(I have to admit that I've always wanted to start a review like this, but now I'll get to the usual. XD)

Tavern Talk is a cozy, relaxing visual novel with magical potion-making elements developed and published by Gentle Troll Entertainment. You take on the role of the Innkeeper (whose gender pronouns can be decided) who runs a tavern. As travelers drop by for a drink and/or pick up a quest, you engage in friendly talk with them. In regards to the potions, they aren't your usual liquid refreshments. As they're magically infused, they can determine the fate of the traveler, and especially, if they embark on a quest, whether that quest ends up being successful. Other have noted this, and it would be amiss of me to leave this out, but Tavern Talk is like Coffee Talk in a medieval fantasy setting. You serve customers, hand out quests, and perhaps in the process, help to save the world from the big, bad villain. However, I'll stop my synopsis here to avoid the usual spoilers and all that. ^^

With the gameplay, there are the usual choices presented, like in visual novels. They can influence how well you get along with the various travelers who frequent the tavern. You can also assemble quests by listening to the various rumors that travelers will give you, and once the quests are assembled, you can put them on the quest board. However, the main gameplay is the potion-making aspect. You start off with six potions to choose from, but you'll get more potions as the story progresses. Potions can enhance certain abilities, such as agility, intelligence, strength, etc. Also, you'll have access to infusions a little later, which can help boost (or weaken) these abilities. When it comes to quests, you'll be given one of two potion options. Usually, one is the better option that results in the quest being successful, although either potion will result in a quest successfully completed. Also, there are plenty of Steam achievements, and they count towards a user's global total. However, at the time of this review, there are no Steam trading cards.

Now that I've gone over the story and gameplay, I'll move onto my thoughts. When I first heard about Tavern Talk coming to Steam, I couldn't help getting excited, as my thoughts immediately led me to both Coffee Talk games, which I enjoyed and I've written reviews for, so do check out the link to my curation to read those review and perhaps a follow would be wonderful. ;) Thus, when I was offered a review key for this game, I knew I had to play it right away. Without further delay, I'll give my thoughts on the story. I love how it starts off, setting the scene as the Innkeeper and her patrons are in the world of Phesoa. It starts off as a typical day, with the elf Fable entering the tavern and being their usual scared self. However, it is the Innkeeper who gently helps Fable on their emotional journey (although you can choose to be mean to Fable, but I wouldn't recommend that lol), and it leads to Fable eventually taking on quests. Other travelers enter the tavern, ordering drinks and taking quests. All of this leads to the main story in which (major story spoilers here, so I'll put it in spoiler text) someone wants to destroy all the sigils that stabilize the world, since doing so would result in the world's destruction. Depending on the drink choices made for quests, you can get one of four endings: good, normal, bad, or a hidden one. I like that the story isn't linear in this regard. I enjoyed the story, and I really loved the cast of characters. There's such a variety of personalities, and the travelers have their own quirks. I mentioned Fable earlier, and then there's Kyle, the forgetful vampire, as well as Rhea, the blacksmith who wants to beat her ex-husband in an upcoming blacksmith competition. I especially liked the relationships that these characters developed, ranging from sweet, ever-lasting friendships to unexpected romances. Even when it comes to the villain, I found it difficult to hate him although I certainly wouldn't condone his actions. If I had to choose a couple of my favorite characters, they'd be Melli, the sweet cat detective, and Baya, the swamp monster who just wants to have close friends.

With the gameplay, I found myself having to get used to the potion-making mechanic. There's a tutorial that explains how to make the potions. (You can use either the mouse or controller to do so.) It's basically like following a blueprint to make the potion with right amount of ingredients. Using infusions can make it easier or more difficult to make potions, but once you get the hang of this mechanic, it's quite easy to make them. I do wish that there was a quick-making potion mechanic once you're able to make all the potions at least once since it would help save a bit of time, but this is a minor nitpick. As for the achievements, I was able to obtain all of them, even getting all of the endings. However, there is no "already read text" option even though you can choose to speed up text. It would have been nice to have that option to save time on getting the other endings, which is why it took me quite a while to get all of the achievements. A couple of achievements can be tricky to get without a guide, so I'd recommend this one:

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3274505211

As for the writing, I found it brilliant. The story flowed well, and there were no pacing issues, especially with the potion-making mechanic to provide a bit of a break from dialogue. The characters come alive through the writing, and I found myself laughing and crying with/for them. Oh, and before I forget, even the Innkeeper has a backstory, which is quite the shocker. The only errors I noticed were that on the rare occasion, a couple of sentences were repeated in a row by the same character and a bit of coding errors, but they should be fixed in a future update.

