VA-11 Hall-A

VA-11 Hall-A is a fun and casual simulation game where players become bartenders in a city bar, mixing various drinks for a steady stream of customers and witnessing their stories and secrets along the way. Players need to use different ingredients and ice to create delicious drinks based on customer orders. Of course, players can also ignore the orders and decide what drinks to serve. The customers' levels of intoxication will affect the dialogue in the story, allowing you to learn about their lives and personalities, thus unlocking different plot branches and endings.

System of VA-11 Hall-A:

If you just press start on the game start screen, you will immediately go to the main story, and you can see the prologue and Anna story by clicking the + at the 11:00 point on the start screen. The UI is divided into a part for conducting conversations and a unit for serving drinks (referred to as a machine that can make drinks by mixing ingredients with a few button presses in the game). Pressing the V key silences the reading sound of the chat window. You can bring up the menu screen by right-clicking the mouse, and there are game save, load, game settings, and jukebox (BGM change function) in the menu. You don't have to save-load to replay past conversations, as you can press Tab in the chat window or roll up the mouse wheel to view past scripts. You can also skip through conversations at high speed by pressing the Ctrl key.

At the end of each day, you receive an income, which varies depending on how well you fulfill your orders. You get 30% of the total beverage sales for the day as a base salary, a certain amount of tip, and a $500 perfect bonus if you properly serve all the requested drinks. The collected money can be used by moving from the room to the shop menu, most of which is spent on paying utility bills , and can also be spent on decorations that can be decorated in the room. When you go to your room after work every day, there are things you want to have to improve your concentration. If you have successfully paid your utility bills and bought things to improve your concentration on time, you can see a conversation window on the screen where you can see the recipe after the customer asks for a drink. The name of the alcohol ordered keeps popping up, but if you can't pay utility bills or don't buy something to improve your concentration, you'll have a lot of miscellaneous thoughts while working, so you have to memorize the name of the alcohol the customer orders before making it. It's not a big difficulty, but if you play casually passing through the chat window, you may be embarrassed. This is because once you enter the manufacturing screen, you cannot see the previous dialog again.

The jukebox is said to be unique in that it plays 12 songs in a set order (duplicate allowed). If you fill all 12 slots with one song, one challenge will be achieved.

The way to unlock the mobile phone (smartphone) that can be used in the room is to press and hold the lock-shaped circle. You can also save your game here.

There are a total of 6 endings, and whenever the conditions are satisfied, content is added in the form of an afterword after the ending, and you may have to make alcohol with a hidden recipe to see some endings. Also, even if the ending conditions are met, you still have to pay $10,000 in monthly rent on December 30, and if you can't pay the monthly rent, it will lead to a bad ending. It's not really a 'bad' ending in terms of content. Even if you make the same drink with easy-to-make sake and serve it over and over again, the store owner will catch you and the game will be over.

Characters of VA-11 Hall-A:

Much of the details of VA-11 Hall-A's world are not directly told to the player, but instead inferred through interacting with the characters. This is so the world is introduced in a more natural and believably human way, with each character contributing their own perspectives, "providing details that are just random or obscure enough to paint a believable picture." The characters have their own personal story routes in the game. The player character of the game is Jill (formerly named Gillian during development),the bartender at the eponymous VA-11 Hall-A dive bar in Glitch City. Jill is a young female bartender who chose to forego an offer to work at a research institute, instead finding herself to be better suited to the "field of alchemy" in mixing drinks for customers at a dive bar. The game eases the player into its gameplay by letting Jill practice making drinks every morning before she heads to work. The game contains a "colorful cast" of regulars at the bar, including "sex working robots, assassins, private detectives, and pop stars", with how the player serves them having lasting impacts on their lives.

Alma, described as a "Christmas Cake" by developer Ortiz, is a female hacker who is full of anecdotes about relationships and the consequences of following your dreams at the expense of loved ones.

Dorothy, an android sex worker. An "odd character", Ortiz described the different reactions players had to her as fun, since some strongly disliked her characterization in the game's prototype while others praised it.

Ingram McDougal, a grumpy and complaintive man.

Donovan D. Dawson, the chief editor and director of prominent news site "The Augmented Eye". He is straightforward, quite demanding, and a guy who knows what he wants.

Streaming-chan, a woman who streams herself 24/7, including her intimate moments.

Other characters in the game include Kim, a neurotic girl who is found passed out outside the bar one evening; Stella, a catgirl; Sei, one of the few pure-hearted and non-corrupt White Knights tasked with protecting Glitch City; KiraMiki, an android idol singer; as well as Deal and Betty, an android and veterinarian respectively, who work at a company whose majority of employees are "corgi dogs, fitted with voice boxes." Pete Davison of MoeGamer noted how some characters in the game ridicule or parody real-life themes. For example, the corgis have prejudiced, "even racist" tendencies, with the "disagreements between the different breeds of corgis who work at the company, and seeming resentment between some of the corgis and what they see as other types of dogs trying to take their jobs away from them" mirroring real-life discrimination between humans; Betty, meanwhile, has irrational and illogical resentment of human enhancement. Davison praised these characterizations as laying bare the "sheer ridiculousness of irrational prejudice." There are at least seven different endings in VA-11 Hall-A depending on how well the player gets to know the characters. To obtain these special endings for certain characters, the player must get that character's order right every time throughout the game's story. Eventually, the player gets to know a character well enough that they understand what they wish to drink in an exact moment, which leads to a "very personal experience" between the player and character.

