story is convoluted but it's a goated that made me bawl out cry (also one of the prettiest artstyles in a game ever)
makes me laugh, makes me cry, coulda done that with the soundtrack alone or the game alone but instead they BOTH do
one of the most refreshing games I've played in a while. the unique artstyle, gameplay, everything. It's like a fresh of breath air in the current game industry.
the story is enticing, not revealing too much but still keeping you interested. the characters are consistent, keep a solid weight to their inherent traits, and despite the game being based on a lot of fictional concepts, is actually incredibly grounded and teaches valuable lessons every ten minutes of gameplay.
over 50% of the lines in this game are quotable in some way, shape, or form. it has everything I like about a game. and even for a visual novel game, it does something unique, and even if there's no inherent gameplay other than simply reading, the text paired with the visuals just suck you into the game and its characters with gorgeous writing.
i love this game. i bought it at the full price tag, and i don't regret it.
the story is enticing, not revealing too much but still keeping you interested. the characters are consistent, keep a solid weight to their inherent traits, and despite the game being based on a lot of fictional concepts, is actually incredibly grounded and teaches valuable lessons every ten minutes of gameplay.
over 50% of the lines in this game are quotable in some way, shape, or form. it has everything I like about a game. and even for a visual novel game, it does something unique, and even if there's no inherent gameplay other than simply reading, the text paired with the visuals just suck you into the game and its characters with gorgeous writing.
i love this game. i bought it at the full price tag, and i don't regret it.
Nice presentation but the original release of this game is clearly unfinished. The updated release might alleviate some of this but I have no desire to return to it.
This is a collection of books in the form of a game. By itself, the writing manages to create a very distinguished atmosphere, but Necrobarista takes advantage of its interactivity to immerse the player in its world. It's one thing to read a group of stories about a coffee shop, it's another to read these vignettes while inside the setting itself, right next to the characters that bring the world to life.
The main story is told through what could be comparable to a movie, but one in which you choose how long each cut lasts. You can linger in a moment for as long as you like. Like the characters, however, you'll have to move on at some point. The game utilizes the interactivity of the medium to its fullest potential to create a captivating, convincing world that lets players find bits of narrative by themselves and adjust the experience to their own pace. None of the stories, alone, had to be told through a game. They could all have been animations or books, but the playable experience is what connects them in a cohesive, believable world, aided by the soundtrack and visuals that both communicate a sensation of warmth, like the end of a sunny afternoon. It's a game bathed in the aesthetics of a nostalgic present.
It's this atmosphere that introduces a story about love, loss and acceptance in an imperfect world. Every aspect contributes to a tangible sense of presence in a moment in time. It reinforces all the weight that comes from the "finality" of death.
I was surprised to find the characters so genuine and their relationships so sincere. Necrobarista effectively communicates each individual's personality and worldview through purposeful dialogue that shapes every interaction. The one gripe I have with the dialogue is how awkwardly some of the jokes are delivered. Although rare, it's almost annoying to have to witness these people going on and on about a pointless, unfunny and highly specific bit that only serves to hurt an otherwise tight narrative flow. It's not constant, but it's enough to stick out as a negative (unless you love bad stand-up comedy). If anything, the fact that I still managed to like these characters even after reading two or three lines of painfully unnatural humor serves to demonstrate the quality of the rest of the writing.
Necrobarista is one of the most unique works I've read so far in terms of form. The developers built a cohesive world, utilizing every aspect of a playable experience to deliver an immersive and organic narrative.
The main story is told through what could be comparable to a movie, but one in which you choose how long each cut lasts. You can linger in a moment for as long as you like. Like the characters, however, you'll have to move on at some point. The game utilizes the interactivity of the medium to its fullest potential to create a captivating, convincing world that lets players find bits of narrative by themselves and adjust the experience to their own pace. None of the stories, alone, had to be told through a game. They could all have been animations or books, but the playable experience is what connects them in a cohesive, believable world, aided by the soundtrack and visuals that both communicate a sensation of warmth, like the end of a sunny afternoon. It's a game bathed in the aesthetics of a nostalgic present.
It's this atmosphere that introduces a story about love, loss and acceptance in an imperfect world. Every aspect contributes to a tangible sense of presence in a moment in time. It reinforces all the weight that comes from the "finality" of death.
