Necrobarista

Necrobarista is a 2020 visual novel game developed by Australian development studio Route 59. The player follows a cast of characters around a Melbourne back-alley coffeehouse staffed by necromancers, named the 'Terminal'. In the Terminal, the souls of the recently departed are given a final 24 hours to reside in the world alongside the living. The game was released on July 17, 2020 for macOS and iOS via Apple Arcade, and July 22, 2020 for Microsoft Windows. Necrobarista has upcoming ports for PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch scheduled to release in 2021.[2]

Necrobarista
Developer(s)Route 59
Director(s)Kevin Chen[1]
Programmer(s)Ryan Boulton[1]
Artist(s)
Writer(s)
  • Damon Reece[1]
  • Justin Kuiper[1]
Composer(s)
EngineUnity
Platform(s)
Release
  • iOS, macOS
  • July 17, 2020
  • Microsoft Windows
  • July 22, 2020
  • PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch
  • 2021
Genre(s)Visual novel
Mode(s)Single-player

Overview

Necrobarista is a visual novel set in a Melbourne coffee shop that serves both the living and dead, and is visited by gangsters, hipsters, and necromancers.[3][4] Unlike the 2D art typical to the genre, it is presented through cinematic 3D sequences.[3][5]

Development and release

The game is developed by the Australian studio Route 59,[4] using the Unity game engine.[6] The visual style of the 3D cinematics was influenced by anime.[3] The game was announced for release in October 2017 for Microsoft Windows and MacOS,[4][7] but was delayed to July 22, 2020,[8] with a Nintendo Switch version also planned for later release.[9][10] The composer for the project is Kevin Penkin.[11]

Reception

Pre-release

In pre-release coverage, multiple critics praised the game's presentation.[3][4][13] Nathan Grayson at Kotaku and Kyle LeClair at Hardcore Gamer both compared it to the Japanese developer Atlus's titles,[4][13] with Grayson describing it as stylish and like Persona in a coffee shop,[13] and LeClair saying that the anime-like aesthetics, the music and the atmosphere "wouldn't seem out of place in a top-level Atlus game".[4] Rock, Paper, Shotgun's Kate Gray said that the game looks "so good you just want to eat [it]", praising the sunset-like color palette used and comparing it to the visual style of the game Firewatch.[3] Joel Couture of Siliconera called the art style "striking", with its use of 3D art rather than the traditional animation and static 2D images common to the visual novel genre.[5] Gray, while noting that it was difficult to pinpoint the exact tone intended from just the trailer, also said that she liked the concept of a coffee shop visited by both the dead and the living,[3] and LeClair said that the environment interaction and investigation shown in the trailer felt like they were setting up an interesting mystery.[4]

References
  1. "Route 59 Games press kit". necrobarista.com. Retrieved 2020-08-01.
  2. "Review: Necrobarista". Destructoid. Retrieved July 29, 2020.
  3. Gray, Kate (2017-01-21). "Necrobarista is about hipsters, baristas, and death". Rock, Paper, Shotgun. Archived from the original on 2017-01-21. Retrieved 2017-01-22.
  4. LeClair, Kyle (2017-01-20). "Supernatural Visual Novel Necrobarista Coming This October". Hardcore Gamer. Archived from the original on 2017-01-21. Retrieved 2017-01-22.
  5. Couture, Joel (2017-01-19). "Visual Novel Necrobarista Serves Coffee Or Booze To The Dead & The Living". Siliconera. Archived from the original on 2017-01-21. Retrieved 2017-01-22.
  6. "Necrobarista – Welcome to the terminal". Route 59. Archived from the original on 2017-01-21.
  7. "NECROBARISTA - Announcement Trailer". Route 59. 2017-01-14. Retrieved 2017-01-22 – via YouTube.
  8. Devore, Jordan (2020-07-15). "Caffeinated ghost story Necrobarista comes to PC on July 22". Destructoid. Retrieved 2020-07-19.
  9. Route 59 (2019-05-16), Necrobarista - Gameplay Trailer, retrieved 2019-05-16
  10. http://www.hardcoregamer.com/2017/09/08/pax-west-2017-necrobarista-gives-the-visual-novel-a-caffeinated-kick/271076/
  11. "Composer Kevin Penkin on Symphonic Metal and Flamenco Music Influences in The Rising of the Shield Hero, and More!". Crunchyroll. Retrieved 2018-11-28.
  12. "Necrobarista for PC Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 2020-10-12.
  13. Grayson, Nathan (2017-01-18). "Necrobarista is a game about "a supernatural cafe where the living come to mingle with the dead."". Kotaku. Gizmodo Media Group. Archived from the original on 2017-01-21. Retrieved 2017-01-21.
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