[Introduction]

[Negatives]

[Gameplay]

[Story]

[Graphics]

[Music]

[Conclusion]

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As someone who doesn't normally enjoy visual novels, I was hesitant at first. Sure, the setting and the anime aesthetic appealed to me, but there was a big chance that this game would be just another VN hyped up by its fanatic anime fans. But damn… was I surprised by what I found! The game managed to change my mind pretty much instantly, not because of its art style or its soundtrack (though they are huge contributors towards that), but because of the overall feel and well presented atmosphere.As always, these are my own opinions and experiences, please consider reading other reviews too!Just some minor things that i still want to mention just to spice things up.While this game features a form of gameplay, and I’m very glad that it does; the mixing of drinks can be a bit repetitive at times. No wonder some people say that you should play it in sessions and take breaks, just like the protagonist. The problem is the fixed number of recipes at your disposal and the way the system works, you have the initial 24 drinks but that’s it really, no new ones will be introduced during your playthrough which is a missed opportunity. A double-click option would’ve been nice to add the ingredients directly instead of dragging every single one of them. Checkpoints are often very far apart from each other which can result in frustration since you have to possibly play huge chunks of the game again, if you fu-ck up or want to do something differently.I’m truly glad to have the bartending as a way of interacting with the characters in the game, without this feature, the game wouldn’t be half as engaging as it is right now. Mixing drinks together is fun and thankfully doesn’t require a crazy tutorial or anything like that. Simply mix together the ingredients based on the recipes and you're done with the exceptions of big drinks and a few others. Manage Jill’s home between days to spent your hard-earned cash for silly stuff or save up to pay the rent. You even get tiny bits of lore in her smartphone and the ability to save/load, which can also be done during work-breaks.What I think is the most important part is the need to satisfy the customers taste through mixing alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks together from scratch. You are often asked to guess the right drink for the right customer, luckily the game has a built-in list of 24 available recipes to help you with that. Some clients require you to be quick, remember their favourite drinks or even guess the right one that could trigger new events and story bits. This is the main way to influence the game's progression and the ending that you will get, so be sure to try something different then the game is telling you. Just pay attention to your customer and what they order, it might not always be what they really want or need! A character is depressed and orders something sweet? Add some alcohol to let him forget about their troubles thanks to optional recipes where you can add as much of it as you want.VA-11 Hall-A’s story revolves around the everyday life of bartender Jill and her customers as well as her boss and co-worker Gillian and many others. A diverse cast of characters who are relatable, believable and interesting in one way or another and have their own problems and worries in life that you can be a part of. Even though you don't have any choices during the conversations itself, the discussions are still pretty engaging and well presented making you crave for more.The visuals are reminiscent of old Japanese adventure games for the PC-98, the first visual novels one could say. Everything is more detailed though and gives this a very modern look and feel. Good looking characters also make sure that you are interested in finding out more about them and exactly why they chose your bar of all places.Fitting, satisfying style of music fitting a cyberpunk city so incredibly well and don’t ask me why but some songs even reminded me of games of my childhood like Zone of the Enders, Final Fantasy VII, Breath of Fire III and countless others. The soundtrack is certainly one of the bigger contributors to VA-11 Hall-A’s success.VA-11 Hall-A is an incredible 10-20 hour adventure that is without a doubt one of the best Visual Novels currently available on Steam. This game is an amazing and mature experience and I’m glad that I finally got around to playing it, and do hope a sequel is in the works!I recommend it to anyone who is interested in Visual Novels with lots of text. Fans of the cyberpunk will also find great value in this beautiful game.“Time to mix drinks and change lives!”