Discovering a restaurant that matches you generally is a revelatory expertise. For me at the least, there are few locations outdoors of my home that I can actually really feel comfy in. I’m fortunate sufficient to have two choices in strolling distance: a espresso store that’s shiny, ethereal, and stuffed with artwork, and one other that doubles as a plant store in order that I’m surrounded by greenery whereas I write. They’re third locations which have turn out to be central to my life. However within the digital realm I’ve an possibility as effectively — and whereas it’s not a spot for getting work completed, it’s simply as enjoyable.
The Coffee Talk series kicked off in 2020with a direct sequel three years laterand the title actually says all of it: These video games are about espresso and speaking. They’re visible novels, which suggests a lot of the expertise is studying dialogue, like an interactive ebook. In every recreation, you play as a barista who runs a late-night cafe and likewise serves one thing of a therapeutic function, listening to your patrons’ issues and serving to them out. You additionally should make them drinks, utilizing a easy gameplay system to brew all the pieces from espressos to unique chilly teas. Oh, and also you exist in a fantasy world, so that you’re serving vampires, elves, and different mythological creatures.
The newest entry, Espresso Discuss Tokyodoesn’t change all that a lot by way of construction or gameplay. Nevertheless it’s a standalone story set in a brand new locale — the primary two video games befell in Seattle — which suggests new characters to assist and new drinks to make. As soon as once more you play because the perpetually useful proprietor of a espresso store that’s solely open late, and your job is to serve the suitable drink and lend a caring ear. The shift to Tokyo signifies that lots of your patrons are ripped out of Japanese folklore, like a newly retired salaryman who can be a kappa, or a struggling pop star who was as soon as a robust dragon. It additionally means you’ll be making loads of matcha, and plenty of chilly drinks to fight the oppressive Tokyo summer season.
There are some things that make these video games so comforting. One is the drinks themselves; whereas the method is fairly simple, there’s a soothing ritual that comes from selecting the correct components or discovering one thing new by way of experimentation. Equally, it’s very satisfying to make precisely what your patron is after based mostly on solely the vaguest of descriptions. In Espresso Discuss there’s additionally actually no penalty for messing up. Somebody is perhaps upset by a drink, however you merely transfer on afterward as if nothing occurred. I also needs to notice that the vibe within the espresso store is extraordinarily chill: lo-fi music, the sounds of rain, and plenty of vinyl data and cute knickknacks adorning the joint. It’s a spot I wish to hand around in.
However what actually makes these video games so healthful is the tales and folks you encounter. It’s sort of like a cross between Midnight Diner: Tokyo Stories and Ted Lasso. Espresso Discuss Tokyo could also be a couple of world the place people coexist with fantastical creatures, however the issues you’ll encounter are extremely actual. Your assistant, Vin, seems to be like a cool cyberpunk hacker with augmented limbs, however they’re truly struggling by way of persistent ache and making an attempt to cover it in order to not burden anybody round them. There’s a younger lady who feels remoted in school as a result of she’s a foreigner. A stay-at-home dad doubts the choice to surrender his profession.
These are necessary, relatable matters, and the sport handles them with a deft stage of care and coronary heart. It doesn’t gloss over the troublesome points, however virtually everybody within the recreation is simply attempting to do their finest, and so issues resolve in a approach that feels plausibly optimistic. If solely everybody I knew was as understanding because the ghosts and yokai I encountered on this recreation.
It’s all of those parts mixed that make the collection so welcoming. Espresso Discuss Tokyo doesn’t change a lot, however it additionally doesn’t have to. All I need are some extra associates to assist out, and one other excuse to hang around in a chill, pixelated cafe.
Espresso Discuss Tokyo is on the market now on the PS5, Xbox, Swap, and PC.