Regarding the art, it is beautiful. I love how well the characters and backgrounds were well drawn and colored. They really give off that medieval fantasy setting well. Even during the ending credits, there's special art, so you can see what happens to the various characters. I only wish that there was a CG gallery, so I can revisit these images whenever I want.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3276927198

With the music, the tracks are lovely to listen to. I really like how each character has their own theme track, and they really fit well. Voy's (the phantasm) track is my favorite since it's on the upbeat, fun side. There's a very wonderful variety of tracks, fitting well with the events that they're placed in. With voice acting, there's only the one female voice acting at the beginning of the game to introduce the story, but otherwise, there's none. I don't think this is a negative since I'm one to enjoy the story and gameplay, and voice acting is just a bonus.

Overall, would I recommend Tavern Talk? If you like visual novels and especially like Coffee Talk but have always wanted to play in a more fantasy setting, then this is worth taking a look. It was a pure joy getting to play this wonderful relaxing game with its many wonderful characters and the exciting adventurous story. For the asking price, it's definitely worth getting, and it's also in a few Steam bundles, so you can save a bit of money.

Finally, I want to give a major thank you to Gentle Troll Entertainment for the review key. I'm happy to have had the chance to play Tavern Talk, and I'm already wanting a Tavern Talk 2. ^^

For more detailed, fully complete, high quality reviews like this, please follow The Introverted Gamer, prioritizing heart and soul always. ^^

