We’ve played a lot of games, and this is definitely not the real Mario. Even though you mostly just see a slightly futuristic looking bar interior, this, combined with the wonderfully drawn character designs places you into the fictional Glitch city that has been created. The whole cyberpunk aesthetic in the game – especially the visuals – is reminiscent of late 80s/early 90s Japanese graphic adventures, but this isn’t just a lazy homage, as the visuals truly match the tone and feel of the game. VA-11 Hall-A isn’t afraid to acknowledge its influences, most notably the work of Hideo Kojima, and specifically his visual novels Snatcher and Policenauts (and to a lesser extent “tactical espionage action” game Metal Gear). That activity is helped by clever use of the Switch’s HD Rumble feature to let you know when it’s ready. Some also require “blending”, which is complex as the game ever gets, requiring you to mix the drink for a few seconds before serving. There are a couple of elements that mix things up a bit, such as some drinks requiring the addition of ice or needing to be aged before serving (this is just the press of a button though).

Admittedly the fun of making drinks does quickly become devoid of challenge as you are constantly following a set list of instructions. Mixing together drinks at first takes a little bit of getting used to (the initial tutorial is very helpful) but soon you’ll be mixing with the best of them. Each drink has a flavour and a type to help categorise it (which becomes more important as you move through the game) and each one has its own unique blend of ingredients required to create it. While you are restricted to what is listed in the drinks menu, with no experimentation possible, the selection is surprisingly broad, and just navigating the menu and the different types of drinks available is impressive. VA-11 Hall-A does a pretty solid job, though, of providing a fun experience in the making of the drinks. Each in-game day, with days broken up by a helpful save-checkpoint, has you make around ten drinks depending on the number of visitors and how much they want to drink.

The “bartending action” is the main element that separates this visual novel from others, although the extent to which is not to the same as evidence is used in something like Ace Attorney. You don’t even look old enough to be behind the bar yourself, Jill.

VA-11 Hall-A: Cyberpunk Bartender Action is a mouthful of a title and sounds like gobbledy-gook, but what you need to know is that this is a visual novel centring on pouring drinks behind a bar.

Bartender game old