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It must be pretty nice to be unemployed in the anime world. Especially when (after deciding that money is rather important) you can get a job in the first shop you come across, and then with the minimal number of questions asked, immediately get a job surrounded by cute girls (don’t we all wish that it was that easy in real life?.

Well, this is pretty much what happens to the protagonist in this fairly short visual novel called “Cafe Crush”. You see, the main character of the game is in need of money.

So, long story short. The protagonist is wandering around looking for somewhere to work, when, hanging around outside the Kitty Cafe he is accosted by a waitress.

Well, after meeting the rather dour manageress, manages to get himself a job working alongside three girls.

The girls in question are Josie, the manageress, who is initially rather indifferent, but slowly warms up over time (especially if you get her coffee-related questions correct); Lily the young girl who you originally meet outside trying to drum up customers and is initially belittled by Josie, whilst the third girl (Emilia) is a clumsy and cake-loving girl who is absolutely terrible at making them.

So, after spending four days or so working at the Cafe, you may at the end get a chance to take a girl out on a date, with, hopefully, a positive result.

And besides the visual novel aspects of the game, “Cafe Crush” also offers various mini-games ranging from a coffee-related quiz (which unless you research coffee early in the game or you already have intimate knowledge of being a barista, then you may have difficulty answering some of the questions), to a hidden puzzle game.

Then there is also an interesting section where you have to work as a barista and correctly fulfill your customers orders.

And whilst none of these (with the exception of the coffee-related quiz) are particularly hard, some are timed and all will affect your standing with the girls.

Graphically, “Cafe Crush” is rather nice, with a fair few CG screens as well. The screen resolution used is rather unusual though and probably won’t fill up your screen display, which leaves you with vertical black borders on your screen…

Anyways, moving on! All the characters are voiced (except for the protagonist), which is nicely done. As a matter of fact, all the voices go well with the characters.

So, all in all. I have to say that “Cafe Crush” is a beautiful and great but rather short dating visual novel. It would also have been very nice if a better screen resolution had been used for “Cafe Crush”.

Nevertheless, “Cafe Crush” is still a fun and well-made visual novel game that I would recommend people to give a fair chance.

Pros:

+ Very nice graphics.

+ Voiced.

+ Stock music, but appropriate.

+ Cute catgirls.

+ Fun dialogs.

Cons:

– Rather an unusual screen resolution used.

– There are occasions where the text isn’t voiced.

– Possibly over-priced.

Gameplay: 3/5

Graphics: 4/5

Sound and music: 3/5

Controls: 3/5

Replay value: 3/5

Story: 4/5

Verdict: 4/5

Cafe Crush is a sweet, cute and fun dating visual novel game (although some may find too twee) that offers a nice story, beautiful graphics and some truly nice voice acting.

However, the game might be slightly over-priced due to the game’s rather short length. Even so, the game is certainly fun despite the relatively short gameplay.

Title: Cafe Crush

Developer: Michael Emerson

Format: PC

Genre: Dating visual novel

Resolution: Program default

Release date: 2019-07-19

Difficulty: User-defined

Spent time: + 1 hour (game complete)

Average grade internationally: N/A

PEGI age rating: +12

Price: 4.33 Euros via Steam

Credit:

Robin Ek – Editor



Nicholas Kingsley

The Gaming Ground

Twitter: @sku_te

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Tags: Anime, Cafe Crush, Indie games, Michael Emerson, PC games, PC review, Visual novel