We should talk. review

We should talk. is set in a lounge-type bar where players, as an unnamed character, have to entertain conversations with 4 people: your girlfriend via text messaging, the bartender, an ex-boyfriend, and a stranger trying to flirt. Players control the conversations with various sentences and depending on the choices made, the conversations can end on a good note or negatively.

We should talk. is a visual novel game where the core gameplay of it is basically having conversations by selecting various pre-set answers. Depending on the answer selected, the character will reply (most of the time) accordingly. What sets We should talk. apart from most visual novel games is that instead of selecting pre-set sentences, in this game you can create your own answers as you can select from pre-set terms to create a full sentence/answer. This gives players a bit more leeway in terms of conversational choices.

Unfortunately, the developers didn’t really think out answers for all possible player-generated answers. Early on, when conversing with the bartender, a possible answer involves mentioning that your girlfriend is under stress; while an alternative to that is saying that her work is complicated. If you choose complicated as your answer, the NPC still answers the same thing as if you would say that your girlfriend’s work is stressful. Had they built a better answer tailored to the complicated job, it could’ve opened up an additional conversational branch path. This type of issue occurs a few times throughout the game.

Additionally, unlike most Visual novel games, We should talk. is missing a fast forward button. Usually, visual novel games will feature a fast forward button once you’ve finished it once. The button allows players to blaze through texts and conversations that were previously experienced in the first playthrough. The lack of a fast forward button can easily have players make small mistakes that end up having the same path and ending twice or more depending on how many times you’ll play through it.

The game looks great. Each character is uniquely designed and despite being set in a dark-ish lounge bar, the game is bright and colorful. Characters do look a bit on the cartoonish side, which can be reminiscent of Xbox Avatars. The soundtrack is a nice chilling, relaxing lounge-y score that complements the setting and premise very well.

We should talk. is definitely an interesting entry in the visual novel genre. While the main concept remains untouched, the fact that each answer can be created based on a variety of words opens up the door for a more realistic feel of control over the path and end of the game. Even though some answers don’t fully match your selected answers, We should talk. is one of the most enjoyable and entertaining visual novels I’ve had the chance of playing. If you’re a fan of the genre, or hell even a newcomer to the genre, We should talk. is a must-play.