[h1]"Welcome to The Wayfarer's Inn!" ~ Greetings from your friendly Innkeeper[/h1] (I have to admit that I've always wanted to start a review like this, but now I'll get to the usual. XD) [i]Tavern Talk[/i] is a cozy, relaxing visual novel with magical potion-making elements developed and published by Gentle Troll Entertainment. You take on the role of the Innkeeper (whose gender pronouns can be decided) who runs a tavern. As travelers drop by for a drink and/or pick up a quest, you engage in friendly talk with them. In regards to the potions, they aren't your usual liquid refreshments. As they're magically infused, they can determine the fate of the traveler, and especially, if they embark on a quest, whether that quest ends up being successful. Other have noted this, and it would be amiss of me to leave this out, but [i]Tavern Talk[/i] is like [i]Coffee Talk[/i] in a medieval fantasy setting. You serve customers, hand out quests, and perhaps in the process, help to save the world from the big, bad villain. However, I'll stop my synopsis here to avoid the usual spoilers and all that. ^^ With the gameplay, there are the usual choices presented, like in visual novels. They can influence how well you get along with the various travelers who frequent the tavern. You can also assemble quests by listening to the various rumors that travelers will give you, and once the quests are assembled, you can put them on the quest board. However, the main gameplay is the potion-making aspect. You start off with six potions to choose from, but you'll get more potions as the story progresses. Potions can enhance certain abilities, such as agility, intelligence, strength, etc. Also, you'll have access to infusions a little later, which can help boost (or weaken) these abilities. When it comes to quests, you'll be given one of two potion options. Usually, one is the better option that results in the quest being successful, although either potion will result in a quest successfully completed. Also, there are plenty of Steam achievements, and they count towards a user's global total. However, at the time of this review, there are no Steam trading cards. Now that I've gone over the story and gameplay, I'll move onto my thoughts. When I first heard about [i]Tavern Talk[/i] coming to Steam, I couldn't help getting excited, as my thoughts immediately led me to both [i]Coffee Talk[/i] games, which I enjoyed and I've written reviews for, so do check out the link to my curation to read those review and perhaps a follow would be wonderful. ;) Thus, when I was offered a review key for this game, I knew I had to play it right away. Without further delay, I'll give my thoughts on the story. I love how it starts off, setting the scene as the Innkeeper and her patrons are in the world of Phesoa. It starts off as a typical day, with the elf Fable entering the tavern and being their usual scared self. However, it is the Innkeeper who gently helps Fable on their emotional journey (although you can choose to be mean to Fable, but I wouldn't recommend that lol), and it leads to Fable eventually taking on quests. Other travelers enter the tavern, ordering drinks and taking quests. All of this leads to the main story in which (major story spoilers here, so I'll put it in spoiler text) [spoiler]someone wants to destroy all the sigils that stabilize the world, since doing so would result in the world's destruction[/spoiler]. Depending on the drink choices made for quests, you can get one of four endings: good, normal, bad, or a hidden one. I like that the story isn't linear in this regard. I enjoyed the story, and I really loved the cast of characters. There's such a variety of personalities, and the travelers have their own quirks. I mentioned Fable earlier, and then there's Kyle, the forgetful vampire, as well as Rhea, the blacksmith who wants to beat her ex-husband in an upcoming blacksmith competition. I especially liked the relationships that these characters developed, ranging from sweet, ever-lasting friendships to unexpected romances. Even when it comes to the villain, I found it difficult to hate him although I certainly wouldn't condone his actions. If I had to choose a couple of my favorite characters, they'd be Melli, the sweet cat detective, and Baya, the swamp monster who just wants to have close friends. With the gameplay, I found myself having to get used to the potion-making mechanic. There's a tutorial that explains how to make the potions. (You can use either the mouse or controller to do so.) It's basically like following a blueprint to make the potion with right amount of ingredients. Using infusions can make it easier or more difficult to make potions, but once you get the hang of this mechanic, it's quite easy to make them. I do wish that there was a quick-making potion mechanic once you're able to make all the potions at least once since it would help save a bit of time, but this is a minor nitpick. As for the achievements, I was able to obtain all of them, even getting all of the endings. However, there is no "already read text" option even though you can choose to speed up text. It would have been nice to have that option to save time on getting the other endings, which is why it took me quite a while to get all of the achievements. A couple of achievements can be tricky to get without a guide, so I'd recommend this one: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3274505211 As for the writing, I found it brilliant. The story flowed well, and there were no pacing issues, especially with the potion-making mechanic to provide a bit of a break from dialogue. The characters come alive through the writing, and I found myself laughing and crying with/for them. Oh, and before I forget, even the Innkeeper has a backstory, which is quite the shocker. The only errors I noticed were that on the rare occasion, a couple of sentences were repeated in a row by the same character and a bit of coding errors, but they should be fixed in a future update. Regarding the art, it is beautiful. I love how well the characters and backgrounds were well drawn and colored. They really give off that medieval fantasy setting well. Even during the ending credits, there's special art, so you can see what happens to the various characters. I only wish that there was a CG gallery, so I can revisit these images whenever I want. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3276927198 With the music, the tracks are lovely to listen to. I really like how each character has their own theme track, and they really fit well. Voy's (the phantasm) track is my favorite since it's on the upbeat, fun side. There's a very wonderful variety of tracks, fitting well with the events that they're placed in. With voice acting, there's only the one female voice acting at the beginning of the game to introduce the story, but otherwise, there's none. I don't think this is a negative since I'm one to enjoy the story and gameplay, and voice acting is just a bonus. Overall, would I recommend [i]Tavern Talk[/i]? If you like visual novels and especially like [i]Coffee Talk[/i] but have always wanted to play in a more fantasy setting, then this is worth taking a look. It was a pure joy getting to play this wonderful relaxing game with its many wonderful characters and the exciting adventurous story. For the asking price, it's definitely worth getting, and it's also in a few Steam bundles, so you can save a bit of money. Finally, I want to give a major thank you to Gentle Troll Entertainment for the review key. I'm happy to have had the chance to play [i]Tavern Talk[/i], and I'm already wanting a [i]Tavern Talk 2[/i]. ^^ [quote]For more detailed, fully complete, high quality reviews like this, please follow [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/44702020/]The Introverted Gamer[/url], prioritizing heart and soul always. ^^[/quote]