I was surprised to find the characters so genuine and their relationships so sincere. Necrobarista effectively communicates each individual's personality and worldview through purposeful dialogue that shapes every interaction. The one gripe I have with the dialogue is how awkwardly some of the jokes are delivered. Although rare, it's almost annoying to have to witness these people going on and on about a pointless, unfunny and highly specific bit that only serves to hurt an otherwise tight narrative flow. It's not constant, but it's enough to stick out as a negative (unless you love bad stand-up comedy). If anything, the fact that I still managed to like these characters even after reading two or three lines of painfully unnatural humor serves to demonstrate the quality of the rest of the writing.
Necrobarista is one of the most unique works I've read so far in terms of form. The developers built a cohesive world, utilizing every aspect of a playable experience to deliver an immersive and organic narrative.
Ojalá todas las novelas visuales tuviesen los cambios de planos que tiene esta. No os esperéis una gran animación o modelados, pero le da una frescura interesante, al igual que una música gamberrilla. Por destacar lo malo, creo que no acaba de quedar claro en ningún momento la situación de los que ahí están o como llega gente viva al lugar. O yo no me he enterado. Aun así, le acabas cogiendo cariño a todos los personajes, y dado las pocas h que son, eso es admirable.
Muy bueno y ameno. Sólo leer los diálogos y ver las imágenes me encantó.
i cannot understand a word of what is being said
I wanted to like this game more than I actually did. It's interesting conceptually, but a bit disappointing in its execution. It's quirky and Australian to its own detriment. At many points, it feels unfocused, almost like it needed a rewrite or two. Normally I wouldn't mind weak writing in a game, but this isn't so much a game as an interactive graphic novel. Not necessarily a bad thing, especially since I'd like to make something similar in the future, but I think the writing needs to be top knotch for something like this and this wasn't quite there.
You can't fault its conceptual ambition, though.
You can't fault its conceptual ambition, though.
From my steam review, almost a year ago.
This game is frustrating and I really wish it wasn't. To keep it simple, the game is not long enough. There's so many things about the main cast that is unanswered in the story that I want to know about, but is completely untouched in the main chapters. I very much believe that this game could use a rewrite.
When letting us into your world, I care more about the main cast than I do a fisherman, or some people playing billiards. Please give me the context and backstories of the main cast, rather than some faceless, nameless beings after every chapter.
I usually hate it when VNs are long, filled with unnecessary scenes... this is the opposite. Necrobarista is short, missing necessary scenes.
This game is frustrating and I really wish it wasn't. To keep it simple, the game is not long enough. There's so many things about the main cast that is unanswered in the story that I want to know about, but is completely untouched in the main chapters. I very much believe that this game could use a rewrite.
When letting us into your world, I care more about the main cast than I do a fisherman, or some people playing billiards. Please give me the context and backstories of the main cast, rather than some faceless, nameless beings after every chapter.
I usually hate it when VNs are long, filled with unnecessary scenes... this is the opposite. Necrobarista is short, missing necessary scenes.
This is a very hard game to review since it’s not really a game imo and I’m not big on visual novels. The only gameplay aspects you have is customising the tiny robots you see at the end of each chapter, moving in first person mode briefly to advance to the next chapter and read more background story (I skipped them) and a video editor mode. The last one seems to be editing some cutscenes, but I hardly spent time with it. So I’m not sure if there is more to it. I’m not big on visual novels or reading lots of text but I only have a limited time to try this game out before it gets removed from Apple Arcade. I was hoping the story would be worth it all but even that I found to be on the weak side. The story is centred around a bar that seems to be between life and death. The people who die can stay there before moving on to the real death part. Living humans can also visit the bar to speak with the dead. Then you have a council who collects payment in the form of someone’s life that is measured in time. This all sounds pretty interesting when it’s mentioned like that. But the real focus is on 5 characters at the bar, coping with real death and trying to get rid of their dept. The thing is. The story is boring for the most part and the characters are uninteresting. You mostly see them living their lives, doing mundane things and arguing with each other sometimes. The ending is also pretty bad when you find out that it wasn’t necessary after the epilogue. The game was trying to teach others about accepting one’s time but I’m not sure it succeeded. I enjoyed the 2 DLC stories far more. The characters were more interesting and there was more at stake. About the extra stories, I was willing to read them but I quickly found out it’s dumping pages of text on you. That would just kill the pacing if I end up reading them. The game also doesn’t have a lot of animations and sometimes text is hard to read. The story can be a subjective thing. So others might feel differently. Visual novel fans might like it more. But definitely skip it if you don’t see yourself reading a lot and not having much to do in terms of gameplay.