Tavern Talk - A Cozy Visual Novel

I supported the kickstarter back in the day, just happy to have more bartending/barista simulator. Part of me thought that the genre was so foolproof that at worst this would be about matters that do not touch me emotionally (Va11-Hall4 was such a game and I still thought the experience was fantastic!) Unfortunately, Tavern Talk feels more like a game wearing the skinsuit of the genre. The entire appeal of the genre to me is that, underneath the personal issues of the characters, you get a glimpse at the societal issues at large. At first I thought I was being too harsh on the game and wanted to mull over it, but I cannot recommend it to people into the genre. Tavern Talk has no issues, it wants to be overwhelmingly a safespace for the characters it inhabits, to the point where they have no burger problems. Talking and making drinks is all there is to those simulation games, so it has to be solid. Usually, if a character comes to you and talks about, let's say, their social anxiety, they will give you then a reason why they grew up having social anxiety, and the game will also dig into how this is not just anecdotal, there's a greater societal issue at play here that makes people insecure. However, Tavern Talk is incredibly shallow about it. Most likely a character will tell you something like oh I am insecure because I thought I was not as good at fencing than other characters. Or worst, they're just like this, and you will never know why they are like this. Tavern Talk has a way more diverse cast than other of its types, and yet it does not do anything with it. Which falls under the reason why, and this is a big bias of mine, I am not into D&D as a whole, because outside looking fantasy cool, every systemic issues is extremely surface level, and I thought that a game set in that type of universe would make it more interesting, it does not. Tavern Talk sits you down in an anime way where characters will tell you about problems you already know the solution right away, so that there is the least friction as possible between the player and the cast. I can only imagine they did this because for having such a diverse cast, they got scared of taking risks, which is a shame to me. You cannot even, unfortunately, fall back onto the the drink making, which should be made as satisfying as possible as the only gameplay in the game. The recipes are given to you right away, they are incredibly easy to make. No trial and error for discovery. The characters [i]don't even touch it they do not even drink it[/i]. Va11-Hall4 did the same, but the you could not see the drink and the majority of the interface was the bartender tablet. Here, the decor is overwhelmingly detailled, with the counter, drink and character right in front of you, and yet there is no animation at all of them even consuming the drink. Hell, there is not even a model of the drink being empty!! That's crazy!! The drinks are still images with no VFX to them to make them seem alive, they are pretty picrew drinks stamped over it's so disappointing. I played this game way too long in hope to see something of substance in the narrative, but there is really nothing to chew on. It is like, what problems would someone have in a utopia, essentially, which I feel is not what the genre is about. What I expect from a bartender/barista game is that it will talk about bigger issues to come out of it a person who reflected on themselves and society and felt a little bit less alone no matter your status in life... but this game just really put you with characters who have nothing interesting to tell you about and just be like "hey I am an albino demon!" and proceed to talk to you like an idol or a gacha game character with only carefully brand-safe facts that anyone can relate to ... and that's it? Where's the rest of it?

3/10 its a visual novel pretending to be other things + art style - gameplay - story, walls of text but it only shows up in tiny one sentence bubbles that take like 0.8 seconds to show up. every with text show up at max speed you still end up waiting for a speech bubbles to appear a large % of the time. - trying to sell me stuff when i turn the game on - trying to sell me stuff when i turn the game off

The first thing game asks you when you log in is ''your pronouns''. Also all the characters and their stories are boring af.

I loved the characters not so much the game. I was genuinely invested in each and every one of the characters. their story, their development, relationships, etc. I loved watching them grow as the game progressed but I was quite bored. The drink mixing is boring and repetitive. Your in game choices are very limited. I found myself wanting to actually go out and explore this world and be part of the story (although that is kinda the point). All this said though I do recommend this game if you like visual novels and I will def be getting Dreamwalker.

Lovely story with a wide range of queer characters. True, it's mostly reading for 15 hours with the occasional drink-mixing, decision-making and quest creation in between. Some may find that boring. I, however, loved.

Love D&D but want a break from being on the frontlines of your adventures? Tavern Talk introduces coziness to the genre with a focus on relationships and character arcs. Help guide adventurers with drinks that influence the fate of their quests and hear how they tell their stories. Great LGBTQ+ rep, beautiful art and music, and easy to play.

太萌了，太温馨了，太美好了。非常好的世界观和故事和人物设计。出了新作之后本人进行了一个回味，和第一次玩的时候同样吸引我。美中不足之处在于翻译吧，中文翻译有时会出错，主要是人物的人称代词，还有一些各种各样的小错，无伤大雅，但却是偶尔会打断节奏。

Tavern Talk is a game that I would mostly describe as not for me. The drink mixing gameplay barely exists, creating quests is just linear script with some interaction slapped on top. This leaves us with plot and characters to carry the game. For the first half of the game I found myself uninterested, while the characters were charming and fun the game felt too... fluffy. Nothing felt like it had real stakes and I was disappointed. But then towards the end of Act 2 and during Act 3 it really picked up and the idea of being an Innkeeper a DnD style fantasy world really started feeling realised as well as it could, finally making it a somewhat decent experience in the end.

So first of all, this game is SO charming. I haven't played many games like it before, but it absolutely sucked me in with the beautiful queers, the art and the setting. Secondly, every single reviewer that has complained about the fact that you don't leave the inn has COMPLETELY missed the point. Of course you don't leave your inn and go off on adventures; you're the innkeeper, not an adventurer. That's the whole point. Not everyone is a fearless hero gallavanting around saving the world. Tavern Talks gives a great insight into how it would be to be an "NPC" in a world of adventurers, where you must trust that the heroes will show up when needed. and they'll save the day from the various apocalypses that tend to threaten fantasy worlds. The only criticism I have is that sometimes when choosing dialogue I felt like I was having to guess, because I hadn't been given as much context I would have liked. For those that want an adventuring high fantasy game where you go off questing, this is not for you. For those that want a cosy game about personal growth, the power of friendship and love and grief and regret, this is it. 10/10 will play again

This is truly an epic D&D story that has its emotional ups and downs. If you're a fan of visual novels, and fantasy stories I really recommend this game. The additional cameo of polly and howl from Monster (technically Road Trip) was a great fun moment, and I do like the fun references throughout the game! All in all, it's a really good time :)