Where to get it

2020 · Route 59 · Adventure · Indie

Necrobarista

Necrobarista is a gorgeous 3D visual novel about a supernatural Melbourne cafe where the dead spend their last night on Earth. Utilizing a unique anime-inspired aesthetic, Necrobarista places a focus on the usage of animation and cinematography to provide a cinematic experience that draws players into a visually and narratively captivating adventure. Through a series of vignettes, Necrobarista presents a story told from the viewpoints of a diverse cast of characters, and explores the supernatural underworld of Melbourne's cafe scene.

Released: 17 July 2020
Platforms: iOS Windows macOS Nintendo Switch PlayStation 4
Genres: Adventure Indie Point-and-click adventure Visual novel
Developers: Route 59
Publishers: Route 59 Coconut Island Games Playism
Modes: Single-player
Perspective: Third person Text
Themes: Fantasy
Country: Australia
Age ratings: ESRB M
Languages: Arabic Chinese (Simplified)Chinese (Traditional)Dutch English French German Italian Japanese Korean Portuguese (Brazil)Russianand 2 more
Time to beat: 4hmain story7hcompletionist

About

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, July 22, 2020 for Windows, and August 11, 2021 for Nintendo Switch. The original game was divided into ten chapters, with two stand-alone chapters focusing on minor or new characters being released as free DLCs; the game's name was changed to Necrobarista - Final Pour after both DLCs were added to the base game on all platforms. The game is also scheduled to release at a later date for PlayStation 4.

Players say

Media

The articlegameplay, story, development, reception

Development

The game is developed by the Australian studio Route 59, using the Unity game engine. The visual style of the 3D cinematics was influenced by anime. The game was originally announced for release in October 2017 for Microsoft Windows and MacOS, but was delayed to July 22, 2020. The game was released on August 11, 2021 for Nintendo Switch. The composer for the project is Kevin Penkin.

Reception

In pre-release coverage, multiple critics praised the game's presentation. Nathan Grayson at Kotaku and Kyle LeClair at Hardcore Gamer both compared it to the Japanese developer Atlus's titles, with Grayson describing it as stylish and like Persona in a coffee shop, 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". 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. 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. 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, and LeClair said that the environment interaction and investigation shown in the trailer felt like they were setting up an interesting mystery.

Necrobarista received "generally favorable" reviews, according to review aggregator website Metacritic. Fellow review aggregator OpenCritic assessed that the game received strong approval, being recommended by 78% of critics. USGamer selected it as their Game of the Month for July 2020, calling it "one of the more memorable visual novels I've played this year, if not ever".