Kemono Teatime

Kemono Teatime is a cozy teashop sim whose heavy emphasis on narrative places it adjacent to visual novels in terms of gameplay. The game takes place one year after a pandemic which reduced the human population by over 80% and mutated most of those who remained with animal-like features. Tarte and her younger sister, Macaron, have just arrived in La Bête, one of the last bastions of civilization. The sisters open Café K and promise each other they'll spend every day together with smiles and happiness. Kemono Teatime's primary narrative revolves around [spoiler]terminal care, featuring perspectives from both the caregivers and patients.[/spoiler] In something of a monkey's paw dilemma, the virus which turned nearly all of humanity into kawaii animal girls [spoiler]is also a terminal prognosis with an almost 100% mortality rate in under a year after infection.[/spoiler] The few humans and kemomimi remaining mostly live in self-governed communes. La Bête is one such commune, widely considered the safest due to its ample supply of food and civil governance. Tarte and Macaron are welcomed to La Bête, where they make fast friends with a small cast of regulars who stop by daily to share their stories and enjoy some warm tea. Across the course of the story, characters fight, make amends, grieve, and support each other as their friends prepare to depart on their journeys. Like a lemon meringue, Kemono Teatime's sweet and fluffy surface belies a bitter morbidity which follows the cast like a dark shadow. The writing comes together in a surprisingly bittersweet delivery which authentically elicited emotion from me. Kemono Teatime is not free from narrative critique, as I found it unnatural how there seemed to be a generally accepted view that "humans" and "kemomimi" are different, despite the start of the pandemic occurring less than a year ago. The supporting cast play an important role laying the narrative groundwork for an emotional conclusion to the game; however, I also felt that their individual arcs were a bit shallow. A strong highlight of the game is its pixel art and music, which are critically important to setting the tone from beginning to end. The game is very partially voice-acted—mostly just onomatopoeias—and it's apparent they used ASMR mics for those recordings. I was very slightly disappointed they didn't take full advantage of their ASMR mics, with the game feeling like it favored right audio input. Kemono Teatime's gameplay loop is generally similar to other tea sims, where the sisters spend their days greeting customers who visit each day to place an order. At the start of each morning, Macaron selects a dessert for the day, which gets paired with every cup of tea that Tarte brews. Regular customers have dessert preferences, so by memorizing their schedules, the player can anticipate which dessert will yield the most friendship points. Similarly, regulars have favorite blends of tea, though they will sometimes request modifications to the herbal blends. Superficially, it's an entertaining enough system; however, Kemono Teatime is absurdly easy to the point that you could mess up a customer's order every single time and still probably max out their friendship meters by the end of the game. After the end of each day, Macaron and Tarte can pick a gift from their roommate. The gifts are generally things like additional flavors of tea or new herbs. While many tea and cozy sims feature randomized orders from customers, every request in Kemono Teatime is scripted. Knowing this, it was very odd to me that the end-of-day gift system was RNG from the pool of potential items. Players will get every item by the end of the game, so it seemed odd to put RNG here when the player can just save-scum until they get the tea blend they want or need for the following day anyway. At the start of the game, Macaron can only bake cookies, so unlocking new menu items requires purchasing ingredients from the local farmers. Kemono Teatime gives out a surplus of currency, such that it's guaranteed a player will be able to purchase all the ingredients by the end of the game. Thus, the only "strategy" would be timing when to buy certain ingredients if they're trying to make a new dessert every day. Overall, I think I would recommend Kemono Teatime, with a heavy preface at the outset that it's pretty limited both in terms of player choice and gameplay. I was disappointed when, at the end of the game, I was putting something in everybody's tea that I expected to trigger some reaction the next day, only for the story to steamroll onwards unfazed. Kemono Teatime is a wonderfully brewed story with tepid gameplay, so... for now, we smile and bear it. May that smile follow us on our journeys.

The emotional equivalent of having a birthday party in a cancer ward.

