Necrobarista

This game is a kinetic novel, so this will be a shorter review than normal. That’s because when speaking of gameplay, there is no gamplay. You are just clicking through enjoying the setting and story. I don’t want to speak too much on the plot either since that’s the main point of the game, so if you want to know more, go check it out. Just know that Necrobarista takes place in a coffee shop where the patrons may or may not be dead.

Find it on Steam.

I believe in technical terms, Necrobarista is a kinetic novel, not a visual novel. The difference being visual novels tend to have choices and branching storylines. A kinetic novel is just a straight shot from beginning to end. Though this game really puts the kinetic in kinetic novel. The presentation of the game is just superb.

Necrobarista is a coffee shop in Australia where ghosts can get some final pleasures of life before moving on. Though not all of the patrons are ghosts. The game doesn’t dive too much into the coffee part, so don’t expect any long explanations about roasts or styles. It’s all about the characters that run the place and a few particular visitors.

Being that the focus is on the characters, how are they? I find them fun to watch as they get up to their strange and wild antics. Slowly, you’re introduced to the world and what’s going on in the coffee shop. There are a lot of great interactions all around with the quirky cast. The main character is probably Maddy, the apprentice coffee shop owner. Everyone is important, though.

The game is entirely in 3D, and the scenes are full of fun details. The characters are all 3D models allowing them some nice movement. They also have great facial expressions. While this is not a fully animated game, they do have enough animation to make everyone feel lively, even if they aren’t alive.

It also allows for fun camera angles, cutting to and away from characters. The entire experience feels really dynamic. Though sometimes, it’s a bit too dynamic with some unnecessary jump cuts.

Also, between chapters, you can explore the coffee shop at your leisure to really take in all of the details they put in.

There is no voice acting in the game, so it’ll just be you reading through the text or looking at the minor animations and scene transitions. The characters all look great. They have fun personalities and their facial animations really help emphasize their emotions.

Sometimes, though, the little pauses where you click-to-continue are just for animations. I think it would be better if they just automatically went on after the animation finished playing rather than waiting for player input.

The soundtrack of the game is pretty nice, too. It mixes in creepy stuff and relaxing stuff. The music of the game fits well with the tone and is easy to listen to.

The game isn’t too long. It does have two bonus chapters featuring other characters, though. There are also a lot of mini text-only pieces that add to the world as well.

Necrobarista can be a bit short, and it only has one way the story goes. It doesn’t get too philosophical or strange. The setting is charming and relaxing, and the cast is fun. It’s a bit easy in the sense that there isn’t too much struggle in the story. The tone is more semi-light hearted.

Find it on Steam.