving coffee or just need a place to stay during unusual times. Although the business is, evidently, not profitable, as there are simply not enough customers during the night, the protagonist prefers to create a comfortable place nonetheless. The special thing here is that Coffee Talk takes place in a fantasy world with elves, orcs, mermaids, aliens, etc.
The Main Character
Well, Coffee Talk doesn't have a narrator per se, however, the main character surely does feel like a passive observer who only occasionally talks to the customers. Usually, I prefer more active protagonists so the reader can see them grow and can actually get to know them as this is critical for the character development. Luckily, the focus in Coffee Talk isn't the protagonist itself but the customers who visit the café so I found it just fitting that the main character doesn't interfere in the happenings a lot but still interacts with the people if he has to.
The reader doesn't get to know the protagonist at all, although they can freely choose a name for them. Everything else, however, such as gender, appearance, etc. stays mysterious throughout the playthrough. I guess that means that it's easy for the reader to imagine being the barista themselves.
What About The Other Characters?
The background story of the customers is getting revealed while the player serves them coffee. I found it so interesting that there are a few side-stories going on and looked forward to each new customer. You see, the same customers are visiting the café again so their story gets continued. I enjoyed that the reader gets to know the whole cast better but that's not everything, the characters are interacting with themselves a lot too. It was heart-warming to see them giving advice to each other and I sometimes just wanted to help them.
The thing I love here is that each of them has their own struggles that can be applied to the real-life as well. Although the theme varies from social problems to racism or anxiety, even game development gets thematized. I found each side-story interesting and whilst some characters come off as weird at first, I warmed up to all of them very quickly. In the end, I felt like they started off as strangers but became a small family that is tight-knitted thanks to the café they are all visiting.
Brewing Coffee
So, the most active part of the player is the process of brewing coffee for their customers. In total, the player has to select three ingredients to produce the coffee. A specific combination is needed for a special kind of coffee, although the customers sometimes just demand simpler versions such as hot or sweet cups. In this case, there is a bar available during the brewing where the player can see the stats for each ingredient. The recipe for each special cup has to be discovered, although the customers are giving the player hints at times.
Something that I found very tricky was the latte art for specific drinks. Luckily, it's not mandatory and doesn't make any impact on the game, yet it was difficult to create decent latte art. I used that feature around two times before giving up as it takes up a lot of time. Anyway, it was still interesting to add that feature so those who are very creative can let off their steam.
In addition to that, there is a "Free Brew" and "Challenge" mode available in Coffee Talk where the player can either discover new recipes or practice their brewing skills. The free brew mode is pretty simple and allows its player to take their time whilst the challenge one has a time limit so it's important to be fast.
Own Your Own In-Game Smartphone
So, there is a smartphone available in Coffee Talk that turned out to be quite useful. The usage of it is entirely optional, however, I loved the features it has to offer and ended up visiting it longer than I assumed I would. In total, it has four applications installed.
The first one is Tomodachill. Every person the player meets will show up in that application and it kind of reminds me of a reduced version of Facebook where the player can read more about the cast's interests. For unlocking more information, it's mandatory that the player gets closer to the character.
The Brewpad is probably the most useful application where the player can look up the recipe of all unlocked coffees. I found that was especially helpful in the free brew or challenge mode, especially as it's hard to memorize every recipe.
Let's move to the next one, The Evening Whisperss. As the name already hints at, there are short stories getting released each day that are written by a specific customer. Anyway, this was my favorite application as I ended up checking it out every in-game day. The stories are not related at all, yet, I feel like they are still lovely and I had a lot of joy going through each of them.
Lastly, there is the Shuffld application. This one allows the player to select another soundtrack to listen to, which is a quite nice touch I'd say, although I didn't use it at all.
Choices? And What About The Endings?
Coffee Talk doesn't implement choices, however, there are still multiple different endings available in this visual novel. So, the important question is: How is that possible? — Well it simply depends on what drinks the player serves their customers. In short: Getting them the right drinks does make a huge difference. Luckily, the fast forward feature gets unlocked when completing the game once so the player doesn't have to go through the same dialogue again and again. I found it was quite tricky to get everything right during my first playthrough, but luckily it gets easier once I got the gist of it.
Graphics and the Immersion
Graphics-wise, Coffee Talk is stunning. I always had a soft spot for pixelated styles and this visual novel didn't disappoint either. The thing I loved so much about it is that it's so detailed. For instance, there are windows available in the café where the player can see people passing by and rain falling down. These details made the whole game feel so lively, especially as the characters have multiple facial expressions. As a piece of side information, despite being a visual novel, this game does not contain any CGs besides a few ones at the beginning and end. Unfortunately, voice-acting is not present in Coffee Talk which would have greatly enhanced the immersion.
So, what do we have in the end?
Coffee Talk is such a lovely and relaxing game I ended up enjoying much more than I anticipated. I liked that this game didn't focus on one storyline but instead shows its reader multiple side-stories and a variety of characters who couldn't be more different. I got attached quickly to each of them and their stories. In addition to that, the process of brewing coffee managed to keep the game refreshing to me. That being said, I can highly recommend Coffee Talk to everyone who enjoys a cozy game with an excellent cast.
𝐅𝐞𝐞𝐥 𝐟𝐫𝐞𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐟𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐦𝐲 𝐂𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐏𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐕𝐢𝐬𝐮𝐚𝐥 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐑𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰𝐬!

This is, essentially, a lite take on VA-11 Hall-A. The story is shorter (less than a quarter as long, judging by my respective playtimes), there's only a fraction of the characters, and the world-building isn't quite as deep, but because of that, it's more focused on the characters and relationships that it portrays without getting sidetracked. If you played VA-11 Hall-A and enjoyed it, I think that you'll enjoy this as well. If you haven't played VA-11 Hall-A, go play VA-11 Hall-A.

This game, similar to VA-11 Hall-A: Cyberpunk Bartender Action in many ways, has its own interesting lore that you can discover while reading the news, the stories written by Freya and meeting the characters coming to your café for a drink and someone to discuss with.
Though, if you're coming from VA-11 Hall-A I encourage you to embrace this game without trying to compare it with the one you played before. The stories are completely different, the world as well and it's interesting to see some problems being discussed that are relevant to our world in 2020. The secret behind the barista adding even more to that idea of similarities between that alternative-Seattle and ours.
If you have played VA-11 Hall-A before this game, you may find the drink system lacking, but the story are as interesting. If you haven't played VA-11 Hall-A and liked this one, what the hell are you doing ? It's time to begin another game ! And if you're like me and played both, let's cross our fingers and jump into Neo Cab while waiting for N1RV Ann-A: Cyberpunk Bartender Action.

You can struggle with depression and find solace in this game.