Va-11 Hal-A - Cyberpunk Bartender Simulator

This game is brilliant. I first became aware of it when people on my steam friends started playing it and then seeing it on Twitch and people talking about how great it is, I had to give it a try. This game you play as a bartender and you serve drinks and listen to your regulars or even one time customers talk about their lives. Sometimes they don't know what they want, other times you know exactly what they want and can make it without them ordering it. After awhile you can start mixing the recipes by heart. There is a story going on in the background but you're not directly involved in it. In fact the entire game takes place behind the bar counter and you only hear about it directly from the people telling you about it. Sometimes they talk about their lives, sometimes they talk about life in the dystopian city, and sometimes they talk to you about you. All the people you meet are characters in their own stories. You are just the bartender you don't get to play hero, or save the world.

You start off randomly in the life of Julianne, Jill for short, a 27 year old bartender working at Va-11 Hal-A along with your coworker Gil and boss Dana. Although you don't really see Gil working behind the bar. He's just sort of there, as is your boss. Sure you have Christmas parties at the bar and drink in your room with your coworkers and such but you mostly live a lonely life of work and sleep. As you play the game you learn more about your regulars and more about yourself and the world around you. The city is called Glitch City. A place of crime and corruption run by mega corporations. At the bar you meet the people who call this city their home. Here many species of people call this place home. The humans, the Lilium who are humanoid AI robots, super intelligent talking animals, brains in a jar, and cat boomers, people who undergo treatment of nanomachine rejection and undergo "catification."

The whole game really is about talking to people and learning their lives. A short list of some of the people you meet are as follows:

Alma - She's a hacker and probably the closest person you can call a friend. If you get evicted because you can't pay for rent she'll take you in to live with her. Has a large family of sisters and recently has problems with one of her sisters. If you ever have problems shes there to help and listen. She loves classy drinks and always asks for them.

Dorothy - Super bubbly, super energetic, super flirtatious. She's a Lilium prostitute who looks like a 10-13 year old girl. She along with Alma are your best friends and will always be there to help you out in a pinch. She's constantly talking about her sex life and making advances on any men or women around. She loves girly drinks.

Donovan D. Dawson - Mister Donovan as he like to be called is a very crude misogynistic man. He's the owner of The Augmented Eye, a news company. He likes to talk about the bitches working for him and how they're all hungry for a raise. Goes around chasing after big titted Lilims and openly talks about cheating on his wife, and claims she cheats just as much as him so its fine. He doesn't show up often but when he does he wants Beer and lots of it.

Betty and Deal - These two are inseparable. Both of them work at Seifar Toy Company, a company ran by talking dogs. Betty is the irritable and bitchy one of the two. She is a lesbian and never has a relationship longer than a week. Deal is a Lilium and he is is serious one of the two. They will always come together and complain about each other but at the end of the day they're still both best friends. Although Deal claims Betty is really sweet underneath her outward personality. Betty loves strong manly drinks while Deal doesn't like drinks with much alcohol, which Betty disapproves of and calls him a pussy.

Virgilio - A pompous buffoon who orders though cryptic descriptions rather than a name and you'll have to figure it out what he means. He is patronizing and almost completely insane when you first meet him. He loves weird shit so you don't really know what to mix for him most of the time but guessing.

Streaming-Chan - When she shows up words will fly across the screen and the music will change to her own theme song. She is super high energy and outgoing and most likely high on drugs all at the same time. She streams herself 24/7, even bath time and and sex time, but only for premium members for the low low price of $99.99! Premium members can even download a VR of her to have sex with! All for the low low price of $99.99. She is just as annoying as you can imagine but a nice change of pace from the regular patrons. She loves drinks with high amounts of alcohol so she can get wasted on stream.

There are a lot more people but this is just a small sample of the people you can meet in the game. Everyone has a story to tell and you're there to hear it all. You even have your own story going on and the people you treat nicely will be there to listen to your problems to sleep in your arms when you cry yourself to sleep. You start get emotionally attached to these people and you can make their drinks before they even ask for it.You perk up when you suddenly see someone you haven't seen walk though the door in a week and go I remember him!

There is however no other gameplay than the mediocre life of a bartender. Its not meant to be exciting but mundane. However they can somehow turn the mundane into something fun and for that it is brilliant. I never expected to have this much fun as a virtual bartender. However this game is a whole lot of reading and a whole lot of mixing drinks. If thats not your thing then this game isn't for you. Theres no combat, no shooting peoples heads off, just a single screen behind the bar counter and you make drinks. Thats it. One thing I want to add to this is that the music for this game is great. Its probably the best part of the game. There is a huge soundtrack for you to play on the jukebox in the bar and you can set it up every day and after every break period.