Sweetcore Brews - an otome game inspired by witchy sitcoms

Honestly? I really wanted to love this game- I supported it on Kickstarter because I liked the proposed storyline. But the storyline, on its own, is a mess. And I dont want to completely diss it- because I have enjoyed playing the game. But this should be purchased just by people who enjoy some smut with VN choices- not for people who are looking for a cohesive or interesting storyline overall. Again, I do not regret buying or playing this game. But just be aware you are not purchasing a masterpiece. In terms of formatting, the game mechanics could use some popular features. The one thing I found most difficult was that there were four save files, but if you were already playing on one save file game, you couldn't save on a second file. Thus, if you tried to save before choices, it didn't really matter because it was all going to devolve onto one main save file anyway. In addition to that, when you load from a save file and go to continue the story, you have to manually scroll with your mouse to whatever chapter you are on towards the right. As the game goes on, this takes longer and longer. Yes, I would recommend this game, but know what you are paying for before you buy. You are paying for some soft smut with some nice art and some tedious/confusing/sometimes boring filler storyline. And thats okay

it's a cute and aesthetically pleasing otome game. i am particularly fond of the art style, and i really enjoyed the mature scenes/dialogue. did i mention that i LOVE how you can customize the background screen that's ALSO voiced!? however, i really wished there was a feature which could zoom in on the CGs, and listen to the voiced lines separately rather it be in text. i also did notice some of the achievements are bugged-- or rather keep resetting. despite this, it did take me a few tries on the mini-games to achieve one of the achievements. regardless, i definitely recommend this game! [i](especially because of kingsley hehe) [/i] EDIT: i would like to retract my statement about kingsley. zero has me down bad for her that it's no longer a joke anymore.

I've just started and already I find Zero insufferable and I can't even turn her down as she [spoiler] touches me even after I choose the least affectionate choice, then mc's feelings start falling for her or what even though the affection level is 0%. [/spoiler] Also as someone who has picked up this game for the hot grey haired guy option, there is not enough of him in the beginning chapters for me to really form a decision before I run out of time where I can still get a refund... As of now. No I don't think I can recommend this game, unless you like really freakin pushy main love interests who think they are God's gift to humanity.

I'm hesitant to give it a full thumbs up or down. This is one of the times I wish there was a more neutral rating. The art is cute, the matching mini-game is ok. Kingsley is my ideal type and I'm down for it. Decently spiciness (It did the job!) Now on to the bad. The plot is all over the place and the different sections are only tangentially connected. The mad libs style sections are AWFUL. Truly frustrating and hinder progressing the game. There needs to be an option to turn them off or skip them. Zero is so highly problematic I would have called the cops on her the first time I met her. She starts directly with sexual harassment of a stranger and just goes from there. Its not cute or sexy - its ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ creepy. If you can get it at a big discount or you are REALLY into suited domineering men, I guess grab it. If not, I'd skip this one.

I honestly find this entire game to just be a bit of a mess... What little plot there is just is not interesting or even that cohesive. Interactions with the love interests feel forced. The word game is just boxes saying noun and it doesn't matter what you put. It's also very clear that this was designed to be for mobile, with PC popped on as an after thought.

Pros: [list][*]The spicy content is refreshing and can be avoided should someone not want to go down a spicy route. (As someone who didn't enjoy Zero (which makes me sad because from her picture she gave me Sailor Uranus tomboy vibes, but unfortunately she is not cool like Sailor Uranus) at all, I found myself turning her down constantly and was happy to do so. [*]The art is beautiful overall. Very visually pleasing but would have liked to see a little more content with more variety. [*]The overall environment is great, who doesn't want to be some form of kitchen witch in games? In this game we get to be MC who makes teas and it's absolutely adorable. I would have liked to see more from this world.[/list] Cons: [list][*]I am disappointed by the overall story and the pacing. Some parts drag, and some parts go too fast. [*]The mini games felt like a time waste and didn't add anything really interesting or important to the game, so it definitely added more drag than should have be necessary. [*]Despite there being some spicy NSFW stuff, it would have been nice if there was actual spicy scenes for the game. [*]Both the LI's personalities are kind of lacking and it could be because establishing relationships with either of them feels forced throughout the entire game. There was no real slow burn or lead up, it just kind of exists. [/list] Overall this game has some good qualities, but it was not enough to keep me interested.

