eyeball_kid
Member
I'm surprised that people are finishing this so fast. Just how short is this VN?
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VA-11 HALL-A: Cyberpunk Bartender Action |OT| Do Androids Drink To Electric Beats?
- Thread starter Moonlight
- Start date
8-9 hours. It's not short for a VN on the whole. Not long either.
E_Darkness
Member
I've got 12 on the clock.
Took me around 6 hours to get through it the first time with most of the endings. I actually spent my time enjoying everything, but people accuse me of being a speedrunner :v
Took me about 12~ hours looking at my Steam time. Length felt juuuust right.
eyeball_kid
Member
Thanks, 12 sounds more like what I would expect, though I tend to be as slow at interactive fiction as I am at reading books.
Danny Dudekisser
I paid good money for this Dynex!
I finished the game today. Wow, that was really way better than I'd expected. Great game overall, and the visuals and music were absolutely impeccable.
This game is also, as far as I'm concerned, the model for how to incorporate gay/lesbian characters into a game. Here, it's a part of who a given character is, and it's relevant. It feels like a natural part of conversation. I shake my head when the devs for something like Dishonored 2 brag about having prominent LGBT characters in their game, like they're on a mission to do anything other than check a few boxes and score points with people on message boards. So, hats off to Sukeban.
Anyway, now to discover what's in New Game+. And I'm also curious how I unlock the rest of the music. I only got like... 2 of the ??? songs in my first playthrough. I gotta hear it all.
This game is also, as far as I'm concerned, the model for how to incorporate gay/lesbian characters into a game. Here, it's a part of who a given character is, and it's relevant. It feels like a natural part of conversation. I shake my head when the devs for something like Dishonored 2 brag about having prominent LGBT characters in their game, like they're on a mission to do anything other than check a few boxes and score points with people on message boards. So, hats off to Sukeban.
Anyway, now to discover what's in New Game+. And I'm also curious how I unlock the rest of the music. I only got like... 2 of the ??? songs in my first playthrough. I gotta hear it all.
RecRoulette
Member
Whoever did the writing for the game is either a wrestling fan or used to be one and it shows. That was an awesome surprise.
E_Darkness
Member
I'm glad Jill knows nothing about wrestling and perfectly understood how I felt.
eyeball_kid
Member
I read a proper review of this somewhere and didn't realize before that there are no dialogue choices; the branching paths are only determined by your bartender duties. A bit disappointed by that, but will probably still pick up. And probably pick it up full price because the team is from Venezuela and I think far-flung studios like that should be supported and encouraged.
While I think some of that is intentional (especially Gillian,) did you get all the endings? There's "stuff" in the lead up to and the endings themselves that clarified enough for me personally, but I like things that take place peripherally to big events like the bank.
afreaknamedpete
Member
I really hope this game gets more exposure, since Steamspy doesn't really suggest it sold very well and the devs probably need all the money they can get. It's probably the best anime-style VN I've ever played and isn't as stupidly long as some other VNs are and ends just when it needs to. I'd love a sequel but I think the story as it stands is complete and would like to see what else this team can make.
jediyoshi
Member
Don't the endings stack depending on how you did?
afreaknamedpete
Member
Yeah, with the exception of the bad ending which just cancels the rest.
Yeah, the endings stack thankfully. Some of the endings are triggers for other endings too iirc. There's a spreadsheet in one of the guides up on steam that has all the "right" drinks listed out. If you miss any text or whatever, you can also scroll up using the middle mouse button, and Q W E R T Y for fast drink pouring as mentioned earlier in the thread. Makes things a lot more convenient.
I would really recommend playing it through again. Saying this as someone who didn't even super duper love the game.
I would really recommend playing it through again. Saying this as someone who didn't even super duper love the game.
Is there really no quicksave feature in this game? I just accidentally skipped a bunch of dialogue and it was really frustrating not being able to load a save without going back all the way to the beginning of the day. Or knowing that if something comes up in real life I can't even save my spot, I have to keep it running.
ColossalLazy
Member
How much I am missing by playing this without having played the Prologue?
E_Darkness
Member
Prologue isn't important as it is referenced enough, but play the demo.
ColossalLazy
Member
eyeball_kid
Member
Wait, there's no save feature in this at all? Like, you have to straight up leave the game running in the background? What the heck
On the fly? No. Just between days and between breaks.
eyeball_kid
Member
Ah ok, that's fine then, as long as there's reasonable places to stop and quit.
Is the demo being suggested for narrative reasons, or just because it's different content?
E_Darkness
Member
Narrative. There's an entire character that won't make much sense without it.
