Witch's Brew: Love and Lattes

Hmm, so this is a hard one because I wish there was a middling option for reviews. Is it amazing? No, but it is cozy, which it describes itself as. The story was fine, it was nice having it be a magical college instead of a high school, and reading about the magic systems was pretty cool, but it was hard to say that there was any real plot. You go to work, you go to class, you talk a little, rinse and repeat. The stats also confused me, because I still don't know what the dexterity stat does and it sometimes felt as if my stats didn't matter. How was I failing different things with stats at 60% or more? I also had an thought later on that the stats didn't do much, because every problem worked out in the end and I wonder if the game does that just so we don't get a bad end or if maybe I actually did a good job balancing things out. It just felt like the game establishes these sort of high stakes and then they all get resolved in like a sentence or two in like 2 chapters. The characters aren't really fleshed out and feel very one-note. I don't feel like I learned much about them and their personalities didn't go beyond the shy one, the inquisitive one, and the "punk" one. The romance scenes as well were disappointing as they felt like they lasted all but 2 sentences. Each time felt like a repeat of the last romance scene and they're just all bare bones. I also got annoyed with repeated sentences and descriptions. I couldn't tell you how many times I read "his sideways smile" while romancing a male Rowan. There needed to be some variations in the writing. This isn't to say I didn't enjoy my time reading Witch's Brew: Love and Lattes. It was nice to read when winding down for the evening after working. However, it did leave me a bit disappointed.

It's okay I guess. A fluffy story that definitely delivers a cozy vibe and a charming atmosphere. I wish the RO were more fleshed out. It had potential with the whole writing style but unfortunately it didn't deliver the awaited romance feeling in the long run and specific intimate specific scenes were regrettably too short. This lack of depth is frustrating for a Heart's Choice title which should be centered on romance. My biggest frustration, however, was with the stat system. For example, failing an exam with an 82% stat felt arbitrary. The bad luck with selected choices was immense and tarnished my mood the longer it continued, making the later part feel more like a chore than an enjoyable read. Overall, it's an okay experience. If you are looking for pure cozy vibes, you might still enjoy it, but be prepared for some significant challenges with the stat system.

I just finished my first playthrough and like some other reviews, I am quite lukewarm regarding this story. TLDR; Why do I still recommend this game? It's cute and cosy, I had an overall good time with th story itself, the characters are cute even if they lack development, the romance is quite satisfying in my opinion. Also, it's cheap. To develop a bit, I would say there are two main problems with Witch's Brew: the writing and the stats. As already said, the writing is quite shallow and lacks depth. The narration goes through one scene to another by having the MC change location, and each time the same scenario repeats: description of the magical atmosphere of the place -> small (sometimes VERY small) dialogues -> action choice -> change of location. The narration does not delve into your own thoughts as the main characters, you do not get to develop an actual personnality because the choices are mainly for actions. Thus, you don't get to actually show emotions towards the events or the people around you. Rather it feels like you witness everything as a bystander of your own story. Consequently, the story is also lacking in stakes, because no matter what conclusion you get by the end, it feels like no emotion has come out of you or the people around you, which is a shame for a game centered around friendship, romance and slice-of-life. Personnally, it felt like I got just enough narration and feelings to enjoy the read as a spectator, but never felt invested as a "main character". The second problem resids in the stats. Also as mentionned in other reviews, they either don't have much influence on the story or need to be RIDICULOUSLY high to trigger some "good" events. Most of the time, it's also hard to understand which choice helps you increase which stat. More than once, I felt like the choices given to me were a reflection of the personnality I wanted for my characters with similar outcomes, only to find out in the next paragraph I had somehow failed to pass some kind of stat check or created a pretty negative situation out of nowhere. For this kind of game that doesn't allow you to save or go back to you previous choice, this felt very frustrating by the end of the story. Honestly, I feel like this story is closer to a stat-raising game with some dating-sim on the side, rather than an actual interactive fiction. The choices you make have consequences regarding the scenario and the ending, but it does not help you build a personnality for your character and deeper relationships with the people around you. That said, I still liked the overall "campus life" atmosphere, the romance with Mel was cute and unproblematic with a sweet conclusion, which is all I need sometimes.

Good

Very fun writing and characters! Excited to see how this story ends :)

Sweet, charming, and uplifting. One of my favorites from this publisher!

hcg