It’s time to dust off the coffee machines, clean the tabletops, and brew drinks to your heart’s content while lending a listening ear to your customers’ daily quarrels and successes as you take on the role of café owner and barista in Coffee Talk Tokyo. With numerous brewing options, including hot and cold beverages, fulfilling customer requests can be a rewarding experience. Day by day, you’ll meet new and returning customers and learn about their lives while providing them with a safe, wholesome place to unload. Coffee Talk Tokyo is the third game of the Coffee Talk series and has been developed by Chorus Worldwide Games and Toge Productions and published by Chorus Worldwide Games. Your job is simple: be compassionate and understanding while serving delicious beverages brewed to your customers’ desires. Time to jump into the review!
ℹ️ Reviewed on Xbox Series S | Review code provided by PR/Publisher. This review is the personal opinion of the writer.
| Developer | Chorus Worldwide Games, Toge Productions |
| Publisher | Chorus Worldwide Games |
Things I Liked!
- Diverse characters | Coffee Talk Tokyo features incredibly unique and wholesome customers who shine through with their personalities and appearances, making each day a fresh experience and every face a sight for sore eyes. My favourite characters were Erika and Jun. The interactions between different characters and myself could also change the tone in a heartbeat, depending on their conversation topics and ability to socialise amicably. Having such a wide range of personalities, personal backgrounds, and conversation topics meant no two days were the same, which I loved. Coming into my ‘job’ every day and not knowing what I would be presented with was exciting and piqued my curiosity at the beginning of every shift.
- Narrative progression | As you meet and get to know your customers, you begin to learn about their lives, hobbies, and interests. Making your way through the weeks, conversations progress and life changes for everyone. A great way of keeping up with customers’ lives without speaking to them is to use the Tomodachill app, which allows you to see their latest posts and updates, keeping you in the loop even when they don’t come into the cafe. Relationships form over time, making the cafe feel special whenever it brings people closer together. Everything about the day-to-day progression gave me a sense of purpose, bringing me to call the customers my friends. By the end of the story, you are given a glimpse into how everyone is faring, which was a lovely end touch.
- Drink creation | One of my favourite things about playing Coffee Talk Tokyo is creating a range of drinks, ranging from the everyday simple beverages to the exquisite ‘once in a lifetime’ mixtures. When customers would come in and give me an idea as to what they would like, it was up to me to make something suitable given the ingredients I had in my pantry. It’s enough of a puzzle to make you take a second to think, but not one that had me racking my brains. Being able to provide my customers with a refuge and them trusting me to make a drink to their liking made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Maybe I should consider it as my day-to-day job? Although, with my butterfingers, probably not!
- Visuals and audio | I’ll start this section off with the incredible audio. Coffee Talk Tokyo has an amazing chill lo-fi soundtrack, composed by Andrew ‘AJ’ Jeremy, that gives the game its comfortable atmosphere. I had a memorable time going through and listening to every track on offer during my playtime, and may have just become a new fan of the genre! Without this music, I think the game would have felt inferior. As for the visuals, these are beautiful, using a 90s pixel art design. They have a subtle anime feel to them, but not overwhelmingly so. The animations are cute and well created, allowing you to visualise emotions and movement easily. There is a variety of colours which can be seen in all the characters, while the cafe itself consists of warm but moody tones in contrast to Tokyo and its bright neon lights.
- Relaxing atmosphere | As with all previous Coffee Talk games, Coffee Talk Tokyo had a relaxing ambience throughout, making the game a pleasant experience in every setting. The music, as mentioned before, helped set a melodic tone, allowing conversations and drinks to flow effortlessly. There were no harsh noises or interactions that upset the vibe; just a barista and her customers enjoying the liveliness of a cosy coffee shop. If you’ve ever been to a cafe to enjoy your favourite drink and either have a breather or take a moment to let the world pass you by, you’ll understand the tranquil feeling I’m talking about. If not, I highly recommend you try it sometime! (as you should with this Coffee Talk Tokyo!)
- Additional modes | The story/campaign mode in Coffee Talk Tokyo is the game’s main bread and butter, the go-to mode most people will start their journey with. However, there are also two extra modes you can play whenever the mood takes you. Both are endless: the first is ‘Free Brew’, which encourages you to try out different ingredients to discover new recipes, and the second is ‘Challenge Mode’, which will have you taking a whole plethora of requests, progressively becoming more complex, which you must get correct while working against the clock. These allow you to continue the gameplay in a carefree setting or push yourself and your knowledge as a barista. It gives players a little extra, and we all know we like to add those chocolate sprinkles to our drinks given the chance!
Mixed & Disliked!
- Conversation topics | My only gripe with Coffee Talk Tokyo was the ratio of positive to negative talking points. Emotions flared frequently, but I can safely say that I felt the conversations with a negative topic or sad undertone left a lingering aftertaste, which wasn’t pleasant. I expected the customers to come in, sit down, order their drinks, and talk about whatever they felt comfortable discussing. However, what I didn’t expect was for it to feel that socially exhausting. It was a sad feeling when customers would tell me about a dilemma they were facing, and all I could do was take their money and get them their drink, but perhaps it highlights the magnitude of problems faced on a day-to-day basis. I was just doing my job at the end of the day.
- How long did I play the review before publishing? Approximately 7 Hours 30 Minutes
- How long to beat the story? Approximately 5-6 Hours
- How many Achievements did I earn before publishing? 37/44 OR 800/1000G
- How long to achieve 1000G? Approximately 15-20 Hours
- You’ll love this game if you like these | Prior Coffee Talk Games and Visual Novels
Conclusion
Score: 85/100
Coffee Talk Tokyo is yet another fantastic addition to the ongoing series, featuring memorable characters, meaningful conversations, and drinks to suit all scenarios. Although I felt the tone was a little down at times, I welcomed everyone and enjoyed my time overall. I would certainly recommend it if you want a game you can wind down with and enjoy at any pace.
Hello, I’m Victoria. I’m from the UK and have been playing video games for as long as I can remember; back on DreamCast. I’ve pretty much fallen for Xbox since I was around eight years old and remember BioShock being my first game on the Xbox360. Although I find it thoroughly enjoyable to not only experience gameplay, I also find comfort in getting lost and engrossed in the online worlds that sometimes differ greatly from what we know. Another side of my Xbox passion would be achievement hunting and gamerscore. I thrive when I hear the little sound of one popping up on the screen and I’m always finding ways to work on my backlog when possible. Horror is my favourite genre so if you have any recommendations, don’t be afraid to send them my way!
