Intro
Often times in RPG style games the focus is on you as the daring adventurer looking to save the world, fight monsters, be the most powerful, romance hot people, or all of the above. This play style is fun and puts the emphasis of the game on the world that you discover through your own exploration. But what if you wanted a different kind of adventure? One where you play as a different, but still beloved, member of the game itself?
In this game you play as an innkeeper in a medieval fantasy style town known as Zenyth. As you tend to your business you interact with many different types of characters as you progress through the story. You’re main objective helping different characters through their individual lives as you prepare drinks that suit their needs.
Handing out quests, gathering information, building relationships, and above all being the world’s best NPC known as the tavern keep is the point of this game. Tavern Talk has gained quite a reputation amongst cozy gamers since its release, but is it the right game for you? Keep on reading the article to see if you should play Tavern Talk.
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Story
In the world of Tavern Talk you play as the Innkeeper (crazy I know) and run your very own tavern in the fictional city of Zenyth. This game operates as a visual novel so much of the story comes from interacting with NPCs and helping them through their individual struggles. As the innkeeper you are the crux of every adventurer’s story and will have a significant impact on many characters based on your decisions.
Based on what drinks you serve, and the dialogue options you pick a good portion of the story can be altered to your taste. Though his game is mainly dialogue based it does an amazing job of developing the characters and making you feel like you’re a part of the game.
Though you are technically the main character the game treats you as an NPC a good portion of the time and the other characters will reference this often. While your talents are favored and needed in this world the patrons of your establishment are the true stars of the show. Serving your customers is imperative to their quests as the many drinks you create are magical in nature.
Create concoctions that caters to one of the five main stats to help the customer with their needs. As you get to know the many people who pass through you’re business you’re able to piece together the main story and bring aide to those who need it most.
This game is pretty much all story and is a low stakes visual novel that is most enjoyable after a long hard day. I will say if you’re someone who is looking for a game with more engagement then Tavern Talk may not be what you’re looking for as there isn’t much textbook gaming opportunity here. However, if you’re looking to help others while you sit back and enjoy the fun and exciting story then consider giving this game a try.
Gameplay
As mentioned in the last section much of this game is dialogue based as you’re mainly working your way through dialogue options, making drinks, and stringing together the occasional quest. This being a visual novel there isn’t a lot to do in the way of gaming mechanics, though this makes the game far from boring.
If you’ve ever played an RPG then you know how difficult it can be to navigate dialogue options and while there may not be a lot of DISASTEROUS effects in this game one turn can bring about some unwanted consequences. The same goes for the drinks that you create for you’re patrons.
You often won’t get a set recipe but rather a description of the desired effect that the customer is looking for and will have to piece together something that caters to that their wants. You will even receive orders where you will be given two option on how to fulfill a specific request but can only choose one.
Depending on what you deicide it will alter the plot for that character, and can affect other’s people’s stories as well. Thankfully, nothing you pick is too detrimental and there’s not shame in using Google if you need help figuring it out (not that I do that). I will said if you do plan to use Google be wary of spoilers.
Lastly, let’s discuss the final mechanic of the game which is mixing drinks. Whenever you are given a drink order you immediately go to the mixing station to craft your beveragino. You are presented with a chart surrounded by the five stats types known as, strength, charisma, dexterity, intelligence, and defense.
Using your journal you must decide on a recipe that will satisfy the patron’s needs based on their description. Once you’ve done this you can mix the drink. There are five different types of liquids that will give you more or less of a certain stat when added to the drink.
As you progress through the game you will gain more recipes and ways to add more to your drinks. This keeps the game interesting and it’s not very hard to create the drinks, though, it might take a couple tries to find the right concoction. If creating drinks, spinning quests, and working your way through dialogue options doesn’t sound like your style then you may want to refrain for now. I will say, this is a fun game and if this sounds like something you would like then definitely give this game a try.
Pros
- Fun story.
- Well written characters.
- Magical drink mixing.
- Your dragon familiar eats your reject drinks.
Cons
- Some players may not enjoy the lack of gameplay
- Those looking for less dialogue will not find it here.
Conclusion
Tavern Talk is a beautifully crafted visual novel style game that could awaken the magical mixologist in anyone. What this game lacks in gameplay it makes up for in a well written story and equally delightful characters. If you’re looking for something with more action in terms of adventure then I suggest looing at other titles. However, if aiding adventurers on their journey through mixing magical drinks while they tell you their stories sounds like your kind of adventure then maybe you should play Tavern Talk.
Ready to begin your medieval mixology adventure? You can snag Tavern Talk her for PC.
