Spirit Talk - Cozy Visual Novel

A short, enjoyable game about solving problems of the living and the dead. [b]Would I recommend it? Yes [/b] Developers knew what story they wanted to tell through their game, and they’ve done it well. Yes, it’s a typical visual novel, but at the same time it’s a well-made game that encourages the player to reflect on their own relationships and feelings. ✅[list] [*] Colorful, cartoon-style graphics that is a real treat for the eyes and will stand the test of time. [*] Lo-fi soundtrack composed by Kevin MacLeod. [*] Well-made tutorial. Hints regarding spells are interwoven into the game’s story. [*] Story is very heartwarming. We help others, but in doing so we also help ourselves. I’d say it encourages us to reflect and appreciate what we have right now. [*] Game does a good job of portraying grief and how each of us deals with it differently after losing a loved one. [*] I like that at the start of each day we go to the shop and can chat with the NPCs we come across. All in all, it’s a rather well-executed part of the narrative; through these conversations, we learn more about town and the MC’s family. [*] Original mechanic of casting spells by brewing them. It is combined with some fairly simple (but not simplistic) puzzles. [*] Game has multiple endings, depending on how well you ‘brew’ spell recipes. [*] Achievements are easy to get. [/list] 😐 Game does not have an auto-save system and does not inform player about this. ❌[list] [*] MC’s reaction to the first spirit she summons (her deceased mother) is kinda disappointing. I was expecting something more emotional, but instead I got a cold, almost business-like meeting. [*] That said, it would be nice if the game had an option to skip dialogues. [*] Short. [/list]

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Spirit Talk is a 2-3 hour-long visual novel where you take the role of a young witch named Julia whose mother recently passed away. She re-opens her mother's shop, a place where they can summon the restless spirits of the recently-deceased, allowing them to communicate with their still-living family members and help resolve any unfinished business. Pros: - Lovely art style reminiscent of Ghibli cartoons - Music is relaxing - Conversations flowed well and dialogue felt realistic. - Text speed options and can instantly skip text too - Can view log of all conversations anytime. helpful if you forget which spell you need to cast. - Can save anytime during dialogue segments. Loading a save will return you immediately to that spot in the conversation, and you can store dozens of save files too. Cons: - Game is fully playable with a controller (I used a wired XBox 360 controller). But it takes more button presses than it should and feels iffy at times. Pressing left or right while walking will frequently highlight and unlighlight the menu button with a loud click. And anytime a new menu window appears, it starts with zero options highlighted. You must press a controller button to make the highlight appear. That means on the game's Main Menu, to "Start" (the first option), you have to press Down, then A on the controller. It's like the game assumes I'm playing with a mouse, and I have to remind it on each window that I'm using a controller. The directions on the spellcasting minigame menu are a bit obtuse with a controller sometimes too. For example, highlighting the Cosmo flower when cooking and pressing down will NOT move the cursor onto the cooking options panel, even though they're directly below the flower. - Using the controller's dpad to walk left and right through town sometimes doesn't work. Julia will move one frame forward and stop. Using the joystick works though. - The option highlighting in menus can be difficult to see. Highlighted option is cyan, non-highlighted is white. Relying solely on color differences like this isn't great for accessibility either. - The animations during the street-talking segments feel undercooked compared to the sit-down segments. Characters have conversations but their mouths don't move at all. Julia just stares directly ahead. - Cannot save during the spellcasting minigame unfortunately. YMMV: - The spellcasting minigame is very easy. Which I feel is fine for a lighthearted cozy game, but might feel underwhelming for those looking for deeper gameplay. - No branching paths. The only "choices" you can make in this game are 1) choosing slightly different small-talk dialogue options when interacting with your shopkeeper neighbors, and 2) flunking the spell-casting minigame where you must select the correct ingredients. According to the developer, #2 can result in "bad endings" for some of your clients. I guess you could consider this a "meaningful choice," but flunking an easy minigame imo is not on the same level as a choose-your-own-adventure visual novel. - This is a visual novel focused on several sets of characters trying to talk through their grief, very much like therapy sessions. It's a cozy and upbeat game in my opinion, but a game focused on such themes with lots of text may not be for everyone. Overall I had a great time with Spirit Talk and enjoyed playing a cozy visual novel that didn't have world-ending stakes. I enjoyed all the character interactions and found the writing well-done and endings satisfying.