Time to mix drinks and change lives.
VA-11 Hall-A was the final game I beat in 2023 and what a great sendoff it was. Huge thanks to @wheatie again for providing me with a copy of this game as a christmas gift - please consider showing her some support!
As a visual novel, VA-11 was quite different from the ones I played before, since I never got around to actually playing a normal slice-of-life VN. Considering I've (nearly) only played murder mysteries in this format, it was a nice change of pace to read a visual novel with a welcoming and cozy atmosphere for once. The cyberpunk aesthetic and soundtrack are a perfect match for the direction of VA-11 and quickly help to immerse you in the setting. I might just talk about the soundtrack a little more while I'm at it. The game allows you to pick 12 different songs from a diverse collection so you can set your own soundtrack. There's an integrated music player so you can listen to your favorite songs on shuffle and repeat or even skip some if you're not feeling them at the moment. Thankfully you can always switch out the jukebox songs each in-game day, so if you happen to really dislike a song, you can just swap it out for something else. So yeah, there's that. However, a good visual novel shouldn't need to rely on the soundtrack alone to be enjoyable, it also needs unique and entertaining characters. VA-11 has quite the quirky cast; seeing the talking Shiba with sunglasses for the first time certainly got a good chuckle out of me. His name being Rad Shiba didn't help.
The actual gameplay itself is really simple and nothing noteworthy. You click some ingredients on the right side of the screen and drag them together to mix a drink. While this mixing mechanic is just a plot device most of the time, sometimes you'd also get different dialogue from the customers, depending on the amount of alcohol they had. Somehow I only realized this when I already was nearing the end of the game, but I don't think it makes a huge difference, just a different topic every now and then.
That wraps pretty much everything up I wanted to say about this game already. It's a solid experience and I'd strongly advise anyone who likes cyberpunk settings or a good visual novel to try VA-11 out. Just please listen to my advice from earlier and don't rush it - take breaks if you're feeling bored. Grab a snack and just enjoy what lies ahead.
Thanks for reading. See you in 2024!
VA-11 Hall-A was the final game I beat in 2023 and what a great sendoff it was. Huge thanks to @wheatie again for providing me with a copy of this game as a christmas gift - please consider showing her some support!
As a visual novel, VA-11 was quite different from the ones I played before, since I never got around to actually playing a normal slice-of-life VN. Considering I've (nearly) only played murder mysteries in this format, it was a nice change of pace to read a visual novel with a welcoming and cozy atmosphere for once. The cyberpunk aesthetic and soundtrack are a perfect match for the direction of VA-11 and quickly help to immerse you in the setting. I might just talk about the soundtrack a little more while I'm at it. The game allows you to pick 12 different songs from a diverse collection so you can set your own soundtrack. There's an integrated music player so you can listen to your favorite songs on shuffle and repeat or even skip some if you're not feeling them at the moment. Thankfully you can always switch out the jukebox songs each in-game day, so if you happen to really dislike a song, you can just swap it out for something else. So yeah, there's that. However, a good visual novel shouldn't need to rely on the soundtrack alone to be enjoyable, it also needs unique and entertaining characters. VA-11 has quite the quirky cast; seeing the talking Shiba with sunglasses for the first time certainly got a good chuckle out of me. His name being Rad Shiba didn't help.
The actual gameplay itself is really simple and nothing noteworthy. You click some ingredients on the right side of the screen and drag them together to mix a drink. While this mixing mechanic is just a plot device most of the time, sometimes you'd also get different dialogue from the customers, depending on the amount of alcohol they had. Somehow I only realized this when I already was nearing the end of the game, but I don't think it makes a huge difference, just a different topic every now and then.
That wraps pretty much everything up I wanted to say about this game already. It's a solid experience and I'd strongly advise anyone who likes cyberpunk settings or a good visual novel to try VA-11 out. Just please listen to my advice from earlier and don't rush it - take breaks if you're feeling bored. Grab a snack and just enjoy what lies ahead.
