Just out on steam today, VA-11 Hall-A: Cyberpunk Bartender Action caught my attention with its unusually long title and a set of impressive screenshots. The game is set in a cyber-punk dystopian city where individuals lead their depressing lives trying to make ends meet as decently as they can. At the end of the day, some of them go the VA-11 Hall-A (VA11HallA for short) to relax and have a drink. We play as Jill, a girl that pays her rent by mixing cocktails and talking to customers every night.
The Gameplay
It does not take much time playing this game to understand that its title is quite misleading: it is called VA-11 Hall-A: Cyberpunk Bartender Action, but it should really be called VA-11 Hall-A: A Cyberpunk Bartender Graphic Novel. The interface of the game is very reminiscent of the one used in many JRPG combat situations, that allows the player to choose between a number of actions, the result of which is displayed on the larger part of the display. Think about the early Pokemon games for example:
The choices left to us are very limited though. We can choose which songs are going to play on the Jukebox, open the settings menu, load a previous save file or exit the game. A constant stream of characters is going to come at the bar and talk to us, and at first I thought that I had to listen closely in order to give the right answers…but there where no answers to give. All the lines, both Jill’s and of the NPC’s are scripted and the only thing that we can do is keep scrolling to the next line of dialogue. Once in a while, we’ll be asked for a drink, specifically by name or generally by flavour, strength or style. A very easy to consult recipe book is there to make sure we mix the right ingredients and there is no time limit to pressure the player. Mixing the drinks is actually a fun process, even if it does not present any kind of challenge whatsoever, but the mixing sessions (the only moment in which we actually do something other than reading) come too far apart to make the game actively interesting. At the end of the day there is a summary of the money made by the bar and how much actually goes in our pocket, but again there is almost no way of doing it wrong (if not on purpose) and there is no sense of accomplishment to be had. At home, in another static interface, we can go through some media outlets to learn even more about the lore and the news of the fictional city and shop some decorations for our room. Saving money is very easy, so again there is no real feeling of pressure in game.
The Style
The Japanese take on the cyber-punk pixel art is very pleasing on the eye and really deserves to be praised. The same goes for the soundtrack: a collection of slightly Japan-influenced 80’s disco tracks keeps the game fun to listen to, as there also is no spoken dialogue. The story is solid and it is clear that the developers gave their best in crafting a coherent lore to support the main tread effectively.
To Conclude
I would have loved this game if a few more mechanics were implemented. Even just making the player choose between sets of pre-made answers would have done wonders towards making VA-11 Hall-A: Cyberpunk Bartender Action less of a graphic novel and more of an actual game. The absolute lack of a challenge, the way too long dialogues to spectate and the incredibly limited amount of choices given to the player make this title very boring to play. I am not often this harsh, but I really feel frustrated by the wasted potential this game has. A lot of good ideas and a very bland result. Do not get it if you want to play a game, get it if you want to read a nice story.
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