VGWriteReview: VA-11 HALL-A: Cyberpunk Bartender Action (Spoiler-Free)

VGWriteReview: VA-11 HALL-A: Cyberpunk Bartender Action

I recently finished VA-11 HALL-A and I have a lot to say about it. As a perfect, comfy world filled with mystery and a sense that everything is a little familiar, VA-11 HALL-A's cyberpunk future gives me the sense that the game had a lot of love poured into it, and in this article, I intend to go over what exactly makes it so special to me.

The Writing

Let's start off strong: since VA-11 HALL-A is a technically a visual novel, the writing is very important. VA-11 HALL-A is written better than your average visual novel, and much MUCH better than your worst visual novel. With Fernando Damas (@IronicLark on Twitter) behind the wheel as the writer/programmer, the game benefits from a perspective set deep in real internet culture and a strong relationship with the game's aesthetics.

Writing: 9/10

The Art

VA-11 HALL-A is pixel art, technically. That aside, it has a lot of care and love put into each and every frame. Each character has talk-sprites with many more frames than your average visual novel. On top of that, the cutscenes and in-between scenes are spot-on in the way that they use their art and aesthetic to express emotion. That being said, this is a writing blog and not an art blog so I will reserve the right to claim this section as being opinionated.

Art: 7.8/10

The Gameplay

It's a visual novel, so the gameplay isn't exactly Dark Souls. It consists of searching for recipes (which is very easy once you get used to it and you begin to memorize recipes) and mixing 5 different ingredients before serving them to guests. Pretty simple, no? Like I said, you're not going to get a whole lot of high-level gameplay out of a visual novel, but VA-11 HALL-A has more than your average VN.

Gameplay: 7/10 (Not enough data to determine a conclusive score)

Conclusion

VA-11 HALL-A strikes through the boring stagnation of typical visual novels to create a new, however experimental and short, experience that knocks it out of the park. It's a cheap, fun, easy experience that, while lacking gameplay like a lot of visual novels do, makes you feel good.

Comments

How the Borderlands Series Does Diversity Right

Borderlands (2009), Borderlands 2 (2012), and Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel (2014) are games known mainly for their combat and their humor, but there is a third aspect that goes unrecognized: its writing. There are two fantastic elements to the writing in the Borderlands series: the lore, and the characters. In this article we'll be talking about the latter: the characters and their diversity. The characters in Borderlands are some of the most diverse in modern gaming. From Sir (Alistair) Hammerlock, a disabled gay man who hates his older sister; Zer0, an assassin for hire whose true identity, species, even his name, is completely unknown; to Krieg, whose mental state is, well, unordinary. Hell, there's even an enemy class comprised entirely of "midgets." And yet, throughout the series, none of the gratuitous diversity feels out of place. In this day and age of shoehorning and pandering, how do they manage to do it right? First is the topic of visual storytelli...

How Splatoon's Dark Secrets Creates the Illusion of Lore [SPOILERS]

Splatoon. A game about squirt gun battles, right? Wrong. Or is it? Splatoon's sunken scrolls, the source of almost all of Splatoon's lore, is often passed up by the majority of the player base. These collectable scrolls document many things: the most notable of which is the possibility of Splatoon being set in a post-apocalyptic Earth. These scrolls make the writing really deep, right? That's how it works? Well, you're right. Or wrong. Or right? I'm confused. The truth is, really, is that these scrolls serve as nothing more than collectables, not writing. Instead, these collectables provide the illusion of a deep, immersive world. While the contents of the scrolls are dark, and even considered "deep," they are subjective. This fact means that the scrolls themselves only provide an idea of what Splatoon's lore might be. That isn't a bad thing, however. Splatoon's bright, bubbly, colorful aesthetic is the most iconic thi...

How Half-Life Creates a Hidden Multiverse [SPOILERS]

If you played Half-Life and Half-Life 2 without fully grasping the entire plot, I don't blame you. There's a lot to take in. Not the least of which is the massive multiverse in which the games take place. It's very easy to miss, but in fact both games' main antagonists come from elsewhere in this multiverse. In the first Half-Life, the main antagonist, the Nihilanth, is actually running from the main antagonist of Half-Life 2 during the events of the game. The Nihilanth is the last of its kind, hunted to extinction by the Combine, the antagonists of Half-Life 2. The Combine are essentially inter-dimensional conquerors whom enslave entire species and drain entire planets of their resources. Half-Life starts the series as a simple alien-themed FPS, but with the introduction of Half-Life 2 the series quickly evolves into a massive story about the inhabitants of Earth fighting back against inter-dimensional forces. The plot in these games are fairly subtle, probabl...

VG Write

Search This Blog