Necrobarista: Final Pour | Switch Review

Visual novels set in coffee shops and bars are becoming more prevalent in the gaming industry, and I couldn’t be any more thrilled about this if I tried. Slinging drinks and listening to the customers’ stories is always a treat, and other entries in the genre such as Coffee Talk and Va-11 Hall-A have knocked it out of the park. Route 59 Games’ Necrobarista: Final Pour joins their rank of excellence. You may not be personally crafting drinks in this title, but the emotional ride the story takes you on and the added extras make this an experience worth diving into.

Soul Searching

Necrobarista: Final Pour takes place in The Terminal, a coffee shop in Melbourne, Australia. The Terminal isn’t your run-of-the-mill coffeehouse, though. Both the living and the recently deceased visit this establishment, and it’s not possible to discern who is whom. The rules of the business state that souls may only linger in The Terminal for twenty four hours before passing on to the next plane. If anyone stays past this time limit, the owner Maddy is slapped with a debt for fungible hours that must be paid either with more souls or relinquishing her pride and joy. 

A young man named Kishan stumbles in one day distraught over the fact that he’s dead. He meets Maddy along with her associates Chay, Ashley, and the infamous Australian outlaw Ned Kelly. As he comes to terms with his predicament, the others must also confront their issues. Chay has been lingering around for over one hundred years, Ashley is a rambunctious teenager with a concerning penchant for knives, and Ned Kelly is hounding Maddy over her debt. As their tales unfold, more issues and themes are presented. I was completely thrown for a loop in the second half of the narrative and am not ashamed to admit that I had tears in my eyes at certain points. I cared about all of the characters and was invested in each of their journeys. This is an excellent story that is easy to fall in love with. There is plenty of humor throughout, and additional stories are sprinkled around The Terminal that you are available to interact with between chapters.

Special Menu Items

This version of Necrobarista is the definitive edition, with all previous DLC added and two new modes. The DLC chapters highlight background characters that don’t receive a lot of attention in the main game, and these are highly beneficial to the overall narrative. I fell for these side stories. They take a tonal shift from the primary story, and they pull it off beautifully. I highly recommend playing these chapters as soon as the game offers them to you.

The two new modes are Doodle and Studio Modes. Doodle Mode allows you to draw faces on Ashley’s Ashlings, previously inanimate objects that she now uses to fetch items for her and participate in Robattle Royales. This is a somewhat silly addition but it’s fun to see your scribbles pop up in between chapters. The more extensive Studio Mode is a dream for anyone wanting to create their own story. You can select from different backgrounds, characters, and phrases to craft your own unique narrative.

Great Atmosphere… For the Most Part

This is a quirkily beautiful game. The Terminal, and its staff and customers, are crafted in an appealing manner, with vibrant colors and fantastic linework. The score matches the atmosphere of each scene, while the writing is simple yet engaging. What detracted from the experience for me was the fact that the lettering is white, and when it’s placed over white backgrounds, say goodbye to that portion of the experience. There’s no option to change the color or to move the dialogue, so I found myself trying to piece together what I missed due to this feature.

I also encountered a bug around Chapter 7 that made my character shift by themselves while wandering around The Terminal. After trying to play the game in both handheld and docked mode, I still found myself drifting. Trying to read the hidden stories and even trying to progress was a challenge, due to the fact that you have to be directly in front of the story or Maddy to trigger each one. I managed to finish the game with this going on, but it was a definite blemish on my experience.

The Last Cup

Necrobarista: The Final Pour is a charming visual novel that features an emotionally engaging story, brilliant humor, and endearing characters. The visuals and sound are wonderful, while the added DLC stories and modes are fun additives. The only detracting factors are the white font and the mysterious drifting that I couldn’t remedy. Necrobarista is highly worth playing and is guaranteed to make you feel all the feelings, even with its issues.

 

This review is based on a Nintendo Switch copy of Necrobarista: Final Pour provided by Stride PR for coverage purposes. As of this writing, it is exclusive to that platform.