• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

What is the best bar/Tavern/drinking establishment in a game?

Oddly enough, not really. Or at least, there's not any tavern's that I'd say were really memorable. I think it's partly because of the open world, there ends up being SO many taverns that they just kind of blur together. The music is still great though.

Witcher 1 & 2 have much more memorable taverns IMO. Just more atmospheric in general, and more interesting moments that occur within them

The New Narakort in particular is an Inn name I don't think I'll ever forget.

The New Narakort is awesome.
 

Griss

Member
Man, I hated the Gates of Hell in Bayonetta. Didn't feel like a real place, and didn't help that Rodin's voice was like nails on a chalkboard to me.

I liked the Lumpy Pumpkin in Skyward Sword. Liked the music and the characters there a lot. But...

The Stray Sheep in Catherine

This has to be the answer. Amazing setting.

It's been a seedy shithole for most of its life, but I miss the Lion's Pride in Goldshire (World of Warcraft). It was a warm and comforting first stop for a brand new adventurer sixteen years ago when everything in WoW seemed so large and impressive and so very far away.

Also, I was happy to find the "Cheers" bar in Fallout 4, but super sad that it was a scarifying rundown easter egg instead of a bustling pop-culture reference, as it would have been a favorite hangout/save point of mine for sure.

Yeah, real fond memories of the Lion's Pride. My first stop outside of Stormwind when the whole game (and the playerbase) was just finding its feet.
 

Jabba

Banned
The Star Wars Galaxies cantinas were awesome. There were entertainers dancing in rythym with one another, musicians all playing together as a band.

There was over 150 people a night, in the Mos Eisely cantina alone. Fights broke out, the works.

Later, on Flurry server, Theed Cantina near the huge starport on Naboo became the place to hang out. Mos Eisley didn't die out but Theed would exceed It eventually.
All this was before, iirc, Coronet city Corellia became the centerpoint for all travel and trade later on.

What a fucking game SWG was when it came out.

Anyone else hang out in the cantinas?
 

ExVicis

Member
The Stray Sheep in Catherine by far.

One of the only two openly explorable locations in the entire game, and it still worked fantastically. It's full of life and personality that returning to it after surviving by running from Nightmare Baby Chainsaw monsters was always satisfying.



Recettear is amazing, even if the artstyle isn't. The dialogue is great, too.

It can't not be the Stray Sheep. The Stray Sheep is almost perfect in conveying the relaxation and ease of a bar to allow you to recuperate after the tense life-or-death puzzles in the dream sequence. It has great calming music and is filled with so much to do but none of it pressing to do or even necessary for a game completion. Then you get to understand the protagonist more while he's there conversing with his friends. Just everything about it is handled so well.

Quite honestly every time I think of the Stray Sheep is makes me wish there was more bars where I live that were like that so I could go there an drink.
 

Xone9

Banned
the mass effect dancers were hot

asari-dancer-o.gif
 

Falchion

Member
Stray Sheep and Scuum Bar are up on my list.

For what its worth, the tavern in Dragon Age Inquisition is pretty comfy and the songs are enjoyable as well.

Just started this and I could use a comfy atmosphere.

Usually I think of some of the taverns in Skyrim even though none in particular stick out, just the cumulative memory of all of them.
 

higemaru

Member
Stray Sheep is the best answer imo.

My runner-up would be Lucky's Cafe in Last Window. There's an entire chapter that is just you and the barkeeper drinking and talking about life and it's one of my favorite parts in any game ever.
 
MusPi9l.png


I'd have to say Mac Devitt's pub in Broken Sword: Shadow of the Templars. Love the old world regional ambience of the place, clandestine conspiracies notwithstanding.
 

BabyDuck666

Neo Member
100 Rads in the original STALKER.

The real safe-haven of the zone, every other place felt aggressive or spooky. It has a really soothing music if I remember right.
 

IvorB

Member
The one that spung into my head was the tavern in Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance (don't recall the name) due the the music that played.
 

Seyavesh

Member
pocket d from city of heroes/villains, because pocket d profiles were the best
note: some of these not taken in pocket d and also warning for incredibly hilarious/stupid attempts at eroticism
 

striferser

Huge Nickleback Fan
Isn't there an anime game about running a tavern and selling stuff to travelers? Because that seems like it would be cool if it weren't anime.
Recettear?

It's more of a general store though. And it's awesome.

The Stray Sheep in Catherine by far.

Recettear is amazing, even if the artstyle isn't. The dialogue is great, too.
Yes, stray sheep is great.i love the atmosphere
 

gnexus

Member
I'm a bartender by trade, so this thread is very relevant to my interests.

That being said, The Stray Sheep in Catherine was very chill and relaxing. So much stuff to do, cool alcohol and beer facts, getting to know the other barflies. Such an awesome game.
 

RonnocTheRed

Neo Member
The Star Wars Galaxies cantinas were awesome. There were entertainers dancing in rythym with one another, musicians all playing together as a band.

There was over 150 people a night, in the Mos Eisely cantina alone. Fights broke out, the works.

Later, on Flurry server, Theed Cantina near the huge starport on Naboo became the place to hang out. Mos Eisley didn't die out but Theed would exceed It eventually.
All this was before, iirc, Coronet city Corellia became the centerpoint for all travel and trade later on.

What a fucking game SWG was when it came out.

Anyone else hang out in the cantinas?

Yep, came here to say this. In the early days of SWG, I spent so much time in the cantinas, playing music and just hanging out and socializing. Being a huge Star Wars fan and my previous mass social experiences on the internet mostly consisting of old AIM chat rooms, those cantinas were something dang near magical. I couldn't imagine spending that much time in something like that now, but they were perfect back then.
 