Both. The demo takes place right before the start of the main game. The events in the demo gets referenced in the main game as well. The demo is free to play on their itch.io site.
I just bought Read Only Memories, myself. That's on sale right now and is apparently set before and in the same world as VA-11 with some of its characters appearing in VA-11 as well. Pretty sure
Dana is the female cop
Azure Phoenix
Member
Just finished getting the last achievement for VA-11, Focus glitched for me on the first playthrough so I had to do a quick second run on a save file with all shop items bought to trigger it. Overall I really enjoyed my time with the game, it would have been nice to get a bit more closure on the ton of loose threads rather than the few characters that were handpicked to get endings, but since it leaves the path open for a sequel one day I don't mind that much.
Is anyone still gushing about the soundtrack? Because I want to gush about the soundtrack.
I love electronica, and some of the tracks in the game wouldn't be out of place if it's dropped in a tech-house/techno DJ set. I even try to "build" the jukebox playlist so it works precisely like a tech-house set. It's a shame there's only fade out/fade in between tracks, it would've been amazing to hear the entirety of the playlist if the tracks were arranged and mixed just in the right order.
I forgot to screenshot my playlist, I'll probably do so later on, but I'm interested to see what other people's Jill like to play in their Vallhalla jukebox.
I love electronica, and some of the tracks in the game wouldn't be out of place if it's dropped in a tech-house/techno DJ set. I even try to "build" the jukebox playlist so it works precisely like a tech-house set. It's a shame there's only fade out/fade in between tracks, it would've been amazing to hear the entirety of the playlist if the tracks were arranged and mixed just in the right order.
I forgot to screenshot my playlist, I'll probably do so later on, but I'm interested to see what other people's Jill like to play in their Vallhalla jukebox.
Danny Dudekisser
I paid good money for this Dynex!
So, I always played the game at night, and when I started playing, I'd usually throw in the more upbeat or aggressive songs. Good for Health, Bad For... is fucking killer, as is Base of the Titans. After I've been playing for a while and it's late, I'll switch to the more downbeat stuff. Meet the Staff is maybe my favorite song in the whole game.
Yes, Base of the Titans is definitely a killer tune. I normally put this in the second half, right after March of the White Knights, which is a great peaktime tune. Good for Health.. is great as well, I placed this last, although this can work as a followup for Base of the Titans to keep the energy rolling.
In my tracklist above I love going from Those who Dwell, to Synthestich, to Digital Drive, followed by Skyline to take it down for a size before building it up again with Follow the Trail, etc.
I haven't unlocked the full Jukebox tracklist since I am only at the first hour currently, but I'm looking forward to create a new tracklist once Jill can afford to buy new tracks.
Also, Donovan lying down the law:
Grim Patron
Member
So I just finished it. SO GOOD.
also I literally only had Every Day is Night in the jukebox. ALL DAY ALL NIGHT. NEED THIS ON VINYL.
Edit: got the good endeing on the first attempt. I nearly didn't make enough for the rent lol.
Danny Dudekisser
I paid good money for this Dynex!
Every Day is Night starts out making you think it's just going to be kinda mediocre, but then it throws it the fuck DOWN with that sax.
Danny Dudekisser
I paid good money for this Dynex!
So... there's nothing out there like this, right? I mean, short of just getting into PC-98 games? I need more of this aesthetic.
Grim Patron
Member
you know it.
THERE IS.
When I got that achievement, I knew this was going to be something I really really liked heh.
Is there a guide for allthe endings? I want to get the others after the
good
Coreda
Member
The Prologue can be thought of as a different, original chapter that introduces certain characters and events that are referenced in the main game. It's not a demo per se.
There is an actual, separate demo version which fleshes out one of the characters in the main game and can be played if you're interested.
So really there are three parts to the game in an odd kind of way. I'd play the Prologue first at least. @ Moonlight it might be a good question for the FAQ actually.
LordGorchnik
Member
Just finished this. Absolutely fantastic. I want to see a complete version come out that includes the Prologue, demo, and main game all wrapped up into one.
And while it does end too fast I feel it ended on a pretty good note. Assuming you get the good end.
EDIT: Also, whats the name of the song that plays during the credits?
And while it does end too fast I feel it ended on a pretty good note. Assuming you get the good end.
EDIT: Also, whats the name of the song that plays during the credits?
killatopak
Member
Will buy on vita.
WaterAstro
Member
I want an avatar of "Fore" but the only ingame shot of him is really hard to work with.
It's just black on almost black.
It's just black on almost black.
WaterAstro
Member
Uh nope. It's not a dark mystery story. No violence. It's fairly light-hearted.
It's a character study, relationships, and an interesting take on some cyberpunk elements.