Thanks for reading. See you in 2024!
5 Comments
Good review brother, but I just cannot agree with the verdict. This game genuinely frustrated me because it had such an interesting setting and lore yet chose to throw that to the background in favor of focusing on something infinitely less interesting than the surrounding events. You had terrorism and hacker groups, fascinating concepts like discrimination towards synthetics and the use of loli programs for pedophilia, yet I'm forced to care about some random romance?
I genuinely don't think you lost your attention b/c of the coziness factor- it's cause the main story was so bland in contrast to the surrounding atmosphere.
I genuinely don't think you lost your attention b/c of the coziness factor- it's cause the main story was so bland in contrast to the surrounding atmosphere.
@RedBackLoggd Thanks for your input! I'm sorry to hear that you didn't like the game, so I'd like to address some points you brought up to maybe change your view. Since you mentioned a 'random romance' overshadowing and disregarding the previous worldbuilding, I would like to go in detail on this aspect. Spoilers ahead, obviously. I'm still not entirely sure which romance you mean here, cause there isn't any explicit romance plot going on, so I'm going to assume you're referring to the Jill subplot starting at the end of Chapter 1, where she has to come to terms with her past regarding her ex-girlfriend and her sister. This entire subplot is only brought up a handful of times in the entire game, first time at Jill's hangout with Dana and the other times it's short scenes regarding Lenore's envelope or meeting Gaby at the bar. (Only time where it's not as short is the final confrontation with Gaby, but that's basically the ending of the game.) And honestly, I didn't really find that this sidestory distracts from the initial narrative, since there isn't a clear narrative. It's not structured, the entire 'plot' revolves about the stories of the people - Gaby's substory just happens to have ties into Jill's life. You get what I'm trying to say? This also brings me right to your last point, where you bring up that I would have lost my attention cause of the main story being bland, but that's really not it. Like I said before, there is no overarching narrative. Of course some characters were more interesting than others and not everyone is supposed to be likable. Also I said before I was really tired during Chapter 3, but still played it cause it was fun. I just didn't get the smaller details, like some late stuff involving Stella is a bit fuzzy in my memory, but that's about it.
Now I've been rambling for a while and think everything should be covered. Sorry if I happened to misunderstand your first point and you're actually referring to something else. Have a nice New Year's Eve!
Now I've been rambling for a while and think everything should be covered. Sorry if I happened to misunderstand your first point and you're actually referring to something else. Have a nice New Year's Eve!
Yeah, I was referring to the one about Jill's ex.
Look, you obviously played the game more recently than me, so your memory is more authentic than mine. From what I recall, it's the closest thing the game has to a central storyline, and I'd argue it is a central storyline in spite of the myriad of subplots given that it involves a personal arc for the protagonist. You're right that the game, in general, is about Jill's interactions with these various clientele, but because this comes up multiple times in every chapter, it is a core focus no matter the overall minimal amount of screen time technically devoted to it.
But you're probably right that the game focusing on many plots that, to me, were less intriguing than the ones I described in my initial comment is why I didn't like the game rather than just problems with the "main" narrative.
Happy New Year man. You didn't misunderstand anything, I love a good debate and agree the visuals and OST are top-tier.
Look, you obviously played the game more recently than me, so your memory is more authentic than mine. From what I recall, it's the closest thing the game has to a central storyline, and I'd argue it is a central storyline in spite of the myriad of subplots given that it involves a personal arc for the protagonist. You're right that the game, in general, is about Jill's interactions with these various clientele, but because this comes up multiple times in every chapter, it is a core focus no matter the overall minimal amount of screen time technically devoted to it.
But you're probably right that the game focusing on many plots that, to me, were less intriguing than the ones I described in my initial comment is why I didn't like the game rather than just problems with the "main" narrative.
Happy New Year man. You didn't misunderstand anything, I love a good debate and agree the visuals and OST are top-tier.
Jill Stingray!!!!!!!!!
wheatie
4 months ago