Necrobarista
a game by | ROUTE 59 |
Platform: | PC (2019) |
Editor Rating: | 7.8/10, based on 2 reviews, 1 review is shown |
User Rating: | 10.0/10 - 2 votes |
Rate this game: | |
See also: | Anime Games, Visual Novel, Manga Games, Relaxing Games, Games About Making Coffee |
While there are plenty of games about going on a big adventure and saving the world and all that stuff. But there’s always been a special public for games that portray a much smaller world, games that are “simpler”. Such is the case of games like VA-11 Hall-A or Coffee Talk, games that are solely based on attending either a bar or a café. And that’s kinda the same category that Necrobarista falls into. But let’s see what lies behind this cafeteria and what secrets it hides now.
Before it gets colder
Necrobarista takes place in a café located in Melbourne called The Terminal, however, this is no average café, it actually serves as a place people can go to communicate the recently dead. The recently defunct get to spend 24 hours there before going to the afterlife, and at that time they are allowed to communicate with the loving if they come and visit.
Maddy is the current owner and barista of the place, and she does her best to keep her guests comfortable while they wait, but things are not as simple as they seem.
Paying the bills
This service is, of course, not free, and Maddy has to work to pay the debt with The Council, so it's not just something that goes by for free. There are some issues with the past owners of The Terminal, and there are some important bills to pay there. Still, there isn't much we can say about the game without getting into too many spoilers, and it wouldn't be fair for you to get the experience spoiled out right now.
A new take on the genre
Necrobarista is in most senses a visual novel, but there’s an interesting twist here. In most visual novels you get to play as a character and make decisions that will affect how the story plays. In Necrobarista this is taken to a minimum, and they managed to change this by getting the player out of any character. You play as a spectator in the action, so instead of controlling any character at any given time, you get to be looking at every character on screen as if it was a movie.
An interesting change of pace
This game is more of an interactive animated movie than a game, but as such it's still strange just how little interaction the player gets within the game. It's pretty much a reading exercise since there isn't voice acting at all in here either.
Necrobarista comes as a bold move in the Visual Novel Territory, by changing everything we're used to seeing in the genre and style. As such, the game successfully manages to be completely original, and it feels like a completely new experience. Sadly this isn't for everybody.
The lack of player-game interaction here is notable, they took too seriously the part of a visual-novel and almost made an animated graphic novel here. The good thing is that the characters are great and nicely developed. The world they created here is a well-written one, and the characters' interactions are excellent, they really feel natural and smooth.
Pros
- Great world-building
- Interesting characters
- Great Story
- Interesting mechanics
- Very Original
Cons
- Basically no gameplay
- Very short
- Ok character design
Download Necrobarista
System requirements:
- PC compatible
- Operating systems: Windows 10/Windows 8/Windows 7/2000/Vista/WinXP