A Warm & Fulfilling Visual Novel: A Sunny Café Review

By Manuel

Players: 1
Platforms: Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, PC

Being a huge fan of visual novels, I couldn't help but get excited when I learned about the release of Sunny Café. A visual novel that centers on Taiwanese café culture isn't something you see every day, and it's rather amazing that we're getting it in the West at all. It's out now on the Switch, PS4, PS5, and PC, and we're going to be taking a look at the Switch version today. Was my excitement for the game justified? Just how deep do the coffee connections go? How does it compare to visual novels from Japan? Hopefully we're going to answer all those questions and more in the review! Let's dive into it!

There's such a great cast of characters here.

We never see Bowen's parents.

Sunny Café puts you in the shoes of Bowen Wu, the son of the owners of Café Origin. He currently lives alone as a student since his parents are currently travelling the world on coffee-related adventures. A series of chance encounters bring Kathy Gu into his life, and the two strike up a friendship. They both learn about each other’s hopes and dreams, and Kathy begins to hang around Café Origin in the hopes of repaying Bowen for his kindness. She's not alone in that though, as Bowen's friend, Alvin Zhang, also hangs around the café in his free time. You'll quickly learn that much of the game takes place within the confines of the café, but this is by no means a limitation. Besides the already mentioned trio you'll meet Kathy's friend Angela He, social media influencer Bella Chen, and the other workers at the café. Though the story obviously leans towards the romantic, there's quite a lot going in all of their lives. Bowen wishes to have a café of his own, Kathy longs to study abroad and become a translator, Bella Chen may have a crush on Bowen, and café employee Leila Guo seems interested in him too. Everyone has their own part to play in the story, and all the characters are very fleshed out and nuanced. There's a lot of drama and character interaction to be had, but there's a very cozy, slice-of-life vibe to everything. It may sound like I'm avoiding discussing where the plot goes from the initial set-up, but that's mainly because it doesn't exactly have a strong focus. There's the feeling of capturing a brief moment in time where everyone's lives still seem ahead of them, but I can't really explain Sunny Café's plot in a few sentences. While I can't really find the words to describe in better detail than what I already have, I can say that it does tell quite the unforgettable story in its relatively short runtime. I'll get to some issues I had later in the review, but I will say now that most players will probably grow to love the characters as much as I did over the course of the game.

Alvin Zhang is great though.

Bella Chen is a non-annoying influencer.

Fans of visual novels might be thrown for a loop when playing Sunny Café, as it really doesn't feel like anything else in the genre. Maybe there's an entire Taiwanese scene of games like this out there, but as someone who's pretty much exclusively played Japanese-made visual novels, it feels like almost like a genre onto itself. Right off the bat there's the aforementioned slice-of-life pacing you get throughout the experience. You'll find this type of writing and storytelling Japanese visual novels too of course, but the way the story is told in Sunny Café feels like it was being adapted from a TV drama. That statement is really hard to explain for those not familiar with those types of shows, but those that are will probably understand what I mean. Nothing ever feels too urgent, and the plot points that feel a bit more serious come when you're not really expecting them. There are choices you can make throughout the course of the game like in any other game of this type, but only a few actually alter anything noteworthy. These choices also come off as very random since it can be hard to tell which choices are the "correct" ones for any given scene due to their very vague descriptions. Another aspect that is sure to surprise visual novels fans has to be the game's setting. Being set in Taiwan, and focusing heavily on Taiwanese café culture, many players will probably be experiencing the setting for the first time. Interpersonal relationship quirks, work culture, and even character tropes are not what one normally sees in Japanese visual novels. All this makes for a truly unique gameplay experience that's only slightly marred by how it's somewhat unpolished presentation. While I do give the translators a lot of credit for bringing us the game in a very readable and relatable state, I must point out that some editing could've helped out greatly. Parts of the story drag on and on, and there were more than a few scenes where I was just mashing the button to get through them. There's also several typos and grammatical errors throughout the script. In spite of all this, the game's charm kept me from ever judging it too harshly.