Features of VA-11 Hall-A:

Atmospheric Storytelling with a Twist: VA-11 Hall-A offers a distinctive take on narrative-driven games, placing players in the shoes of Jill, a bartender at a small dive bar in a dystopian city. Rather than traditional action, the focus is on dialogue, choices, and mixing drinks for a colorful cast of patrons. The player experience centers on interacting with customers, learning their stories, and uncovering the world’s gritty realities through simple yet meaningful bartending mechanics.

Engaging Gameplay with a Focus on Choice: The core gameplay loop involves crafting cocktails based on customer requests and personality cues. Players reference a digital recipe guide to prepare drinks, with each concoction subtly influencing how much characters open up or how scenes unfold. Minor drink variations or crafting errors can lead to different story branches, giving scenes a replayable edge. Although the gameplay doesn't feature traditional action or puzzles, the drink-mixing system integrates cleverly with narrative progression.

Rich Character Development and World-Building: VA-11 Hall-A shines brightest in its writing. Characters are memorable and deeply human (or robot), ranging from hackers and pop stars to talking dogs. Conversations touch on personal struggles, societal issues, and philosophical musings, all painted against the backdrop of Glitch City’s oppressive regime. This narrative approach builds an immersive atmosphere that encourages players to linger over each interaction.

Striking Visual and Audio Presentation: The game’s visual style draws inspiration from classic Japanese adventure games, featuring pixel-art characters and backdrops infused with neon and shadow. The art direction amplifies the cyberpunk feel, enveloping players in the dark comfort of a rain-soaked metropolis. The soundtrack, filled with synthwave and chill electronic tracks, complements the late-night bar vibe perfectly. Together, the aesthetics and music foster a strong sense of place.

Player Comments of VA-11 Hall-A:

Played this game for the first time almost 10 years ago, forgot to leave a positive review.I have replayed it several times since then, it's a perfect read just before Christmas. I don't celebrate it personally, but it's a perfect excuse to replay this game.Very pleasing setting, atmosphere. Charming cast of characters that you can treat differently and see new interactions and dialogue. Insanely good soundtrack, Garoad recently posted a new album for the 10th anniversary, please check it out.I just adore this game and everything around it. It's a unique and memorable experience, by the time it ends I feel so attached to the characters and want to see them more.The sequel N1RV Ann-A is probably never coming out by this point, and I think that's okay. No need to milk this franchise if the writers don't feel like it anymore.

I got into this game late. As in, mere months ago late. Just in time for it to turn 10 years old, lol. But I also got this game exactly when I needed it. And maybe you need it, too.This game struck a very personal chord for me. Due to its cyberpunk setting and its implied high-octane-everything-is-happening-just-outside-the-bar nature, I expected the story to be some grand tragedy or the story of how Jill Stingray was secretly the most important person in the universe. Instead, I got exactly what I needed right now. A story about a queer woman whose life is falling apart as the world itself keeps moving, and how the only way to escape that pit of depression is to rely on the people you care about.I'm a trans woman (huge shocker) and I've screwed up a billion things in my life because I was too scared to just reach out for help. It's a fatal flaw of mine, I keep myself shut off emotionally and play the character of someone who seems like they have it all together, but in reality I can't sleep at night because I can't get over thoughts of "what if." I have pretty bad insomnia because of that.This game gave me a stupidly simple answer to that issue. One I've embraced before, mind you, I didn't get to age 22 unable to talk to people, but it's the answer I needed right now. "If you keep dwelling on your mistakes, you'll just keep making them." I'm not gonna spoil HOW the game tells you that, because I want you to buy this game, but believe me, IT TELLS YOU.Every character, every piece of dialogue, every joke, every sprite, is crafted with so much intent, you'll feel like you KNOW these characters. Sure, it's a cyberpunk hellscape outside, but in here? Well that's just your weird buddy Dorothy. Or your mortal enemy, streaming-chan.VA-11 Hall-A aka Valhalla is a game worth playing. If you are reading this review, sifting through the THOUSANDS of other positive reviews, wondering if it's worth buying, just get it already. This 10-year-old game feels like it came out yesterday. None of it feels outdated in any way that matters, it just feels human in a way that is sorely missed in so many other narrative-based games. Buy this game.

10/10 game the art style is amazing even after 10 years it looks great, all the characters are interesting and hearing about there lives draws you in. The main character Jill has a very good story and feels incredibly human its an amazing game a must play for people that like stuff like coffee talk and D1al-ouge. Cannot wait for the sequel :)

Summary:

VA-11 Hall-A game allows you to understand the life of a person. The game does not involve too much of everyone's worldview, but simply tells the lives of different people, the different worries or pleasures in such a world. The hostess is cold on the outside, soft and passionate on the inside, and gentle and delicate inside is all I feel about her. The bartender's phone lock screen, who doesn't seem to get along well, is a photo with the mysterious female boss, cute.