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Mephista my daughter ♥

If there was something that could visually and interely represent what my feelings and emotion were when playing this game, then the perfect example for that representation would be Shia LaBeouf smiling, laughing, applauding and cry some tears of joy watching the big screen. Because that's exactly how I felt from the first minutes of this game, till the end of it.
I've waited a long time for this and I didn't even notice when it came finally out... I was browsing and I randomly see it on Steam, I was like "WAIT IT CAME OUT YESTERDAY?!" and I instantly bought it.
Talking about something or someone you like it's easy but at the same time complicated, since words can hardly express the emotions you feel and put into something. Don't get me wrong, the game has some downsides, but I still could talk for hours about what I loved about this game, and just use two minutes for the little "mistakes" it has.
Maybe I am too emotional when it comes to coffee, or being a barista, or characters that wants to tell a story or try to improve / blend in. I definitely am too emotional, but what's not to like in the story and the characters itself?
Let's start from the beginning:
This game obviously takes inspiration from Persona and I would say Coffee Talk too. not only from the design, but even from the gameplay and the OSTs you can tell.
The game starts and we rapidly grasp how the gameplay and the story's gonna revolve. We can see from the first two minutes the references.
Now, what makes this game really interesting, the characters:
The protagonist is a very cheerful red magenta haired girl who makes coffee and likes to help. Everything is already beautiful. Wanna know what's even more beautiful?
Mephista. If the coffee, for me, makes this game beautiful and amazing, then Mephista makes this game simply wonderful. The voice acting, the outfit, the personality. Perfection. The perfect communist and capitalist demon that follows you around and help you in your crazy adventure of this reverse tower defense.
Dr. House (I laughed, and a lot, when I saw this and did not realize the name...). I have to complete his side story, but his voice and character are amazing; he takes our money but not much we can do about it.
Goddess Mama (Amen!), the aesthetic of this character reminds me of Arknights. That alone is enough reasons for liking her.
There are so many more, but even secondary characters are AMAZING. Like Yua... the style, the colors, the eyes... So much for just a secondary character, I wish it was part of the main cast with a side story.
The art is really the kind of style that I love, the colors and the outfits, like I've already said... really my cup of tea coffee.
The OSTs, chill and vibing at the same time, depending on the gameplay situation.
The AMAZING voice acting... without it, this game would've NOT be the same. They really did a top notch job here.
The coffee... boy, the art of the coffees, how aesthethic and fancy they are. I would drink them all, in the same day. My heart would explode but I feel like it would be worth it.
The references... I don't know if it's just me but I think this game is fuuuuull of references from TV Series, to games, to films... and I absolutely love this.
And the characters... The dynamic duo between Affogato and Mephista will always be a memory and I know I'm gonna always have the same smile that Shia LaBeouf had while watching the big screen when I'll be thinking and reading about them (Imma go for a second run for the rest of the side stories). Mephista is just too charismatic fam...
Now, about some little downsides...
I've played many tower defense in the past, but this is my first time with a reverse tower defense. The creativity of the stages and the themes they have as you progress through the story are perfectly done. The stages are pretty challenging, and that is why after some stages I've decided to lower the difficulty from normal to easy :')
I mostly wanted to chill and I'm way more interested on the story and the coffee, but the gameplay is enjoyable even at easy in my opinion; Now, I may just suck, but the shame is that it really is pretty challenging and it's hard to find a way to use the new tarot cards, or the ones that you like if you play at normal. I feel like something could've improved here, but patience.
The other problem, which is more personal, is that I would've loved making more coffees. The game clearly revolves more about the reverse tower defense mechanic, and even with that, the game makes you do many, many coffees, but I feel like it could've been more. At the beginning, most of the coffees are just gonna be simple Americanos, and then people are gonna ask for more creative stuff. But, a missed oppurtunity. in my opinion, is that when we decide to spend the morning/evening at The Witchery and work as barista, a time-skip occurs. This is a HUGE wasted opportunity for me, I would've loved to do some coffees and have fun with it instead of just skipping time. But it's alright, it's just a little note.
But that being said, I really think the game is worth its price, and I hope for more games like this from the creator, or some DLCs. I really, really enjoyed this game and It kept me awake for the latest hours. I do not regret it at all.
I'm even going to do a second run for the rest of side story that I couldn't finish of the first one.
Lastly, even if probably insignificant, I really like the name of the game. Affogato, not only just like protagonist or the dessert, but Affogato also means "drowned" in italian. I'm not sure why, but I find it ironic, funny and somewhat poetic too.