IT IS NOT CLEAR THAT THIS IS A EMOTIONAL GAME WITH HEAVY EMOTINAL THEMES UNTIL YOU BUY IT if you are okay with emotional themes and really REALLY don't want even the slightest spoilers, you might want to stop reading and get the game if you think it looks fun and feel able to handle the heavy themes, but if you want more information on what exactly is emotional, keep reading :) I looked at the game and thought it looked cute, played the demo and thought it was just a cute game where you brew custom tea blends to the requests of your customers, but then it took a did of a turn. see the people with cute cat ears? it's not just cute cat people, they are humans with a fatal disease, and you will witness the affects of that, and I think the developers should of made that more clear. the only thing that let's you know the game is emotional is the user-defined tag you could easily miss, and obviously that was not put there by the developers. other than that, it's a fun game! but also, when someone says something you have a limited time to read what they said, read the two replies, and then pick what you want to say, I don't think its a necessary feature and it made me feel rush, and I'm pretty sure I can read things quicker than most people. So, it is a cute and fun game, but I just wish it was more obvious that it's a super emotional game! I feel bad making this negative review because it a good game, I'm just upset they didn't make the theme clear and I feel like more people are going to buy this and then realise what they bought AFTER they bought it.

本作に対する私の評価と、ゲームメーカーとしてのFuRyu株式会社について 正直なところ、私が本作に好評を付けた理由は、「本当に面白かったから」というわけではありません。 本作は物語の展開がかなりゆっくりで、私が期待していたゲームのテンポや雰囲気とは少し違っていました。 そのため、発売前にDEMOをプレイした際も、途中でプレイをやめてしまいました。 また、現在のゲーム市場にある同ジャンルの作品と比較すると、コストパフォーマンスの面でも、プレイヤーにはもっと良い選択肢があると思います。 それでも、Studio Lalalaとその開発メンバーがこの作品を通して、プレイヤーにどれだけ素晴らしい体験を届けられるのかを、誠実に示してくれたことは間違いありません。 本作のゲーム性はどちらかというと「キャラクターとの交流を楽しむノベルゲーム」に近く、扱っているテーマ自体も、日本では決して珍しいものではありません。 それでも、キャラクターデザインに対するこだわり、新聞やラジオを通して少しずつ知っていく世界の背景、心地よいドット絵のビジュアル、ASMRやBGM、そして何よりも素晴らしいローカライズ。 たとえ作品自体の知名度がまだ広く知られていなくても、プレイヤーから寄せられる高い評価は、彼らが受け取るに値する報酬だと思います。 そう、本当に単純なことなんです。 そして、それこそが、私が思うにFuRyuというメーカーが長年にわたって達成できていなかったことでもあります。 私はむしろ、FuRyuは日本のプレイヤーの気持ちをかなり軽視しているのではないかとすら感じています。 「神ゲーを作るための公式」とは、有名なイラストレーターを起用し、有名声優を集め、ボカロの有名作曲家をメインスタッフとして参加させれば、有る「P」から始まる人気シリーズと肩を並べられる――。まるで、そんな考え方をしているように感じてしまいます。 皆さん、良心に問いかけてみてください。 広く知られるようになった『Caligula』シリーズ、『CRYSTAR』、『Monark』、『VARLET』と比べてみて、クリエイターたちの努力そのものを評価対象から外した場合、一体どの作品が「ゲームとして面白かった」のでしょうか？ もちろん、これらの作品に携わったクリエイターたちの努力を否定するつもりはありません。 しかし、それを考慮しなければ、正直なところ、1690円程度が妥当な上限だったのではないかと思います。 それなら私は、そのお金を国内の大学生が制作した卒業制作に使って、彼らを応援したほうがいいとすら思ってしまいます。 だからこそ私は、本作を購入することで応援することにしました。 そしてStudio Lalalaに対して、「あなたたちには大きな可能性を秘めた開発チームがある」ということを伝えたいです。 今後は、例えば「お茶を淹れる」という本作の魅力的な要素をさらに発展させたり、世界観をより深く掘り下げたりしながら、さらに素晴らしい物語と経営・シミュレーション要素を組み合わせた続編を作ってくれることを期待しています。 これほど素晴らしいIPを、あなたたちはすでに作り上げました。 あなたたちが生み出した、このカフェで過ごした思い出は、たとえその結末が少し切ないものだったとしても―― きっと、誰かがその思い出を受け継いでくれるはずです。 /// 以下為原文，由於中文圈受眾不多，故以日文翻譯後刊登評價 淺談我對本作評價以及FuRyu株式會社開發及發行的整體感想 事實上我給好評的原因並不是因為它真的好玩，這部作品敘事太慢並不符合我期待的調性，所以當初我DEMO玩到一半就放棄了 甚至以現今遊戲市場的同類型的遊戲相比，玩家絕對有性價比更好的選擇 但是Studio Lalala及他的開發成員，他們就是用這部作品誠懇地告訴你們，他們能為玩家做到的美好體驗有多少 即使本作遊戲的遊玩分類更偏向於角色互動式小說、探討的主題在日本不算新奇 但是他們對角色設計的用心、透過報紙及收音機認識完整的故事背景、舒適的點陣圖視覺跟ASMR與BGM，更重要的是優良的在地化翻譯 即使作品知名度不出圈，玩家們的好評都是他們應得的回報 沒錯，就是那麼簡單的事，正是他們廠商長年以來都做不到的目標 我甚至覺得他們相當輕視日本玩家感受，以為神作的公式就是只要找知名插畫家加上知名聲優、Vocaloid作曲家擔任主要製作，就可以跟某P開頭的神作系列打對台 大家摸著良心講，相較出圈的《Caligula》系列、《CRYSTAR》、《Monark》、《VARLET》，除了售價很貴之外，哪部是好玩的？ 上述作品如果不列入那些創作者付出的努力，售價1690日圓就差不多是極限了，還不如花錢去支持國內的大學生畢業專題 所以我決定用購買支持本作，告訴FuRyu他們是很有發展潛力的工作室 很期待你們可以透過延伸泡茶玩法以及世界觀的方式，做出更好的敘事/經營遊戲續作 這麼棒的IP，你們打造出來的咖啡廳回憶，即便結局是傷感的，但是一定會有玩家幫你們把回憶繼承下去的

