If you've read my impressions on Coffee Talk from Toge Productions, then you may have an idea as to how much I already fell in love with this game. Playing as a barista in Seattle, you deal with a wide variety of customer types. Course what also plays into this is the fact that humans co-exist with magical creatures, from orcs to vampires and even kitsunes! This is quite different from the types of games I usually play. Coffee Talk is strictly a visual novel game but it really is something special. When the "main story" is revealed after the first conversation, then things get interesting. You listen to these creatures and their stores. Some of them are exciting, and others are quite sad. There were even a couple that surprised me.
When talking to these customers, you'll be prompted at some point to make them a drink. At the start, your ingredients are limited but as you progress, more are added. This means more drinks like cough syrup, gingerbread latte, and ones named Black Magic etc. Once your ingredients are selected, you're treated to a soothing 3-image collage of the drink being made. Certain drinks allow you to create latte art, which is something I wasn't very good at to be honest.
You can mess up the drinks if you don't know a specific drink and while it did happen a couple of times, it didn't affect the story too much. It didn't occur to me that some parts of the story were affected which has caused me to start up a second play-through. Aside from the coffee making, that's pretty much it. You have constant access to a phone with a variety of apps including a Spotify-esque music player that plays in the background. By the way, the soundtrack is absolutely PERFECT. It sets the overall mood that Coffee Talk gives. Other apps include a handy brew app with all your discovered drink recipes and a FB like site with profiles of all the customers that play a part in this story.
The characters give off a variety of facial expressions and the overall art is just very pleasant. From the windows in the back showing off the rain, to the shelves behind your patrons with ingredients and plants. You also have the option to look over the chat so far in case you missed something. Coffee Talk honestly felt really good to play while drinking a cup of coffee, really made me feel immersed in the shop XD. If you're looking for a wholesome story with characters that are super enjoyable to interact with (there's Freya the writer, Gala the werewolf hospital admin to even an Orc game dev!) with a calm scenery and coffee shop style music, then this game is right up your alley!
Should you Play this Game?
Absolutely! Coffee Talk is a relaxing visual novel with an eccentric cast of characters as you listen to their tales. Whether tragic or exciting, it's always leaving you with wanting to know what happens next. With eye pleasing visuals and a lofi killer soundtrack, you're bound to be entranced as each minute passes.
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