Necrobarista

I always like my visual novels and to read actual books and this is one of those experiences. As a story teller, this is fantastic and I love the art direction. So while I really am enjoying this game for the characters and the music I can't help but to be rubbed the wrong way by the technical limitations of the game. It ends up feeling 'quaint', like a game project I did in College. I want it said that I am a software eng. so this sort of thing peeks my interest and will over take the review, but just know that I would buy the game again still. GAMEPLAY: Typical spacebar mashing VN that really doesn't have much interms of decisions but you do get to keep track of key words to later pick them out to try to get the key words that you need to unlock additional lore that is strewn about. After every large conversation scene you will first pick out keywords and see what items you got from them. Then you will be in a free roam mode where you search for unlockable objects to use those items on. These objects will give you more lore to read and I must say that the music complements these stories greatly. CONS: Besides the lack of input in the main story I've had, the free roam mode is the most problematic and shows the limits of the programing that was able to get done before shipping. There is a single mouse sensitively and a locked FOV that is too narrow for use on a monitor and gives me terrible headaches. I literally end up squinting and facing away from the screen... never had to do THAT before. There are also frame rate issues, but nothing that kills it. PROS: The story is unique and is keeping my interest so far. The art style is very pretty and makes me think that this is in fact the best medium for this game. The music is great, I actually discovered this game because I was snooping around Kevin Penkin's website and saw this listed under his works... did NOT realize that this just released. Overall, would buy again!

I am a visual novel fan, and creator. Uninteresting writing, bland washed out colours, cold empty interiors, repetitive music. Every single frame is this weird uncomfortable silence with unanimated models posed like I am watching a garrysmod slideshow. The characters are so bland I had almost no motivation to play on. Theres no interaction at all and you're essentially resting first on chin clicking silently to get through the really not that impressive writing. Which would be *fine* for a visual novel, but Necrobarista obfuscates all its mechanics, instead of just actually making it easy to read or parse the scenes you're just watching this weird garrys mod puppet shower. I don't know why they didn't just make a visual novel, they aren't animating anything its just weird still frame photos of 3D models, you already did the hard work, just format it like a visual novel. Cut out all the wasted time clicking around walking in the akward first person. Use Ren-py rather than unity. Every decision in this visual novel is so weird and akward, I don't know why they did any of this. And I don't know why this is getting such consistently high reviews, its really really disappointing and not very good. I don't know what people see in this that I don't. Seriously just go play VA-11 Hall-a, thats all this is trying to be anyway, poorly.

I liked this game much more in the second half (or last third), when plot starts moving. The first part is a lot of "slice of life" world explanation and character set up. It takes a little bit too long, and I did not liked characters at the beginning. They were presented like sympathetic but behaved entitled and whiny. In second part thou when it's explained what they dealing with and why main characters become much more relatable. Story comes together, and overall game leaves nice aftertaste. I felt like I want to hang out with this characters some more. Game also looks great and have a nice music. When you click to advance dialog it changes camera angles, and often creates shots that you just want to linger on. You can linger just as long as you want to, and move on. I don’t know how to explain it but it feel nice, feels right. This moments and overall presentation get me tough a moments when the story dips.

Technically, this game is top notch, it features a fully rendered environment that is properly used with camera transitions during dialogues and pleasing scene compositions. The OST is stellar and well timed with a few minor exceptions. The story has an interesting premise that hints at a complex world. Sadly the total completion time amounts to about 4 hours per playthrough, mainly because of the focus on the small but engaging characters cast. Some additional lore and side stories are accessible via a nice little keyword selection minigame but I would have liked some of that content to be put in the direct spotlight. I felt that the story lacked a bit of buildup to create a stronger bond to the characters and make the ending even more impactful but it remains a good story. An overall great light novel with the sole shortcoming of being a bit low on content.