Review: VA-11 HALL-A (Switch)

• Platforms: Nintendo Switch (Reviewed), Playstation 4, Playstation Vita, PC
• Developer:  Sukeban Games
• Publisher: Ysbryd Games
• Release Date: May 2nd, 2019

To make it as a bartender you must be able to do more than just simply mix drinks. You’ll need to be a good conversationalist, one that can cheer customers up when they enter the bar in a sulky mood. You’ll also need to be a good listener and let whoever is on the opposite end of the bar rant and rave about their day to get it off their chest. All of these skills will come in handy when playing the cyberpunk visual novel/bartending simulator that is VA-11 HALL-A.

In VA-11 HALL-A you’re put in the shoes of Jill, a young woman who holds down the fort behind the bar of a drinking establishment in the dystopian future setting of Glitch City. As Jill you’ll mix drinks and carry on conversation with a very interesting cast of bar patrons, and through those conversations you’ll learn about your clientele, the current world’s events, and about Jill herself. Mentioning even the smallest plot point would be treading on spoiler territory, but what I will say is VA-11 HALL-A’s story is a very relatable one, dealing with love, loss, and the great big unknown we all face in our late teens and early twenties when we have to make it on our own. The dialogue can be a little over the top and corny at times, but overall the story is paced very well and keeps you engaged from start to finish.

The game is set in a 20-day period during the holiday season, and is broken up into half days. Each day will begin with Jill at the bar, where you’ll serve drinks for approximately 15-30 minutes depending on how fast of a reader you are. From there Jill will go on a break and you’ll have the opportunity to save the game and come back to it later or to keep on playing. This feature is convenient if you only have a limited window of time to play games each day, as you’ll know that a save point is never too far away and you can stop playing rather quickly.

While conversing with customers you’ll be mixing plenty of drinks, which is the single gameplay element to VA-11 HALL-A. There are 24 different drinks in the recipe book, each drink comprised of a combination of up to 5 different ingredients. Some of the clientele will be straightforward and tell you exactly what drink they would like, but often your memory will be put to the test when they ask for their “usual”. Some characters won’t necessarily care what the drink is, as long as it falls under a certain category, such as sweet, non-alcoholic, or classy.

Screwing up an order will affect the amount of money you take home at the end of the shift, but on the flipside you’ll get bonus money for having a perfect serving shift. Money plays an important part in VA-11 HALL-A, as you’ll need it to pay your rent, electrical bill, or to just give Jill some retail therapy to keep her from being distracted at work. Failing to do so impacts the game in a big way, as a distracted Jill will cause the drink orders to not appear on the screen after the order is initially requested, and if you’re not paying attention yourself you can mix the wrong drink and lose out on some extra cash. Your drink-mixing performance also affects VA-11 HALL-A’s endgame, with six different endings to unlock depending on your actions during the story.

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There’s no time limit on mixing drinks, and the game is meant to be played at your own pace. VA-11 HALL-A actually encourages you to kick back and relax with a drink of your own as you play through the game.

What immediately stands out in VA-11 HALL-A is the beautiful pixel art and retro-futuristic aesthetic. The character sprites are all incredibly done, and the user interface is reminiscent of a retro PC game. The music also stands out, with a very eclectic range of songs to choose from. Prior to the start of each shift you are able to create your own playlist from the jukebox, so you can weed out the tracks you’re not into and curate a list of the ones you enjoy most.

Although the game is mostly a reading experience that involves the player to continually hit the A button to progress the dialogue, there were some minor control issues with mixing drinks using the Joycon’s joystick. The ingredients are selected by holding the joystick in the direction of the desired ingredient and hitting the A button as many times as required to meet the recipe requirements. The JoyCon joystick was a little finnicky for this task as the ingredients are tightly clustered on the UI, and I found myself accidentally adding a wrong ingredient and having to reset the recipe quite frequently at times. Switching to the Switch’s Pro Controller which has a far superior joystick easily remedied the issue.

With its structure of being broken up nicely into 15-30 minute chunks, VA-11 HALL-A fits perfectly into the Nintendo Switch’s wheelhouse of taking the experience wherever you go and playing in short durations. While the mechanic of mixing drinks can become mundane toward the latter half of the game, the interesting cast of characters and the feeling of not knowing who or what can walk through the door and take a seat at the stool next will get you hooked. If you’re a fan of everything cyberpunk and visual novels are your thing, VA-11 HALL-A is the perfect game for you.

A Nintendo Switch review code for VA-11-HALL-A was provided by
Ysbryd Games