Sometimes, all you need is a small break. From everything, really. The job that weighs you down, the school that burns your social batteries, and parents whose expectations feel like a restraining jacket.
All you need is to sit down, spin your favorite record, and sip the beverage of your liking. Think about nothing, do nothing, just soak in small pleasures. Life and its problems won’t go anywhere, but once in a while, you deserve a small, teeny-tiny indulgence.
Coffee Talk Tokyo is all this in a narrative video game shape.
From Hibiscus to Sakura
Coffee Talk Tokyo is what one would call a cosy game. It’s the third game in what is already a renowned series of games about late-night coffee bars, quirky characters, and deeply personal stories.
Chances are, this is not the first game or series of this kind you’ve heard of, as the roots could be traced as far as dating sims on MS-DOS. But at the same time, you don’t need to have played any to experience what the game by Chorus Worldwide Games has to offer. You don’t even need to know the previous two titles, Coffee Talk and Coffee Talk Episode 2: Hibiscus and Butterfly, as this entry was made to be as stand-alone as possible.
You’re the owner of a peculiar bar in the middle of Tokyo that only opens during the evenings to serve caffeinated beverages to an eclectic clientele. And it truly is such, as in this setting, paranormal is mundane, and no one will even bat an eye at seeing a Yuki-onna and a Kappa sitting together and sipping warm hojicha.
Over the fifteen days of in-game time, you will witness countless stories unfold, relationships get hurt and mended, but you’re not the protagonist of these stories. Everyone is the main character of their lives.
Your role is to listen, ease the burden of weary minds, make someone’s day better by offering a delicious beverage, or simply be a much-needed stable presence in the world filled with turmoil.
Pouring espresso and (not) changing lives
Coffee Talk games were always supremely good at demonstrating how interesting the lives of regular, mundane people could be. Not everyone comes to a cafe like this because they’re filled with problems that need fixing, and Coffee Talk Tokyo continues this while giving the narrative its own unique spin.
Set in Tokyo, the characters here have their own unique life circumstances: a famous musician who’s being dragged into the corporate showbiz swamp got his first break as a street musician, reaching the hearts of many with his profound melodies and lyrics. A happy and successful family that makes everything work for themselves, yet still has to deal with judgment and disapproval for how unusual and nonconforming their pairing and way of life are. An aging salaryman who had slaved away for decades, lining the pockets of his corporate overlord, now faces the consequences of his rigidity after retirement.
Every character fits the setting, and in more senses than one. Previous games had many fantasy creatures like orcs, vampires, werewolves, banshees, and the like among the cast. The third game goes for a purely Japanese spin and adds Yuki-onnas, Kappas, Water Dragons, and even ghosts. But all of them also bring something unique that makes lots of sense for a game set in Tokyo, while also being very relatable, no matter where in the world you’re located.
Writers of the game raised many heavy topics. Grief, bullying, loss of one’s self-worth, unfairness of the world around you that robs you of your chance at happiness. But none of these themes is presented in a preachy manner. It’s a carefully crafted narrative that shows you different sides of the coin and guides you toward the resolution that makes sense for the characters, while leaving you to ponder over the meaning that would make sense for you.
The game toes a very sensitive line between the main character being just helpful enough and not a caricature force of good with an omniscient viewpoint, while also maintaining a very fragile balance between heavy topics and cosy vibes. It takes real, genuine writing skill to be able to do this as well as the writers of Coffee Talk Tokyo did.
Deep fragrance of Hojicha
Being a barista, your job is not just listening to your clients, but also taking their orders and offering something they may not even know they want. Gameplay systems from the previous Coffee Talk games remain largely unchanged here, but they did become bigger and better, as now you have access to cold drinks as well. On top of this, there’s a new way to decorate your latte: stencils. Though three games in, I’m still rubbish at decorating, though the patrons either don’t mind at all or are too polite to tell me off.
Some of the challenge lies in reading the intentions of the clients and knowing what combination of these ingredients will result in which flavor, as not everyone just spells out the required proportions for you.
The reward for your troubles is the friend system, and you level up your relationships, which in turn reveals more and more info about your regulars in the Tomodachill app.
The app itself was also upgraded, and now has the hashtag system that becomes an everyday rabbit hole, as you dive deep into the threads made by various characters. This small change made the world feel more alive, because it no longer feels limited to a dozen characters that frequent your cafe. And even they feel more fleshed out, chatting and interacting beyond the topics of your establishment. You can even come across some old friends.
…with sprinkles on top
Coffee Talk Tokyo is a deeply narrative-driven game, and the gameplay serves the purpose of framing your interactions with the characters. But the game wouldn’t be as good if it didn’t have an incredibly soothing soundtrack by our friend Andrew “AJ” Jeremy.
You can change your tunes through the phone system, but all of them create this incredibly soothing vibe that carries through the scenes. Somehow, it fits happy moments as well as the sad moments, while allowing the writing to do its job without cheaply pointing to us how we should feel.
Artists also did a phenomenal job, as the game has this super expressive and frankly gorgeous pixel art. It’s bright and colorful without being garish, it’s stylized and cartoonish without becoming caricature. Expressions on the characters’ faces add so much to their textual responses and reactions. Sometimes, sheer text is not able to convey the whole spectrum of emotion, and not having any kind of voice acting (a conscious choice, I believe), this was the next best and correct thing to go for.
Put this on my tab
It would be a disservice to compare the game not only to the likes of Va-11 Hall-A, but even to the previous entries as well. The original Coffee Talk had lots of Mohammad Fahmi’s heart and soul put into it, but those who continued making the games after his untimely passing have grasped the core meaning of what he wanted to say with his game.
While it’s definitely not the biggest release of the month, Coffee Talk Tokyo is more than a worthy entry in the series, and due to various circumstances, it ended up being my favorite of them all.
9 Coffee Talk Tokyo Review Coffee Talk Tokyo continues the series' tradition by telling sad, happy, uplifting, tragic, mundane, exciting story with phenomenal grace and unrivaled coziness. Pros
- Great characters with interesting and believable stories.
- Expanded Coffee Talk setting.
- Incredible Lo-Fi soundtrack.
- Great pixel art visuals.
- Unparalleled sense of warmth and relief after finishing it.
Cons
- Gameplay mechanics have largely stayed the same.
A copy of this game was provided by the publisher for review. Reviewed on PC and Steam Deck.
