Sweetcore Brews - an otome game inspired by witchy sitcoms

I feel like there’s some confusion about what this game is about. What this game is [b]NOT[/b]: A slowburn story with gradual realization of feelings building up to a final endgame confession. Nor is the female love interest some annoying obstacle to get to the godsent male love interest. What this game [b]IS[/b]: A story structured like episodes in a slice-of-life anime. The characters are working adults who express mutual attraction, and spend the story exploring if they want to go further. The female and male love interests are equal in importance, and both are given tastefully written smut scenes. I really enjoy the game so far. I have been absolutely dying for a butch love interest, especially one who’s viciously flirty and loves to tease. The dynamic between all three of the characters is great as well. Take some of Zero’s playful nature mixed with Kingsley’s seriousness, add in Milly’s obvious attraction to them both, and you get a hilarious explosion of heat and comedy. I recommend trying out the free demo to see if you like the writing and vibes. I certainly do.

[h1]What do you call it when witches make tea together? A brew-ha-ha![/h1] Meet Millie, the one and only witch attending the beverage shop called Sweetcore Brews. Within a world full of magic, powers and different beings, our questions may arise, but don’t expect to be explained much in those regards. The information we receive about the hidden world Millie belongs to is tiny, as if it was forbidden knowledge in need to be a well-kept secret (at least most of the time). Millie is mostly a witch in training with a specialty in brewing her own successful concoctions, and she is the one basically in complete charge of Sweetcore Brews, supposedly under the guidance of a mentor who spends more time on a permanent vacation aka being MIA, instead of actually guiding her to succeed at getting her qualifications or even managing the business which he owns. And due to her current occupation, she will meet two romantic interests: the cool and stoic “exorcist” named Kingsley, and the fortune-teller named Zero. [h1]The core may be sweet, but the aftertaste is quite sour…[/h1] The way this game embarks players into romance or mutual attraction is quite abrupt... There is no slow burn nor a middle ground for “love” to develop naturally. Sometimes it feels like; more than brewing tea, all they want is for the MC to “brew” human puppies with them as soon as they cross paths… Introductions are left to drift into oblivion, as a custom long disregarded. Out of the two routes available, one of them is the female romance option, in which the character I am referring to is more aesthetically portrayed as "quite manly", and that led me to make the wrong assumption until a scene clarified that for me. (Sorry for that Zero!) I'm truly disappointed, given the current price range this game falls on, I've expected a more polished story plot, or at least one that will be consistent most of the time. But let me tell you nope, not gonna happen honey. The only sweet thing you will find within this "adventure" is the art and probably the tea blends if you were able to taste them... With "stunning" visuals and that's most of it. *Takes a moment for a Kingsley character design appreciation* https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3254184820 Little content to offer, given the chapters are short and the frequent interruptions of the minigames available which are not skippable… With an overall story far from being successful in capturing the heart of the player, without neither signs of more upcoming routes nor prolonged chapters. Even though there aren't plenty of side characters that could make our eyes and desires drift from the two romance options currently at our disposal… [h1]Gameplay & Features:[/h1] The menus presented in Sweetcore Brews are not the “typical” ones we all otome players are used to (at least not the usual sight on PC). The story is divided into chapters that will appear on the screen in little squares and if you want to navigate through the menus, even the one that will allow you to choose chapters from time to time, you’ll have to hold your click and slide your mouse… A bit uncomfortable to be said. There's no possibility of multiple saves while you are playing a run, which is a bit annoying if you want to try out answering something different from the dialogue options presented to the player. But you can start the story over and save your new runs in other slots, keeping them all as a memento… As for the choices you can decide on, they're not plenty, or they do not differ so much from one another... When I'd expected at least the game to offer something more immersive given the current lack of options for LIs… Another brick of utter disappointment awaited me. When things are getting good and fun, the intention of keeping going makes it escalate further in the wrong direction... Turning it all into a nonsensical situation that has lost all the previous possibility of achieving a laugh or two, and as a result, cuts off the giggling almost instantly. For example: [spoiler]There was a certain situation in which Millie and Zero had a girls' night outing and they both drank the wrong concoction, which ended up with them both unable to communicate since they could only moan… Almost the entire chapter was focused on that, whilst poor Kingsley had to suffer from the unstopping nonsense alongside us![/spoiler] The game presents a few types of minigames. One with words that focus on filling gaps in the recipes needed for brewing something special for a more “selected” clientele. You’ll be able to choose whatever your mind wants, the words are completely up to you even if they won’t make any sense once the overall recipe is completed… The other one could fall into the match 3 games' category, with several elements representing the two love interests and 4 boosts as help if the player gets stuck in a level. Basically, if you score more elements required for one of them, your affinity with the said character will grow and supposedly will have a bit of impact on the overall story, aside from the dialogue options of your choosing while you speak with them. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3254183567 Plenty of options are available to customize your background (the image of your choosing will appear a few seconds before your eyes, every time you load your save of the game) and also, the voice lines you hear while playing the minigame can be changed to your liking. (A total of 19 backgrounds at your disposal. With only 5 of them for each character, and one of those 5 being an animated CG while the voice notes are 28 in total) CGs or voice notes can be unlocked for in-game currency you earn by surpassing the Match 3 minigame and obtaining high-scores...(A few of them are animated, meaning: only two among them, per character) However, some of the CGs displayed give off the feeling of being concept art in comparison to the overall art displayed throughout the journey, and can leave a taste of being assembled into the game without the care that was previously displayed… More so, when the said art is the one you get after an encounter with your love interest, and you’ve been waiting eagerly to see a scene between the two. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3254035977 [h1]Things to keep in mind:[/h1] [list] [*]You will not be able to change the MC name. [*]The game seems more like a fandisc than an actual base game, given the price at which it was released. [*]Two romance interests, one of them quite unbearable most of the time. [*]It is not a very interesting plot. [*]Excessive use of humor that starts well enough, but doesn't end on time. (Never in my life would I have thought I would write a quote like this about humor...) [*]A Match 3 minigame that could get in the way of your progress like a knight protecting a maiden from our clutches. [*] Inconvenient way to navigate through the different galleries and also the chapter menu. [*]You will only be able to access the gallery through a save file once you have logged into that file and are halfway through the game. [*]Only one save slot per game. [/list] [h1]Final Thoughts:[/h1] This romcom is most of the time nonsensical and quite random, without a consistent plot. Experiencing different situations if they connect to the next ones is mostly brief, like pending through a tiny thread. Two romance options available and a minigame that could hinder your progress in the route of your choosing if you don’t reach certain scores… [quote]Please follow [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/44684285/] Trust Witchy[/url], if you'd like to see more reviews like this one![/quote]

