izigame.me

I wanted to 100% both games before making this review to make it as good as possible, so here I am. I'm going to review both, so people know what to expect when buying the bundle like I did.
THEME: 10/10, it's basically “how people will open up if they’re relaxing and enjoying a hot drink”. It’s explored slightly better in the second game, where giving wrong drinks causes characters to be unwilling to talk about their true feelings, causing bad things to happen due to the lack of communication. I love how the shop is only open at night, so the characters will have a safe place to unwind and reflect on themselves just at the end of their hard day.
GRAPHICS: 8/10, I love it. The pixel art and fonts definitely add to the game's atmosphere, and the character designs are just amazing in both games (even though the second game shows improvement on that side).
MUSIC: 11/10, it’s playable without any music but you’d miss out on the biggest atmosphere factor: the chill lo-fi playlist. This playlist is different for each game and it’s equally catchy. Definitely what contributes the most to the relaxing vibes. Might have listened to them while studying too.
STORY: 8.5/10, the characters and their stories are so interesting that I’d say it’s what actually hooks you to the game. They discuss serious, real life topics, like racism (in its fantasy version), generation gap, dark sides of fame, or hardships of creative jobs. While the first game is mostly linear, the second game does an amazing job at making you a huge part of its story, where each drink you make will change something (and that change will usually make sense, emphasis on usually).
GAMEPLAY: 6.5/10, it’s simple and enjoyable, and it’s probably what Genshin Impact liked when they stole the idea for their “Of Drink A-Dreaming” event. Made me want to try latte art and a lot of new drinks and combinations myself in real life. You’ll have fun… unless you’re trying to 100%, which is impossible without looking for guides, and you will need multiple guides (mostly answers to questions like “why the heck is not unlocking???”). A lot of solutions aren’t even hinted at in game and don’t make sense at all. Not a huge deal though, still doable.
You’ll probably spend about 5 hours on Coffee Talk and about 10 on Episode 2. Replayability is for different endings, after 100% you have no reason to replay. You also have no reason to play challenge mode after you got the achievement. The price is accurate enough to the value.
Trying to be as objective as possible, my conclusion is 7.5/10 for the first game and 9/10 for the second game, so yes they're worth it :)