Coffee Talk Critic Reviews

Although the game is a single-player experience, I never felt alone while whipping up drinks and talking with characters who - as odd as it might sound - genuinely felt like my closest of friends.

This is a game that challenges the idea of how we label games. Sure, Coffee Talk is a sim, but it’s also a vital experience, a potential therapeutic tool. It’s a friend. A gorgeous, lo-fi, nostalgic, heartfelt journey into some complex lives that makes you want to believe in people. What better way to spend your evening than with a couple of vibrant souls, listening to ambient beats and sipping custom coffee? Just don’t blame me if you can’t put it to bed.

Coffee Talk is the kind of game I would never have thought to ask for, but it is exactly what I needed to take a break from my normal video game fare. There's nothing to kill or beat up here, just pleasant conversations in a humble coffee shop, and plenty of drinks to go around. There aren't any skill challenges per se, but there is a bit of a challenge in figuring out how to make the various drinks that are asked for. The more you know about coffees, teas, and hot chocolates, the easier this whole process will be. In this fictional version of Seattle, you never know who will walk through the door as it could be anything from a struggling writer, an alien, or a vegan vampire.

Coffee Talk is a pleasingly creative game with a lot of heart and hidden depth. During my playthrough, I felt like I was curling up with a good book under a blanket, sipping a warm beverage. Every once in a while, we could all do with that relaxing way to pass the time. While I was regrettably late in playing this delightful title, I’m eager to give Coffee Talk Episode 2: Hibiscus & Butterfly an earlier try! After all, if it is anything like its predecessor, it’ll be a title to talk about with a warm cup of coffee close at hand.

Despite being too similar to its inspirations, Coffee Talk is a unique blend of love for retro style, chillout music and a surprisingly vivid and fantasy portrayal of Seattle. A beautiful and relaxing experience that succeeds as a hybrid of barista simulation and traditional visual novel.

It’s apparent that this visual novel will become very much ‘of its time’ in the years to come. And whilst novels are a personal favourite of mine amongst literary genres, the ‘visual novels’ like Coffee Talk have never had me quite so enthralled as their print counterparts. Toge Productions creates an attractive and calming world to be wrapped up in – but doesn’t provide much more than a comfort read.

This is one of those unique games that we really enjoy. It’s perfect if you just want to enjoy a bunch of stories that feel human and real, even if they are part of a fantastic universe.

Coffee Talk’s atmosphere that incorporates the diversity of Indonesia is worth spending some time in, and the game succeeds in depicting something as mundane as people’s worries and how they learn to move on. That makes Coffee Talk the kind of game that you will actually want to enjoy while relaxing with a cup of coffee yourself. While the story has no great drama or impactful event, the message that the developer tries to deliver at the ending comes through.

If Coffee Talk was standing on its own in a void, I would call this game a must play, no questions asked. The need to grind out recipes to figure out how to unlock the full story is frustrating, a stain on everything else in the package, but by the time I got to this point I had already fallen in love with the characters and aesthetic. The problem is, everything here has been done before, and better. It does feel like Toge Productions wanted to craft a homage to Valhalla, but doing so puts them right up against a cult classic. I truly think that they should have done more to differentiate themselves, to stand out more in this burgeoning genre.

Coffee Talk is a decent coffee that you forget as soon as you leave the bar.

Quotation forthcoming.

Coffee Talk is very much a mismatched brew. Without strong focus, the surface-level approach to a catalogue of important issues hampers the writing, the principal element of all visual novels. But while its casual philosophies can sometimes be hard to swallow, great visuals, fun side modes, and a budget price point suggests that, for some readers, Coffee Talk will still go down smooth.

It’s a good way to relax for a few hours.