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.

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

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.

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.

Sweetcore Brews is quite a fun Otome/Yuri visual novel full of sweet little stories. Fitting of its name! You follow a witchy tea maker called Milly in a world full of cute and comedic stories - in chapter-like tales instead of a longer slow burn story. There are two romance options available. Firstly you have Kingsley the romanceable male, a more serious yet charming love interest. The other is Zero as the female romance option - the cheeky, more carefree of the two. Unlike a lot of Otome in the market, there is little buildup to the romance. It would definitely be preferred in most cases as I’d like to have time to warm up to the character and see the protagonists’ feelings grow and develop. However we’re thrown in pretty quickly to this smut-filled visual novel, giving my first con - the fact the romance starts almost instantly from strangers. That aside, there’s a whole bunch of chapters in this game. I’d not say a guide is really required since the choices are more linear, with the only “major” options being the more NSFW ones. The third response of each choice is often the most risque. Spice is something the market for this genre lacks, so I was pleasantly surprised and happy with seeing such content in the game, especially since the writing was done pretty well, without getting too in detail. The spicy content is mostly optional, even warning you if you make a dialogue choice that would lead to it. But do be aware that prior to these choices dialogue gets rather “suggestive” and includes discussions of sexual topics. You have three kinds of chapters in Sweetcore Brews - what I’ll call “general route” which has no relation to your chosen route. It’s general interactions between the three characters which are often very fun to read. You wouldn’t want to be caught stuck in a karaoke room with Zero and Kingsley, trust me. Then, there are two separate paths available. One is Zero’s romance route and the other, Kingsley’s. Due to the fact they have their own paths, you can choose to switch between them any time, just make sure you do their previous chapters to progress that character’s story/. When it comes to the characters, I originally started the game thinking I was absolutely going to be a Kingsley lover. Now don’t get me wrong I did end up enjoying his character plenty, but I also finished the game with Zero being my favourite. She’s my baby girl, and it wasn’t just Milly that she had blushing! 𓆩♡𓆪 Coming from mobile, Sweetcore Brews has a few mini-games that stuck with the move to Steam. The minor one is a text-based mini-game where you help customers with their problems. You’ll have to input nouns into a recipe sheet, creating your own treatment for whatever issues they have. There’s also a match-3 mini-game that pops up every few chapters. It has a star rating from 1-3 and getting higher ratings gives you rewards. For 3 stars you’ll unlock something special from the gallery to use in the menu. Maybe art? Or a voice clip! If you struggle too much, 2 stars gives you gems for you to buy these unlockables too! The match-3 is also impossible to fail on PC, it will give you more turns until you reach the required score to progress to the next chapters. I honestly found this mini-game rather distracting, in a good way; it was enjoyable. I almost wished there was a more endless version - or a choice to play it without having to skip through the chapter each time. 𓆩♡𓆪 The menu system is very simple and there’s a few things you may be alarmed by. There’s only one save slot for example but this game doesn’t have an “affection” to get x route and x ending, as it is two linear paths that just unlock naturally as you progress. You can also go back to any chapter at any time, as well as replay any minigames whenever you want. The skip function - it’ll jump up to the choice for that chapter, or until the end of the chapter if there is no choice or it has been made - automatically skipping dialogue. This makes replaying for whatever reason very quick and easy. I understand that at the end of the day, Sweetcore Brews is most definitely not for everyone due to its lack of buildup. I simply feel more suited to this game as I can hate slow-burn and just having a pile of sweet and spicy romance stories over some delightfully irresistible love interests was fantastic to me. I’m also an absolute sucker for the match-3 puzzle which I could totally lose my time in if it had an endless mode. If you’re interested in this Otome, I’d definitely recommend it if you like straight to the point romance, or you just want some fun, absurd stories. If you like romance that develops over time or anything of the sort, however, this may not be for you. Nochi Studios, however, have a great range of visual novels that you should check out at the very least. [quote]Please follow our curator page, [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/4680120/]Otome Lovers[/url], if you'd like to see more reviews like this one! [/quote]

[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]