Tavern Talk by Gentle Troll Entertainment
The “cozy game” phenomenon is a fascinating one. More about a vibe and less about a particular genre, it’s a movement that reveals an entire audience looking for games that leave them feeling warm and fuzzy as opposed to tense and full of adrenaline.
Visual novels seem particularly well-suited to this given their inherently passive nature. Enter Tavern Talk, a self-described “cozy visual novel about running a tavern in a D&D-inspired fantasy” where you serve drinks to high fantasy adventurers.
Is it a natural 20? Or a critical miss?
Twilight Tavern
As a (seemingly) nameless innkeeper in the land of Asteria, your job is anything but simple. Between posting up quests on the local board and trying to pry drink orders out of chatty adventurers, everyone comes to you to talk about their problems. Thankfully, you’re the patient sort.
A visual novel through and through, Tavern Talk’s appeal hinges on its writing and characters. Thankfully, these are easily its strong suits. The dialogue between the denizens of Asteria is charming and funny without leaning too hard into obvious tropes or being snarky about its own influences, creating something that feels refreshingly earnest in this day and age.
The customers who pass through your tavern are equally charming. Between colorful characters like the plucky but self-doubting elf Fable, stoic but warm humanoid wolf Caerlin, or the “dynamic” duo of surly dwarf blacksmith Rhea and gleefully oblivious vampire Kyle, this is a cast tailor-made to worm their way into your hearts.
There’s also some genuine tension and drama that arises in the story related to the innkeeper themselves, but I dare not spoil it.
Adventurers, Heroes, Brothers
It’s worth noting too that Tavern Talk does try to mix up the visual novel formula with its gameplay. After all, what’s a tavern for if not serving drinks?
Between their conversations, your customers will request drinks with specific properties, leading you to your bar behind the counter where you begin mixing. Your recipe book gradually grows throughout the game, eventually having you combine stat-boosting garnishes along with the different potions.
Sometimes customers can’t decide on an approach to their upcoming quest, leaving you to choose a drink for them (and affecting the story’s progress).
It’s a neat system that evokes VA-11 Hall-A, but I did find the lack of variation in the orders and combinations of ingredients dragged the game’s pacing down at times. If nothing else, being able to auto-mix combinations you’ve made before would be a welcome improvement.
Similarly, the rumors you collect from patrons can be combined to make quests, but the game essentially tells you when this needs to be done, and I personally would’ve preferred a bit more open possibility with this system. What I’m saying is I personally wanted more RPG elements in this game based on RPGs, but I also respect that this wasn’t the developers’ goal.
The Verdict:
Gripes aside, Tavern Talk absolutely accomplishes its goal of being a comfortable, charming game laden with beloved fantasy trappings. If character interactions are your favorite part of fantasy stories, you owe it to yourself to play this.
Tavern Talk is available via the Nintendo Game Store and Steam.
Watch the trailer for Tavern Talk below:
