VA-11 HALL-A: Cyberpunk Bartender Action (from now on referenced as Vallhalla) is an indie bartender sim but really, that’s just there to hide the very strong visual novel elements of the game. You play the role of Jill, a bartender at the eponymous VA-11 HALL-A – a small bar in the downtown area of a dystopian metropolis set in a near future cyberpunk setting.

Don’t expect an epic storyline though. Vallhalla is strictly a slice-of-life experience as you go through the daily life of bartender, paying rent and hearing the interesting stories your customers tell you as you figure out what drink they’d enjoy best or best suited for the situation.

With an aesthetic reminiscent of the Snatcher series and MSX titles of old, Vallhalla embraces its retro futurism roots; the graphics and music play a big part in the vibrant world building seen in the game.

The music has its roots in 80’s & 90’s JRPGs and J-Pop and with the ability to set a playlist before each working day within the game, you’ll find yourself curating a playlist in anticipation of the day’s customers.

Hey, Ms. Bartender, Make Me A Drink

Living in a dystopian cyberpunk city-state means there are bills to pay and our protagonist, Jill the bartender is no different. As her salary is commission based, it’s in your best interest to be pay attention to her clientele’s many different preferences. After all, tips and bonuses are awarded for speedy service and drink quality.

The bartending side of things is fairly straightforward, you have a drinks database as references for drink recipes and for searching for drinks based on taste or style. There are five base ingredients that the player can mix together to create a drink and depending on your customer, you may have to tweak the ingredients to best suit the client’s need.

This will open up new story scenarios for the player as they advance in the game. There’s no time limit for creating drinks though so this does destroy any sense of tension in the gameplay. It makes it quite hard to actually fail the game, but I suppose with at least seven different endings in the game, it’ll be the story that’s more important than difficulty of gameplay. So how does Vallhalla stack up story wise?

Jill Doesn’t Give a Jack

When the objective of the game is not to save the world, but rather to become a part of it, Vallhalla engages you with its well-paced world building. You experience life in the middle of a depressing society and try to be as happy as you can, given the circumstances.

Segments of the game are split between Jill’s apartment, the shopping arcade and the bar. You’ll be able to find out more about Vallhalla’s world through conversations with patrons of the bar and a selection of news reports on your in-game tablet each day.

There are a few internet in-jokes hidden throughout the game, though that’s not the game’s schtick as dialogue is witty and fairly snappy considering the visual novel format. You’re constrained to three lines of text at a time, which isn’t the best way to read a novel.

Through Her Eyes

The world has its usual cyberpunk trappings, scaled down to the regular joe. Patrons discuss the philosophy of AI over synthesised whisky. Some regulars know each other but might not be aware of it.

There is a sense that all this characters inhabit the same city and are affected by the same events. From the perspective of the bartender, it’s great fun to have the whole picture laid out in your head as you progress in the game.

The game’s choice mechanics are incredibly well hidden especially in a game with branching paths and multiple endings. You might go through a single play-through and miss out on a whole cast of characters.

Be prepared for a whole lot of clicking and reading if you intend to play VA-11 HALL-A. It is at the end of the day, a visual novel game with some bartending gameplay thrown in.

Each character feels extremely well fleshed out, including the protagonist, Jill. If you’re not the type to enjoy visual novels or purely story driven games, will you like VA-11 HALL-A? I’m not so sure. It’s pretty out there for the casual gamer. If you like a good cyberpunk story, give it a shot.

Score: 7/10