[Review] Coffee Talk - Not Just Coffee Until Morning
Coffee culture has certainly become an old tradition that already exists in Indonesia, although now the young connoisseurs are starting to shift from coffee shops or angkringan to more modern and comfortable cafes. But actually, the main essence of warkop and coffee cafes is not in the place, but from the interactions in it.
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And that’s what local developer Toge Productions wants to retell with fantasy spice in this Coffee Talk game. Set in the city of Seattle, United States but in an alternative fantasy world this year (2020), where humans live side by side with various other races that you often encounter in RPG games such as Elf, Werewolf, and even Succubus.
You yourself will act as a bartender at a midnight coffee cafe who will certainly entertain your guests, fulfill their drink orders, while listening to stories, complaints, or just small talk after their busy routine.
There are several characters that appear in the demo that we play, and all of them have different personalities and images besides their races which are quite diverse as we said before. Almost each or at least a group of these characters have a problem that is going on and bring it to be discussed in your cafe.
Fun pixel visuals
The visuals carried by Coffee Talk are pixel art and we feel this visual is very suitable to be implemented in this game. The warm atmosphere of the cafe, with the silhouette of the city that often rains in the background makes the game feel alive and not static. All the existing characters are depicted in pixel art, but still feel dynamic with a little animation and changes in expression that adequately describe what they are talking about.
Each character that appears is designed with a comically different appearance to represent how their personality is, or how their race is in the social strata of the world. This in itself makes the characters quite easy to remember and understand their motivations in the ongoing story.
The variety of available characters also makes players maybe pay more attention to one or several characters they like and are curious about how the story will continue from that character, or at least it will be fun when the character appears at your coffee shop.
To add an indie feel to the game, Toge Production also complements this Coffee Shop game with lo-fi and jazz music that you can play while preparing coffee and chatting with existing customers. The handpicked music is good enough to amplify the atmosphere of the game without distracting you from following the conversation.
Emphasis on story over gameplay
Entering the gameplay, Coffee Talk itself is more suitable to be called a visual novel rather than a simulator. Because indeed the game will ask you to learn to “concoct” drinks according to the wishes of the customers (in a fairly simple way of course), make latte art, remember what each customer’s favorite drink is, and find new recipes from the combination of ingredients you have. . You can even find Indonesian special drinks such as Teh Tarik, Kopi Tubruk, and even STMJ.
But that’s just the simulation aspect that Coffee Talk brings, because the next portion of the game you will spend watching the conversations that occur between existing customers. Conversations that lead to you are answered according to the story, without any choices that might change the storyline. In short, you will only follow the path that has been provided by this game without risk and without consequences. Because even when you give your drink wrong, they won’t bother and you don’t get any punishment.
But that doesn’t mean we don’t like the story that Coffee Talk tells, in fact the topics in this game’s story dare to mention many problems that are happening in our social life today. Starting from racism, overprotective parents, depression, social anxiety, to issues related to work and even environmental issues.
Everything is told in the form of dialogue from the existing characters. Which unfortunately only we can realize and know without being able to discuss it more deeply as the story progresses. However, it is understandable because this demo itself is not too long, while the issues that want to be raised are very many.
Minimalist yet curious features
As an indie game, Coffee Talk may not offer a story that is too long and complex. Also does not offer a diverse gameplay, but at least when you have finished the main story of this game you can still play some of the other modes provided.
The first is “Free Brew” where you can experiment to find new drink recipes for your recipe collection. As well as “Challenge” where you will race against time to fulfill your customer’s orders, where time will be added when you give the correct order.
The last feature to enjoy is the gallery feature, which may not be something you can play with. But at least you can enjoy some of the art from the game from the characters you like in an out-of-pixel style or even concept art from artists from Toge Productions.
Last cup time
Then what is the conclusion of this Coffee Talk? As a game that is played to enjoy the story, Coffee Talk presents a story that is quite dense and interesting because it dares to bring issues that are currently hot in its narrative. The gameplay of the “barista simulator” that is brought is quite simple and quite fun to play. Especially if you are a lover of warm drinks and are curious about what drinks can be made from the combination of ingredients that you have. Moreover, there are many local Indonesian drinks that you can find in this game.
Taking a quite different theme from existing local indie games, Coffee Talk offers something light and comfortable. But from a safe situation, you are asked to pay attention to the things around you, the customers who come, and the conversations that are going on. Because trust us, the little things scattered throughout this game will pay off at the end of the story.
This game is perfect if you want a game that can be enjoyed in a relaxed manner, and like watching a movie or drama you can enjoy the intrigue of a fairly heavy story and the unique characters that you expect to be in your coffee shop every night. Coffee Talk itself will be released on January 30, 2020 tomorrow for all platforms. And for those of you who want to try it yourself, you can try out the demo on their Steam, Playstation Store, and Nintendo Store pages.
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