VA-11 HALL-A: Cyberpunk Bartender Action, the booze em’up about waifus, technology, and post-dystopia life, is now serving players on Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4.
It’s 207X in Glitch City, a city boasting unparalleled technological advancements. However, residents suffer the effects of unethical nanomachine experiments and a corrupt government. To escape this sad reality, residents seek solace through android lovers, supersonic drone racing, or the bottom of a boozy glass.
Enter Jill, resident bartender at VA-11 HALL-A, Glitch City’s preeminent dive bar. She’ll pour drinks for a humanoid robot popstar, the editor-in-chief of a beloved magazine and his interns, law enforcement officials, and even a boy-crazy hacker. Meanwhile, they’ll pour out their souls.
In VA-11 HALL-A, characters react to drinks served, with customers’ level of inebriation affecting the flow of the story. Serving drinks that suit patrons’ tastes gets Jill tips to pay her bills, but dissatisfied patrons may leave her to drown in her own sorrows.
Players can choose electronic synthpop playlists for the jukebox, while a dark, pixelated anime art style frames the laidback experience, adding to VA-11 HALL-A’s immersive atmosphere.
“We wanted the bar itself to be as memorable as the colorful cast of cyberpunk characters, a place where hope exists amid a daily struggle,” said Christopher “Kiririn51” Ortiz, co-founder, Sukeban Games. “VA-11 HALL-A serves a narrative-driven experience about steering intimate conversations with strangers, so it was important to give it the right vibe.”
VA-11 HALL-A is available on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and Steam for $14.99 USD. It supports English and Japanese, with other localizations to be added to these versions later.
Physical editions for Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4, as well as a special Collector’s Edition boxset for Nintendo Switch, will be available from Limited Run later this year.
You can read oprainfall’s impressions of the PC and Vita release here.
