I'm hardpressed to call this an actual game, but alas it's a fantastic experience if you enjoy a more comical spin on cyberpunk. It's more in line with a visual novel with a dialogue system, however the actual dialogue system itself is replaced with the ability to mix drinks. You're given five ingrediants and two modifiers to craft one out of a multitude of drinks, each one unique. Certain characters will like certain drinks for a certain reason, and you're tasked with figuring out which drink each character will like and remembering drinks that are special to them. Simple, but very effective and very innovative when stood next to games in it's genre as it really sells the premise that you're playing a bartender.

It's a system that forms the branching dialogue you expect to see in RPGs, which is great because the writing is fantastic. Characters vary strongly, feel unique and are instantly likeable. The Sukeban's efforts in characterising their cast paid off. You'll have no problem laughing with the character's joy, sympathising with their frustrations and feeling down when they're feeling low. The plot itself doesn't drip with the philisophical substance or conspiracy thrills you expect to find in typical cyberpunk fiction, however the plot gets away with it as a) it was intended to be simplistic and b) nails the dystopian feeling, for the most part. The plot is really just an excuse for solid character interaction, which it does well. Intercharacter chemistry is strong with this game. One small downside of this game could be it's heavy use of internet references. Now, this isn't all bad. They're never really on the nose so even if it goes over your head, you're not left scratching your head thinking "what the ♥♥♥♥ was that". On top of that, they're not quite overused, placed in sparcely enough to never have a negative impact on the story. They feel like occasional nods for the player to think "aah, I get it!" whenever they're in on the reference.

All of this is packaged in fantastic art and presentation. If you're not a fan of sprite art or the art styles popular in many Japanese cartoons/video games, then you're gonna be hardpressed to feel the same as me, but the art in this game is gorgeous. The art does a lot to sell the cyberpunk setting of this game, as it uses a lot of dark and moody colours that convey the dystopian vibe. The sprite art also invokes a retro feeling that puts the game closer to the more 80s flavour of cyberpunk like Bladerunner and less like the more modern era like Deus Ex: Human Revolution. I also the think the anime inspired aesthetic also invoke's Japans take on the genre, such as Ghost in the Shell or Akira, so the setting has this lightweight feeling of a combination of Bladerunner and GitS.

Overall, I think VA-11 Hall-A has beautiful art, great writing, strong bartending gameplay and top waifus, so I highly reccomend the game to anyone who's a fan of visual novel style games and the cyberpunk genre.

I'm hardpressed to call this an actual game, but alas it's a fantastic experience if you enjoy a more comical spin on cyberpunk. It's more in line with a visual novel with a dialogue system, however the actual dialogue system itself is replaced with the ability to mix drinks. You're given five ingrediants and two modifiers to craft one out of a multitude of drinks, each one unique. Certain characters will like certain drinks for a certain reason, and you're tasked with figuring out which drink each character will like and remembering drinks that are special to them. Simple, but very effective and very innovative when stood next to games in it's genre as it really sells the premise that you're playing a bartender. It's a system that forms the branching dialogue you expect to see in RPGs, which is great because the writing is fantastic. Characters vary strongly, feel unique and are instantly likeable. The Sukeban's efforts in characterising their cast paid off. You'll have no problem laughing with the character's joy, sympathising with their frustrations and feeling down when they're feeling low. The plot itself doesn't drip with the philisophical substance or conspiracy thrills you expect to find in typical cyberpunk fiction, however the plot gets away with it as a) it was intended to be simplistic and b) nails the dystopian feeling, for the most part. The plot is really just an excuse for solid character interaction, which it does well. Intercharacter chemistry is strong with this game. One small downside of this game could be it's heavy use of internet references. Now, this isn't all bad. They're never really on the nose so even if it goes over your head, you're not left scratching your head thinking "what the fuck was that". On top of that, they're not quite overused, placed in sparcely enough to never have a negative impact on the story. They feel like occasional nods for the player to think "aah, I get it!" whenever they're in on the reference. All of this is packaged in fantastic art and presentation. If you're not a fan of sprite art or the art styles popular in many Japanese cartoons/video games, then you're gonna be hardpressed to feel the same as me, but the art in this game is gorgeous. The art does a lot to sell the cyberpunk setting of this game, as it uses a lot of dark and moody colours that convey the dystopian vibe. The sprite art also invokes a retro feeling that puts the game closer to the more 80s flavour of cyberpunk like Bladerunner and less like the more modern era like Deus Ex: Human Revolution. I also the think the anime inspired aesthetic also invoke's Japans take on the genre, such as Ghost in the Shell or Akira, so the setting has this lightweight feeling of a combination of Bladerunner and GitS. Overall, I think VA-11 Hall-A has beautiful art, great writing, strong bartending gameplay and top waifus, so I highly reccomend the game to anyone who's a fan of visual novel style games and the cyberpunk genre.