开局就遇到bug，保存配方命名时会卡住，然后什么都点不了

Came for tea, left with tears.

[h1]'햇살이 떠나면 비가 오네요'[/h1] 게임의 모든 도전과제를 달성하면 주어지는 업적 'After sun, Comes rain'의 비공식 한글 번역입니다. 이 문장만 봐도 게임의 분위기를 어느 정도 유추할 수 있습니다. 전체적인 주제를 살펴보자면, 이별의 아픔을 어떻게 받아들이는지에 대한 게임입니다. 밝고 귀여운 도트와는 상반된 어두운 배경 설정, 가슴을 후벼파는 스토리가 특징입니다. 스토리를 중시하시는 분들이라면 강력히 추천드립니다. [h2]이 아래로 스포 주의[/h2] 게임의 배경은 사람이 점점 짐승이 되어가는 질병이 퍼진 세계입니다. 이 질병은 치사율 100%로, 인간은 짐승이 되어버리는 급격한 신체 변화를 버티지 못해 장기부전으로 사망하게 됩니다. 특히 꼬리가 자라났다는 것은 이내 사망한다는 강력한 시그널로, 작중에서는 꼬리가 자라나면 한 달 이내 반드시 사망한다고 여겨지고 있습니다. 게임에서는 마쉬, 클로티드, 블린츠 그리고 주인공(플레이어)의 여동생인 마카롱이 꼬리가 자라난 채로 1일차를 시작합니다. 또한, 각각의 꼬리가 자라난 '케모미미'는 가장 가까운 지인이 존재합니다. 이 케모미미들은 사망하며 각 지인들의 마음에 큰 구멍을 남기게 됩니다. 이 구멍을 어떻게 안고 살아갈 것인가. 이것이 게임의 대주제입니다. 사실, 이러한 이별의 아픔은 게임 안에서만 있는 것이 아닙니다. 우리가 사는 이 세계에도 질병으로 인한 죽음, 갑작스러운 사고, 돌이킬 수 없는 선택 등 수많은 영원한 이별이 존재합니다. 어디에서든 볼 수 있고, 인간이라면 누구든 경험하는 아픔입니다. 그래서 이 게임의 주제는 더욱 무겁게 다가옵니다. 누구나 알고 있지만, 애써 모른척 하는 그런 아픔이기에. 엔딩의 꽃밭에서 타르트가 마카롱에게 남긴 말은 여운을 더 짙게 만듭니다. 마카롱의 죽음은 분명 슬픈 일이지만, 그런 슬픔조차도 마음에 안고 살고, 살고, 살고, 살아간다는 그 대사는 게임의 주인공이라서 할 수 있는 말이 아니기 때문입니다. 우리 모두가 품었던 말, 품고 있는 말, 품을 말이기 때문입니다. 게임에서도 나왔듯, '애달프다'만큼 이 게임을 잘 설명하는 단어가 있을까요. 강력히 추천합니다.

아