CAFE 0 ~The Sleeping Beast~

It grew on me and I ended up loving it. It's not very long, it repeats but changes. It has heart.

This is not really a romantic story, so if you go into it expecting something like that you will probably be disappointed. Personally, I found the fact that the routes and overarching plot focused more on a platonic/familial kind of love to be refreshing. The game does get pretty dark in places, but nothing really gory or anything like that is depicted on-screen- bad things happen, but it's more about the tragedy of everything than the spectacle. The music was lovely and the art was good, even though I thought one of the main characters kind of had an awkward pose. I liked the fact that if use the default name for the main character, her name is voiced- I enjoy little details like that. The mystery put forth in this visual novel is only ultimately solved by going through every route collecting all of the clues and then continuing to the True End- so this is a game where you need to play every route and not just one of them to get the full story out of it. I play a lot of these sorts of games, and I was actually surprised by some of the twists and turns. It took me around seven hours or so to read through everything, but I am a fast reader so keep that in mind. Without spoiling, though, I was satisfied by the True Ending and really enjoyed reading and finding out what was going on the whole way through, even if it got a little emotionally rough for me by the end. This game has a sad premise and at heart, it's still a tragedy- almost especially once you finally know the truth.

I have literally sat here for those entire 5 hours because I was so enrapt in this game. It's beautiful and was definitely worth investing in. It's now 11:42pm though so I guess I should sleep. There's always tomorrow to try another route. ------- Since I wrote my initial review I have added 15 more hours to my gameplay. I STILL am not done and I HAVE to know EVERYTHING!!! Anyway if you didn't feel like getting this game after my first review, I hope you will reconsider with this updated sorta review? =)

It's an acquired taste. It's to crack a case. It's a thrilling, smart story.

Overall, I feel like The Sleeping Beast deserves a positive rating, as it’s interesting enough to hold your attention for the duration, but doesn’t excel at anything in particular. While appearing at first glance like an otome game, it’s more of a story of familial love and friendship, with solving a 15-year mystery as the glue that holds the plot together. The storytelling is divided between the present day, and flashbacks to other character 15 years prior, the latter of which making increasingly more sense as you progress through the story. There aren’t too many characters, you play as the maid Corliss, fated to die in 7 days, and you have the two Ashford heirs, Ethan and Nathan, who each have a route, along with a True Route to wrap up the overall mystery. The flashback scenes and supporting cast are shared across all routes. The pacing is a little slow, and the way they tease you again and again with the mystery of what happened and with the impending death of the main character in 7 days, you’d expect some much more dramatic and surprising revelations than what you actually get. Except for some minor details, it’s fairly easy to figure out what happened before you’re outright shown. The artwork and music are fine, but the quality varies a lot, and the characters look really different in some CG’s than others. I enjoyed the game well enough in the moment, but at the end looking back, I feel a bit disappointed with how it all turned out. Still, it’s not a bad story by any means and seems to appear in sales fairly often.

The game is absolutely delightful! The start may seem slow and boring at first, but the longer I played the more I came to love the story. I didn't expect to cry even. I recommend this game to anyone who'd love to read a beautifully written story.

incredibly interesting good story, I love it!

Love Cafe 0. 10/10