It’s Valhalla, get it?
What They Say:
It’s time to mix drinks and change lives. Experience the celebrated booze ’em up about waifus, technology and daily life in a post-dystopian world.
Content:
VA-11 HALL-A is just about everything that I would, personally, want out of an indie game. Gorgeous, detailed art and character designs, story and character-driven, and containing a visual novel aesthetic. It’s needless to say that VA-11 HALL-A is one of my favorite games this year, specifically, on Switch and overall.
In fact, it had me wondering constantly why no one told me about this game previously and ashamed that I hadn’t heard of it at all prior to its Switch and PS4 announcement. VA-11 HALL-A follows Jill as you tend the titular bar in a dystopian cyberpunk world full of intriguing characters.
It’s a pretty simple game all things said, as your only real gameplay interactions in the world are buying stuff to customize your home in extremely basic ways, bartending, and chatting with customers. That’s really it, making this more of a visual novel with some more engaging elements than anything else.
In terms of gameplay, there isn’t much that VA-11 HALL-A offers, which can be a turn-off to some, but if you’ve read any of my other reviews here, I love. You basically just chat with customers and make them drinks; that’s really it. But it’s in those two main features that VA-11 HALL-A mostly excels on Switch.
Bartending requires a simple but fun mini-game that is always onscreen while you’re at work. The customer will be on the left with their words while the right side will show you the mixer and all of your potential drink components. It’s up to you to pay attention to what the customer wants and scour through the dozens of possible drinks to mix up the right beverage.
This is helped by the fun controls that never got dull in the story. You can either use the thumbstick and buttons to select each component and how much you need of it or simply use the Switch’s touchscreen in handheld mode. I appreciated the option to use both, and I actually found myself switching between the two often enough.
Both control options feel nice to do and mixing up the drinks felt surprisingly fun, despite it being mostly a drag and click procedure. But the real hook of VA-11 HALL-A is its story and characters. Being that it takes place in a cyberpunk future, it is a progressive storyline that pokes fun at the future and present alike.
I won’t spoil the general storyline since it takes a quite a bit to actually pop up, but needless to say, it deals with some heavy themes that I didn’t actually expect. It can get really heartfelt at times and tugged at my heartstrings more than a few times. It does nothing overly special or surprising, but it’s enjoyable enough.
The characters (and art) is where VA-11 HALL-A truly shines but also trips up more than anywhere else. As a bartender, you get well over a dozen different customers, many of which are recurring and have storylines of their own. You find out about their motivations, goals, pasts, and so on.
Each of the characters you meet falls into various archetypes, which is the first gripe I have about them. For the most part, the characters aren’t super special and only a handful of them are super memorable. Many of them do feel wasted, too, as my favorites like Streaming-chan was super underused.
On the other hand, the cute android sex worker Dorothy is adorable and unforgettable. She shows up quite a bit throughout the story and never failed to bring a smile to my face with her hilarious and cheerful dialogue. But for every Dorothy, there are two or three boring characters that failed to bring anything to the table.
I do wish that some of the other characters received more screen time, instead of the rather boring ones that take up the majority of the main roles besides Dorothy. It doesn’t help that the dialogue isn’t always the best in VA-11 HALL-A. The writing can be too on the nose at times, feeling a little forced when it would have been better off in a more subtle way.
Thankfully, VA-11 HALL-A never fails to be pretty. The 2D artwork is absolutely stunning and each character has their own unique, detailed design. Since you’re going to be talking and staring at characters for the vast majority of this game, it only helps that they are so good to look at. Each character has enough emotive animations to switch between frequently.
In Summary:
VA-11 HALL-A is one of my favorite games this year, but it isn’t without its problems. It’s a beautiful, dark cyberpunk visual novel with a simple but fun bartender mini-game. The story doesn’t do anything extraordinary, but it’s heartfelt enough to evoke emotions. The real star of VA-11 HALL-A, though, is its characters. They range from memorable to forgettable, and while I do wish I had more time with some of my favorites, they are mostly entertaining enough to make this game worth a look.
Grade: B+
Developer: Sukeban Games
Publisher: Ysbyrd Games
Age Rating: 17+
Release Date: May 2, 2019
MSRP: $14.99
Platform: Switch (reviewed), PS4, Vita, PC
This review was done with a review copy provided by the publisher. We are grateful for their continued support.
