Espresso For The Demon Review by Amjara
Espresso for the Demon is a well written story that embraces romance, mystery, evil secrets and the occasional espresso.
The Story
You're a 17 year old girl that gets a job in a coffee shop alongside two companions, the outgoing, charismatic Frank and the quiet, observant Estr. The game is well written between the main three characters and as you get further into the game the characters seem to converse more freely together. The humor at times is great between Frank & Estr. The game has three potential love interests to pursue.
There is a dark undertone to the game, something evil and mysterious is going on. There are multiple endings (upon writing this review I have experienced 2 of them). And yes in one of the routes I experienced I believe I died (not entirely clear but it did end my game so a safe assumption).
The character developments are handled well. There is actual fleshing out to Frank and Estr and to some degree your character as the story progresses. The romance is light, and this is not an otome that is sexually graphic in nature. Some romantic scenes but nothing too spicy. The narrative focuses more on the relationship developing between the characters and not so much the physical. At least in the two endings I encountered.
Game-play & Features
The game has some good humour and I like the banter between the three main characters, Wisa, Frank & Estr. The humour between Frank and Estr at times is priceless. Overall the writing is well done. Some small spelling mistakes but nothing immersion breaking.
The game provides lots of save slots and you can hide the hud pressing H for taking screen-caps. Save often, but there is a rewind button or history button but in this game it is labelled as "return". I was late to notice this, thinking it would return me to the main menu (but in game the command acts as a rewind button).
The game is polished, no bugs or crashes.
Graphics & Sound
The game has beautiful artwork overall. I love the backgrounds, character art and the chibi's. The chibi's are really adorable! There is a gallery that collects the "special moments" artwork that you achieve as you play-though the game. And the special moments art is gorgeous. Find them under the Bonus section on the main menu!
There is no voice acting (which is either positive or negative depending on what you like in an otome). There are some ambient noises but mainly music. The music is well done for the majority of the game, a few spots l cranked the volume down to focus more on the narrative. Some of the tunes are really upbeat, almost like the tunes you hear in some western anime.
Overall Experience
This is the second game in a few months I have played from Vorobushek (the first was the early access title Bride of Darkness). Both of these games have surprisingly good writing and the first play through took me about two hours to get through. My second play-though was quicker due to being able to skip dialogue I had previously encountered in my first play-though. Both games I have really enjoyed. I plan on continuing this one to see the various endings. That is what an otome with good writing accomplishes, the desire to want to keep playing to see how the story plays out in multiple ways.
I enjoy all the characters and want to know more about our mysterious third romance option Dwayne. All I know is he is the "bad boy" of the crowd, literally. Call me curious. I mean I love the sensitive, soft types but finding out what makes the bad boy, bad, is always interesting.
The price point on Vorobushek's games are really a treat. Great writing and art and it is affordable for an otome. It has great replay-ability, good characters and the experience is equal to that of sitting down with a great novel to pass some time away. 💖
Otome Lovers wishes to thank Vorobushek for providing a free review copy for this game.
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