[i]Disclaimer: I was a Kickstarter backer for this game. Sweetcore Brews[/i] is a fantasy romcom otome/yuri VN hybrid about a young witch, Milly, who works brewing magical teas for the shop she's employed at. The story is split up into episodes, with all of them (except the final episode) being split up into three chapters. At the end of each chapter, it might give you one of three minigames: a match-3 minigame, a mad libs minigame where you type in several nouns to put in a recipe, and a mad libs minigame where you input names and words to create advice for customers' problems. While I enjoyed the match-3 game (which is simple but still fun), both of the mad libs variants wore out their welcome very quickly. Eventually I just started putting spaces into the blanks just to get past them. The game...doesn't really have much of a plot. It mostly relies on a "situation of the week" type structure, where Milly and the LI(s) get into a problem that was caused and/or is solved by Milly's tea brewing. A lot of the humor comes from the bizarre things that Milly mixes into her teas, and the wacky effects the teas can have. At the end of each route, there's a longer-than-usual episode that brings in aspects from previous episodes as Chekhov's guns to increase stakes, which ends up being kind of mood whiplash considering how lighthearted most of the game is. Because the game has very little plot until the end, I would highly recommend only buying the game if you like [i]both[/i] of the love interests. (Zero is a flirtatious type who starts getting touchy-feely with Milly almost immediately after they meet; Kingsley is the classic "cold-ish uber-rich guy with a heart of gold" trope.) If you only like one, you're missing out on nearly half of the game's content, and there's no story to make sitting through the LI you dislike worth it. Trying out the browser-based demo on itchio or the F2P mobile version might be a good idea if you're on the fence about it. The game has optional softcore text-only sex scenes, which according to the store page are marked so that they can be easily avoided. This is...sort of true. When you pick the "spicy" option, a confirmation screen pops up asking if you want to proceed. But there's no visual indicator on the choice menu itself. The game also doesn't tell you that the spicy option is always the last option, so from the perspective of a player who hasn't figured it out for themself yet, if you specifically want that option, you have to randomly guess and hope you get it right the first time (it's not always obvious from the choice text). Unlike most romance VNs, Sweetcore Brews allows you to go on both routes at the same time in the same playthrough. However, while you can do this and the routes sometimes merge into each other to allow Milly to flirt and be flirted with both LIs at the same time, there's no proper polyamory route; the endings for each route are pretty clear about being monogamous, even if you've pursued both LIs. The game doesn't advertise a polyam route, so I'm not disappointed, but it's kind of a strange structure decision to make. While this game was released simultaneously on both PC and mobile, it's very clear that the UX was designed primarily for mobile with PC being an afterthought. It's not unusable by any means, but it's a bit counterintuitive on PC. The biggest examples are the game expecting you to navigate through menus by clicking and dragging them instead of just using the scroll wheel (you [i]can[/i] use the scroll wheel, but a full scroll only moves the scroll a few pixels, so it's easier to just click-and-drag) and not having keyboard shortcuts for most things. There's also no auto function and no ability to skip only read text (and the skip function takes you to the next choice or to the last sentence before the end of the chapter rather than being a fast-forward). Also IDK why the page says it's a simulation, there are literally zero sim aspects to the game. It's a pure VN with occasional match-3 and mad libs segments. You don't actually run Milly's shop, do any stat-raising, etc. And this is a really small nitpick, but it's kind of disappointing that you never get to see the MC outside of CGs (of which there are only two per route). Her design is so cute! I know a lot of otome game readers don't like to see the MC, but something like a toggle for a side image would be nice. It just feels like a waste to have such a cute design for her and then basically never show her, lol. I know that seems like a lot of negatives, but I really did enjoy this game, and I don't regret backing it on KS. But the combination of the structure and technical issues makes it really hard to give it an unqualified recommendation. That said, I'm looking forward to seeing what the developers do in the future, especially if they can work out the snags in their PC porting. [i]For more recommendations and reviews, check out my curator, [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/32080131/]Games for Hopeless Romantics[/url].[/i]

Sweetcore brews is a super fun and cute game. Kingsley is my favorite character. He is such a spicy boy that is a total 3 piece suit of a personality. I highly suggest you pick up this game if you want some spice.