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Café Stella and the Reapers' Butterflies Review - A Cup of Coffee And The Souls of The Dead


Pallas_Raven

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This is a condensed version of the full review which can be found on my Main Blog HERE.

Genre – Slice of Life, Romance. Playtime – 40 hours. Developer – Yuzusoft. Publisher – NekoNyan and Hikari Field. VNDB

A Second Chance

 
Dying is never pleasant, especially when you have lingering regrets. Takamine Kousei’s death is as sudden as his life was unremarkable and in his final moment he wishes his life could have been more. However, this is not the end for Kousei as he finds himself back at the start of the day he died but this time instead of meeting his demise he meets a Shinigami and a talking cat. They inform him that he is responsible for the time jump and God is not happy. The Shinigami offers him a way out of this conundrum, assist her with her work by opening a cafe. So begins Kousei’s tale of love and lost souls.
 

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Yuzusoft are well known for their slice of life visual novels and Café Stella and the Reapers' Butterflies does not deviate far from their comfort zone, for better and for worse. With a total of four heroines and one sub-heroine and a run time in the region of forty hours, there is no shortage of story on offer for fans of the slice of life genre. However, does the quality match the quantity? Let’s dive in and find out.

 

Of Love and Butterflies – Narrative and Themes -

 
When it comes to visual novels of the slice of life / romance genre there is often a lack of an overarching plot in favour of smaller personal stories and Café Stella is no exception. Each route focuses solely on the issues of the heroine with only the loose threads of the supernatural and Kousei’s damaged soul joining them. This is overall not a bad thing, but you should set your expectations when buying the game.
 
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The routes themselves have an excellent variety to their stories and do a good job at selling the romantic build up between each heroine and Kousei. However, there is a formula which each route follows and it becomes readily apparent once you have played a few of them. While this does not ruin them, since they do not have any important plot point which could be spoiled by the structure of the narrative, there is an undeniable repetitiveness which can make the individual events of different routes blur together. This is symptomatic of the broader formulaic nature of Yuzusoft’s work with similar narratives being played out in multiple games. As such Café Stella can bring feelings of deja vu for those who have played other games by the studio, whether this is a good or a bad thing will depend on how much you like their style.
 
However, there is an elephant in the room throughout the entire game, the supernatural. Each Yuzusoft game generally has a gimmick to spice up the slice of life formula. In the past this has been things like spies in Riddle Joker and witches in Sabbat of the Witch. For Café Stella it is the Shinigami and the butterflies that are the souls of the dead. These gimmicks always sit awkwardly alongside the romance and slice of life elements, never being properly utilised or existing as consequence free set dressing. Such elements can actively harm the experience as in the case of Riddle Joker’s unwillingness to deal with the realities of spying in any fashion, but for the most part they are just distractions that add little to the core experience.
 
 

Maidens Bound to the Dead – Character Overview - 

 

A likeable cast is a critical aspect of the slice of life / romance genre. If there is not a fight over who is best girl then there is a problem with your characters. This is one of the areas in which Café Stella excels when compared to its peers. The characters’ likeable personalities and strong chemistry is one of the standout features and is the main reason the game is worth playing.
 
The heroines have a good variety to their personalities with little overlap between them meaning that they standout in distinctly memorable ways. Kanna is a mischievous yet kind Shinigami, Shiki is a sharp tongued classic tsundere, Nozomi is the no nonsense childhood friend and Mei is a cheerful and slightly childish junior. It is a testament to the quality of the character writing when my favourite heroine is the sub-heroine Suzune, the perfectionist baker, which is rare since they are often not given a chance to shine with most resources being focused to the main heroines. Secondary characters receive a similar treatment with each being given the space they need to shine without them ever getting in the way of the main characters. This even treatment of the characters and their dynamics allows for all of them to be active players even outside of their own routes or conflicts and creates a rich feeling cast who are a pleasure to watch doing even the most mundane tasks.
 
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Undeniable Quality – Visuals and Audio -

 

One area in which Yuzusoft have consistently excelled it is in their visual design and its quality. Each heroine has a surprisingly large assortment of expressions and poses along with different outfits to the point at which you will constantly see something new from them. In a similar vein the variety of CGs and super deformed cut-ins makes the important moments of humour and emotion stand out, but at the same time they are not overused so each remains special. The bright colours and attention to detail throughout the visual design demonstrates a clear understanding by Yuzusoft of the visual identity of their work and of the genre. This results in a distinct presentation which clearly sets expectations of what experience is in store for the player.
 
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One final aspect worth touching on is the extensive quality of life features present in Café Stella. These range from a route flowchart, the ability to suspend and resume anywhere, full controller and keyboard remapping, the function to favourite any voice line and many more. The sheer expansiveness of these features always surprises me whenever I play a Yuzusoft game and they are the example other visual novel developers should strive to match.
 
 

Verdict - 8/10

 
With its engaging characters and well put together routes, this is one of the better examples of its genre and of Yuzusoft’s work.
 
 
Pros and Cons -
 

Pros:

+ Excellent visuals and audio as you would expect of a Yuzusoft game.

+ A genuinely likeable cast of characters.

+ The focus on the cafe makes for a nice change from the standard school setting.

+ A level of technical polish few other companies can match.

 

Cons:

- A supernatural element which feels as if the writers have no idea what to do with it.

- Has a formulaic structure to its routes which can lead to them feeling repetitive.

- The protagonist has an inconsistent personality.

- If you have played other Yuzusoft games then this may feel familiar.

 

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Wait, this is a pleasant surprise that you are bringing your review content here. I actually thought about convincing ppl to post condensed versions of their reviews so Fuwanovel can lead a funnel to their blogs eventually - given alot of niche blogs kind of write into the void and I'm very eager about giving them coverage (will RT this post later too). Thanks for kicking off this idea and I hope there will be a plethora of content being produced this way once people realize that Fuwanovel can offer them another place where their reviews and blogs can be easily found.

About the review, I'm not really a Yuzusoft fan (only having played Senran Banka and Sanoba Witch) but this game and its premise have always interested me. Once I get to actually play VNs again, I will definitely try this one out. 40h of content sounds reasonable and fun too!

@lukimanamight enjoy it if he didn't play it yet!

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