Speely

Banned
Pillars of Eternity. Should have been the first post!

xrhsW8K.png


Erol of Levi = Evilore...

Totally should have been! I got a big kick out of Bishop and "Erol of Levi." What's cool is that there are a couple of interesting quests associated with the G&F. :)
 
I really liked the Grim Guzzler in Blackrock Depths in WoW. One wrong move and you aggro the whole place, and there were various ways to use it as a shortcut relatively safely. My favorite instance at the time, it felt so huge with tons of shortcuts, secrets, and unique encounters.

Yup. That's how you build an MMO dungeon.
 

Jhoan

Member
The bar in Anarchy Reigns' menu screen that pans around to all the characters. The jazzy music theme that goes along with it so bad ass and chill. It looks like a cool place to get a drink with a bunch of bad ass cyborgs. It's definitely one of my favorites

The bar in Fantasy Life where Cervantes hangs out at. I mean it has an accordion playing furry creature and a great soundtrack accompanying it by Nobuo Uematsu. It's a nice, cozy place.

Galaxy of Terror for its unsettling vibe and vocal music playing in the background and Swery 65 bar for its rural, classy atmosphere to play darts at and have a few drinks after meeting eccentric characters. Both are from Deadly Premonition.

Milk Bar from The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask because it's located underground. Nothing like waiting out the end of the world by getting drunk drinking nutritious milk.
 

Saganator

Member
Red Dead was the only game I really went and hung out and did bar stuff in a bar. Got drunk, played cards, fought some dudes, stumbled out.
 
I really liked the Grim Guzzler in Blackrock Depths in WoW. One wrong move and you aggro the whole place, and there were various ways to use it as a shortcut relatively safely. My favorite instance at the time, it felt so huge with tons of shortcuts, secrets, and unique encounters.

This! I have one of those personal Mole Machines that takes you there any time you want and it's fantastic. Go grab some Sulfuron Slammers, wait for the band to arrive and rock out to some sick metal!

That's where me and my best WoW mate weathered out the Cataclysm right up to when the server went down and the sun set on the old Azeroth, good times...
 
It's been a seedy shithole for most of its life, but I miss the Lion's Pride in Goldshire (World of Warcraft). It was a warm and comforting first stop for a brand new adventurer eleven years ago when everything in WoW seemed so large and impressive and so very far away.

Yeah that was always a fun place especially when it was packed out with people, very weird and seedy at times though too I agree. The upstairs bedrooms were often occupied, a lot of orgies going on there lol.

I really liked the Grim Guzzler in Blackrock Depths in WoW. One wrong move and you aggro the whole place, and there were various ways to use it as a shortcut relatively safely. My favorite instance at the time, it felt so huge with tons of shortcuts, secrets, and unique encounters.

That is a kool tavern. I always hated that dungeon though, you could spend hours in that place. Although when they shortened it into a few smaller dungeons I did miss exploring the whole thing. It seemed too short.

See...you hate it until they take it away and then you miss it lol :).
 

Choomp

Banned
Yeah, the Stray Sheep is a really good answer. Place really had a nice vibe that successfully broke up the puzzle sequences and overall toned the game very well.
 
always love the clubs in Deus Ex series... The Hive is a pretty cool little part of the game in HR, but Lucky Money in DX had a pretty awesome dynamic, too. I'm pretty biased to any cyberpunk or sci-fi clubs though... all the bars in Shadowrun (SNES and Genesis)... Afterlife in ME2. etc

The Star Wars Galaxies cantinas were awesome. There were entertainers dancing in rythym with one another, musicians all playing together as a band.

There was over 150 people a night, in the Mos Eisely cantina alone. Fights broke out, the works.

Later, on Flurry server, Theed Cantina near the huge starport on Naboo became the place to hang out. Mos Eisley didn't die out but Theed would exceed It eventually.
All this was before, iirc, Coronet city Corellia became the centerpoint for all travel and trade later on.

What a fucking game SWG was when it came out.

Anyone else hang out in the cantinas?
In terms of a game bar actually being a bar, SWG is probably a strong candidate and likely "best" choice imo.

SWG in general had probably the best 'proximity community' in a MMO, meaning where people socialized when they were near one another in the game world rather than chat channels, and the bars were the best place for this. Hospitals were actually a pretty awesome social dynamic, at least for the 1st month before bots and macros, too.
 

Verelios

Member
Serena bar / Yakuza series

So many vital twists and memories are tied to this place. And it's real cozy.

The Stray Sheep in Catherine by far.

One of the only two openly explorable locations in the entire game, and it still worked fantastically. It's full of life and personality that returning to it after surviving by running from Nightmare Baby Chainsaw monsters was always satisfying.



Recettear is amazing, even if the artstyle isn't. The dialogue is great, too.

The Stray Sheep from Catherine.


This is the answer it seems, they really nailed the atmosphere. The images of the drinks are incredible, especially when ordering a beer.

Stray Sheep and Scuum Bar are up on my list.

For what its worth, the tavern in Dragon Age Inquisition is pretty comfy and the songs are enjoyable as well.

yup. was going to post this

stray sheep and any of the yakuza ones. love that shit

I don't drink, but I enjoyed the liquor trivia in The Stray Sheep (Catherine). Plus, it's also a pizzeria!
Yep, Stray Sheep without contest.
 

derwalde

Member
the_scumm_bar_by_monkdey-d5ojycv.png


The one closest to my heart is the Scumm Bar from The Secret of Monkey Island. (This was the only wide shot I could find, there are a few out of place / random sprites mixed in.)

But yeah, Stray Sheep from Catherine is maybe the best. Certainly one of the most fully-realized.

What is happening in the right bottom lol.
 
Top Bottom