This pattern haunts me still.

I don't know a thing about coffee by the way.

Another gameplay addition that sets Sunny Café apart from other games is its focus on coffee making. At several points in the game you'll be tasked with making coffee for your friends and co-workers. This usually starts by picking the particular coffee that suits their taste, then going through a series of minigames to actually make the coffee. Those involving simply measuring and grinding the beans are the easiest, but the hardest have to be where you're meant to pour water through a filter in a specific pattern. I found that these are practically impossible to do without a touch controls, especially when you're tasked with the petal-shaped pour pattern. I have no idea how players on platforms other than the Switch are meant to get through these sections, but each time one came up I'd take my Switch out of the dock and use the touch screen to get past them. Minor advantage aside, I'd still mess up a few times. Thankfully you're able to restart most of the minigames at any time, but that petal-shaped pour haunts my dreams. After getting through pouring, figuring out grinding settings through scribbled notes, or even playing a card matching game, you're graded on how well you made the coffee. This determines how the character you're giving the coffee will react, but I don't think these sections have a lot of effect on the way the game plays out. Also, there are several randomly placed coffee-related items you can click on to get some background notes, but these are mainly for in-game collecting purposes. I flip-flopped between loving and hating the coffee making mechanic, and part of me thinks that the developers did too. Even though it does happen once or twice in every chapter, several of the scenes felt like afterthoughts. While I wasn't expecting a true café management simulator, I guess I would've appreciated it if the coffee making elements were better integrated into the overall gameplay experience.

Since story is where it's really at in visual novels, I want to reiterate that I feel that Sunny Café gets it right for the most part. All the issues I had with the pacing were pretty much wiped away once I got the end of the game. It didn't quite wrap up in the ways I was hoping it would, but it was very true to the characters themselves, and the overall themes. There was a bittersweet feeling as I watched the credits roll, but I felt mostly satisfied. I did find that I wanted to go back into the world of Sunny Café and see what happened next, but I had to make do with what I was given. It's something that's hard to describe, but it felt very much like finishing a really great show and having to move on with life knowing that you're most likely never going to visit these characters again. I mentioned it earlier, but I can't help but feel that Sunny Café managed to get the idea of drama in video game form correct. There's no weird anime-esque plot contrivances to spoil the mood, the story moves at what feels like a snail's pace, time skips are common, and it even wraps up in way that ties up all the loose ends, but somehow leaves you wanting more. When I was done with the game I suddenly didn't care that there were parts of it I practically skipped, or that I tried to rush through the coffee making segments, I was just glad that I had experienced the game for what it was.

An example of an in-game choice.

Fun with everyone.

Visuals are one of the stronger aspects of Sunny Café, but they aren't without some odd issues. First off, I have to say that all the character and background designs look great and have a lot of detail and originality to them. You'll spend a lot of time in Café Origin, but I was especially impressed by how different the game's other settings were. The mall, the other cafes, the amusement park, and even the haunted house all stood out and didn't have the generic feel that can plague non-AAA visual novels. The attention to detail is even more impressive when you realize that these other locations are usually only used for a scene or two. Settings aside, there wasn't a single character that I didn't love the design of. Each of them even have different outfits that they'll cycle through during the course of the game, and they all have a range of emotions that show how they're currently feeling. I do wish that there were more CG image scenes, as they felt too few for a game like this, but perhaps that's an issue only I'd notice. Speaking of things that might only be a problem to me, I did think that some of the character illustrations felt off at times. While everything looked very well-done for the most part, there were some characters who had images that felt like they came out of a "How to Draw Anime" book. This was most notable with some illustrations involving Bella Chen and Angela He, but I caught vibes of it here and there elsewhere. None of this was really anything worth complaining about for too long though, and I felt that there were lots of other small touches that kept me from ever truly feeling that the game was losing points for its visuals.

