"They say our coffee's to die for."
Necrobarista is a stylized 3D visual novel for PC, released on July 22, 2020 as well as for Nintendo Switch on August 12, 2021. It was developed by Route 59, and co-published by Route 59, Coconut Island Games, and PLAYISM. The Final Pour update was released in September 30, 2021, adding a new side story and extras such as a Studio Mode.
In a back-alley cafe known as The Terminal, the dead are granted one last night to mingle with the living. Necrobarista follows a dynamic and diverse cast of characters as they navigate Melbourne's hipstery coffee culture, the questionable ethics of necromancy, and the process of letting go.
Tropes:
- Afterlife Express: The Terminal is located on what looks like an abandoned train station, and people leave it by transporting through the gate outside. In the final chapter, there's a train car that takes Chay to his grave so he can finally go to the afterlife.
- Animesque: The game was developed in Australia, and official description states that the visual style is "drawn from anime aesthetics".
- Anti-Frustration Features: Upon completing the story, the game will automatically give you enough symbols to unlock all unread side stories, saving you the trouble of scouring every scene for the appropriate keywords.
- Brick Joke: In an early scene, Chay suggests to Maddy that they put more plants around the cafe. She follows through on this in the epilogue.
- Drop-In Character:
- Ashley is a 13-year old Gadgeteer Genius who's always hanging about at the cafe and is practically a junior employee there. She uses the cafe as a testing ground for her latest murder machines.
- Ned works for the Council of Death and it's his job to check on Maddy and the Terminal, and fills the role of obnoxious landlord to her. Though Maddy hates the Council and therefore isn't too kind to him, he comes by often to hang out with the old owner, Chay.
- Fight Clubbing: The Terminal has one in the basement. For the safety of the living, they're only allowed to use prop weapons.
- Five-Finger Fillet: Turns out Maddy is really good at Five-Finger Fillet, and she uses it to take bets with spirits to gamble for time for her debt problem, but Chay shuts her down since he feels she's tricking them out of time.
- Gargle Blaster: Supposedly, a bottled soul is as strong as 400-proof alcohol.
- HA HA HA—No: Maddy has this reaction when Tuan and Hannah, both underage, ask for a sip of the spiritually enhanced alcohol they tried to steal.
- Historical Domain Character: Australian folk hero Ned Kelly works as Maddy's contact for the Council of Death.
- Inn Between the Worlds: The Terminal is a place where both the living and the recently dead can interact with each other, and acts as the last stop before the afterlife.
- Keywords Conversation: Some of the words that characters say are highlighted and can be clicked on, such as "Bureaucracy" and "Icarus". At the end of the chapter, the player can select a handful of them, turning them into symbols that can be used to unlock various side stories.
- Life Drinker: Discussed. The Council frowns upon stealing life force from other humans for obvious reasons, but also the reason people don't try taking life force from plants or animals is that their life force is "tainted" and feels unnatural. Maddy has been trying to use necromancy to steal life force from a tree.
- Living on Borrowed Time: The Terminal grants the recently-deceased 24 final hours of time to interact with the world of the living, whether it be to talk about last regrets or just enjoy one last drink. Any longer than that, and their soul starts to dissipate. However, time in the mortal coil can be given or taken, and the Council of Death demands equal exchange for the sake of balance. As a matter of fact, Maddy's cafe is deep in time debt from letting people stay longer one too many times.
- Necromancy: Explicitly practiced by The Terminal, and the moral implications are discussed. Maddy has been trying to use necromancy to revive Chay with a massive amount of life force stored in a tree.
- Non-Human Head: Ned looks like Commander Video's head stuck on a human body. It's supposed to resemble his iconic helmet
. - Psycho Knife Nut: Ashley like to throw knives. Sharp kitchen knives. And she'll reflexively throw it at people when frightened.
- Reformed Criminal: The dozens of years Ned spent working for the Council of Death straightened him out and he's put his past as an outlaw behind him. Though he brushes off Maddy's antagonism towards him all the time, the one time she mocks him about his killer career hits a sour spot on him.
- Scary Shiny Glasses: How Maddy appears at the end of this trailer.
- Shout-Out: Chay mentions Maddy briefly got into wrestling after the Red Comet visited the cafe one time.
