Trendy coffee, hipsters and iPhones mixed with skeletons might be the first thing you might think of when you hear the name Necrobarista. Fortunately, this visual novel from Route 59 and publisher Playism is certainly none of those things. Firstly, it’s based in Australia, not a common locale for games in general. Secondly, it’s a much deeper story surrounding death, the afterlife, interpersonal relations, and some rather forbidden magic. This isn’t a quirky, lighthearted title. Sure there’s comedy in Necrobarista and plenty of it, but the overriding themes are heavy, introspective stuff that really makes you take a minute to stop and process.
A true visual novel, Necrobarista is almost entirely non-interactive. It’s broken down into episodes that tell the story of Maddy, barista extraordinaire and part-time necromancer, while she runs a coffee shop that is so much more than it appears to be in Melbourne, Australia. Maddy is unique, interesting, and well-written, and she sets the tone for the whole game. Partly serious, partly irreverent, and always thinking, she’s the perfect centerpiece for Necrobarista. The assorted cast of characters is also quite good, including Chay, Maddy’s partner, who initially comes off like a low-rent Rintaro Obake at first (Yeah yeah, Stein’s; Gate reference), but who quickly becomes much more interesting, Ashley, the child tech genius who can’t possibly be as young as she looks and will probably have a heart attack from her caffeine consumption, Ned, the um, enforcer for the Council, and Kishan, the recently departed guy who wandered in for a coffee… Yes, recently departed. Maddy’s shop serves both the living and the recently departed, acting as a waystation for those who have passed on to spend their final earthly hours in.
It’s a motley cast that sounds like it should end up as a low-rent comedy group, but ends up coming together in a complex, dynamic story that is so addictive it’s hard to stop (much like the coffee). And before you start complaining that you don’t play video games to read and that visual novels are boring, give Necrobarista a look. Because this is one of the most gorgeous visual novels ever made, with top-notch production values and a sense of artistic style that’s unparalleled in the genre. Every single scene in Necrobarista uses camera angles and lighting to maximum potential. Single sentences take on whole new meanings when paired with the right fade away camera pan or foreground movement. You feel constantly engaged, a particularly impressive feat since the characters are static images and not moving. And let’s not forget the characters themselves, as the design work is stunning on this one! Every character feels alive and seems both unique and realistic, even the ones that aren’t. This is a smorgasbord of creativity and every character jumps out as larger than life, even through the small and mundane actions and conversations that comprise much of the game. Essentially, you’re playing an anime that has a style all it’s own and absolutely nails it! There really isn’t anything else out there even remotely like Necrobarista and it’s truly a game-changer for visual novels!
But things don’t stop there. As a truly artistic media work, sound plays an important function in Necrobarista too. Sure, you’re going to hear some of the same tracks as you play, especially if you read slow, but the score for the game is just as inventive and dynamic as the camera work. Music is doing some heavy dramatic lifting here, as are the sound effects, which, while subtle, are expertly dovetailed into the game experience to create a fantastic soundscape. It’s easy to find yourself lost for a few minutes just sitting and listening to the rain with a quiet tune drifting through the background and a steaming cup of joe in a character’s hand before you realize you have to actually manually advance the story by clicking the button.
Necrobarista is a definitely a visual and auditory masterpiece, but what about the script? No visual novel is worthwhile if the script is sub-par, and the game doesn’t disappoint here either! The subtle references to quantum physics anomalies, the asides about previous dealings, the slow consideration of philosophical implications, it’s all covered smoothly and expertly. The world of Necrobarista is fully realized in a way that you rarely see in modern visual novels, creating a backstory, events, and plot so effortlessly that it simply feels like it’s always been there. This is an intelligent game that demands that you pay attention and rewards you for your participation with a satisfying story that draws you in and holds you with rapt attention.
There are intermissions between each segment of Necrobarista, signified by some unique discussions between Ashley’s creations. Then you’ll choose seven words from a selection of floating words. Each word is related to the part of the story you just finished and was highlighted in yellow during the story to indicate who or what it’s tied to. Each word activates a point that you can use. Afterwards, you’re given free reign of the coffee shop and its environs (eventually) and can look around in first person. As you wander, you’ll encounter highlighted objects that allow you to read some more backstory. To open them, you have to use the points you got from word selection to unlock the various story segments. There’s no way you can get all of them and read everything, especially on your first playthrough or if you don’t take notes, but these sections are just as well written, although they’re presented in more of a standard visual novel format without the camera work. You’ll definitely want to read more than you are initially able to, forcing you to replay to see everything.
Mechanically, Necrobarista is fairly straightforward. Simply advance the story by clicking the mouse or controller button. On the Xbox One controller, you can conveniently back up with the shoulder button if you accidentally double pressed and missed a piece of dialogue, a feature delegated to the scroll wheel on the mouse. You can only back up five screens though, so try to pay attention. Unlike other visual novels, everything is always manual in Necrobarista, so if you get distracted, don’t worry, you won’t miss anything until you get back to the game. The game itself runs quite smooth, but there were a few hitches with controller compatibility. As a game designed for keyboard and mouse, sometimes it was hard to select words in the intermission sections, and hard to select continue. It’s also hard to select options in the save menu, and it feels like you’re fighting to get the menu to do what you want. There’s no such issue with the mouse, so it’s likely just a functionality issue for the Xbox One controller that could be fixed with a simple patch. It’s definitely a bit of a hassle when you’re trying to save manually though.
There’s no sense in ruining anything about the plot of Necrobarista, as that’s pretty much the entire point of the game, but suffice it to say that things aren’t as rosy as they seem, there’s a lot going on, and all of it is interesting, even the small interludes. It’s a tightly run game that tells a fairly short, concise story that’s entertaining, introspective, and interesting all at once. There’s no epic, far-reaching tale here, just a complex small-scale narrative that packs a wallop. Character development is fascinating, the bits of Australian culture mixed into things mesh well, and the whole game is an absolute delight to play. For $20, you’re definitely getting more than your money’s worth here. The only thing missing might be voice acting, which would really raise the bar that last tiny bit, but it’s certainly not necessary. It would be both weird and neat to hear all the characters after having imagined their voices, but it might also interfere with the stellar sound design that accompanies Necrobarista. It is honestly difficult to believe that this isn’t a title from a major AAA studio, rather than a small indie production partly funded by the Australian government. Necrobarista doesn’t just raise the bar for visual novels, it rips the bar out of its mountings, uses it to smash the ceiling and then tosses it away. This is the future of visual novels – elegant, funny, and poignant with incredibly high production values and it could easily be a bridge to mainstream the genre. Everyone should play Necrobarista. It’s literally impossible to stress enough how outstanding the game is! You definitely won’t regret playing it, and you’ll probably want more of Maddy, Kishan, Ned, and the whole crew as soon as you’re done!
This review was based on a digital copy of Necrobarista provided by the publisher. It was played on an I7-8700K with 16 GB of DDR4-3000 RAM, an Asus GeForce GTX 1080 ROG Strix graphics card, and an Xbox One controller connected via USB. Necrobarista is available on Steam and is forthcoming for the Nintendo Switch. All screenshots are of actual gameplay (yes, it really looks that good!). After playing Necrobarista, an anime series isn’t entirely unfeasible either (hint, hint Route 59!) Now, let’s go have a coffee and a shot of distilled soul…
Addendum: After playing Necrobarista, it’s easy to start wondering who Ned really is. Turns out he’s based on a famous Australian historical outlaw, Ned Kelly. Check out his history here!