I have to preface my discussion on the game's sound by saying that I'd be giving it a perfect score if I felt that the game was mixed properly. There were times when I could barely hear what the characters were saying, and I would have to actively mess with the in-game audio settings to make everything sound correct. It's not even that things were just quiet, it seemed to be a dynamic thing, as voice/music volume would go up and down as scenes played out. Also, I played this game in both docked and handheld modes (on the Switch of course), so I can say with surety that this was an issue all around. Most people might not notice this since the game is fully in Chinese, but I wanted to hear the voice acting since it's rather rare that I play a game that is in that language. That minor annoyance aside, I have to say that everything in the audio department is perfect. The voice acting is spot on, and the soundtrack is far above what you'd expect for a visual novel. It's not standard visual novel type music, and there are some tracks that are still stuck in my head even as I write this review. I did find it odd that there weren't any vocal tracks to open or close the game, but what we did get was great nonetheless. Even the sound effects were perfect, as the sounds of grinding and pouring coffee makes one feel like they're actually getting hands on with the process. The fact that I think the sound is practically perfect otherwise makes the entire mixing issue the more troublesome. Maybe a patch can fix it, though I really don't see that happening post-release.

This looks like another game, doesn't it?

Truer words were never spoken.

While I do feel that Sunny Café offers a rather fulfilling story, I have to admit that it's a pretty short experience overall. There are a handful of optional scenes, dialogue, and missable moments here and there, but you'll easily reach the end of the game in about four hours or so. I went into the game thinking that it would have different romance options, and while it does offer slightly different endings depending on how you play the game, there's only really one story it has to tell. This isn't a bad thing of course, since it does a good job with the tale it wants to put forth, but it might be a bit of a disappointment for those probably wondering what it would be like if Bowen chose to woo Angela instead. At about five hours in the game, still not having mastered the petal-shaped pour by the way, I'm confident in saying that I've cleared the game fully. Just like watching a great show or movie, there isn't a lot of reason to go back to the game other than to experience its story again. With this in mind, I think it's priced perfectly at 14.99. It's actually currently on sale at the time of writing, and it definitely offers enough content to justify its price. I may have found myself wishing it had more branches in its story, but I guess I can say that the story it does tell is one that'll stick with me for quite a while.

Don't leave things unsaid!

A nice moment with Kathy.

It probably comes as no surprise that I give Sunny Café the highest of recommendations. I had some issues with the coffee making gameplay elements, and there were more than a few presentation issues, but this is one of the better visual novels I've played in recent memory. It's worth picking up just for the fact that it tells a story that has a decent amount of Taiwanese cultural elements in it. If you're a fan of the genre, you owe it to yourself to grab it on whatever platform you can. It may be paced a bit differently than other similar games, but if you find yourself enjoying the story, then maybe you can get into the world of dramas next. That's a topic for another day. Anyway, get out there and help Kathy Gu get out of the rain already!

Check Out Sunny Café on Nintendo Switch:
https://www.nintendo.com/us/store/products/sunny-cafe-switch/

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Story: A-
Gameplay: B
Graphics: A
Music/Sound: A
Value: A

Overall: A-

Pros:
+ Adds lots of unique gameplay elements to the standard visual novel.
+ The setting and focus on Taiwanese cafe culture make for an experience not often seen translated for western release.
+ Each of the characters feel well-written and fleshed out, with the story is one of the best I've experienced within the genre.
+ Though they can be a bit hit or miss, the coffee making segments do break up the standard gameplay.
+ Great visuals, music, and voice acting make this feel far above its indie status.
+ Feels like a TV drama done in video game form, and I mean that in the best way possible.

Cons:
- The slow pacing might have been helped with different writing or editing.
- There are many typos and grammatical errors throughout the game's script.
- Some of the coffee making mechanics, especially the water pouring ones, come off as rather unfair.
- There aren't many story branches to experience, limiting the game's replayability.
- The sound mix seems very off, with the character voices getting louder and quieter for no apparent reason.

A copy of this game was provided to us free-of-charge by the publisher for the purpose of this review. This did not affect our review in any way.

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I really love this game!