After the curious and brilliant oddity Coffee Talk (2020) from Indonesian indie team Toge Productions, here we have the hotly anticipated sequel.

It’s Coffee Talk Episode 2: Hibiscus & Butterfly. The talking simulator is… really fantastic. Why?! Well, it’s down to the engaging writing, fun characters, and steady stream of oddball humour. Get a cup of tea ready and dive on in.

Coffee Talk Episode 2: Hibiscus & Butterfly

Launching in April 2023 you can get this on all consoles and PC. In Coffee Talk Episode 2, you return as the barista of the café Coffee Talk.

You’re in a fantasy version of Seattle, the year being 2023, with economic and political strife in action (poverty, recession, slugs taking over the seas etc.) but the people are more interesting as they’ve got horns coming out of their heads and stuff.

The café is open late at night and is frequented by locals, such as a family man police officer, a softboi horned social media influencer, and a failed soprano.

It’s your job, as the barista (whom we named Bastard the Barista… or just Bastard for short) to make idle chat with customers and serve them drinks.

There’s A LOT of text in the game (it is, essentially, a visual novel) and the whole thing plays out like a relaxing chitchat in your favourite coffee house (just one with bewitched beings and folks dressed as astronauts turning up).

Now, as with the first Coffee Talk, we found an incredible source of hilarity in screwing up our customer’s orders. They want a milk with honey? No! They’re getting an extra strong espresso, dammit!

And the look of disappointment on their faces is priceless.

What? Yes, it’s immature. We named our barista Bastard… what else were you expecting from us here? Smooth jazz sophistication? Well, yes, the game has plenty of that in its soundtrack.

In one of the tunes early on, there’s a clear influence from Satie’s Gymnopédies & Gnossiennes (which is no bad thing).

That hints at the relaxing vibes going on in this game.

It’s a chilled out time of it. To complement that side of things, there are clever little gameplay actions throughout its running time. So, yes, it’s great fun to play, too.

There’s tea and coffee making, storing lost items to hand over to certain characters, and listening to customers’ life stories.

The constant rainstorm in the shop’s background windows sets the atmosphere, whilst the fantastic pixel art delivers many delights.

But it’s the constant fun, funny, and entertaining nature of the script that makes the game so enjoyable. From arrogant douchebags, to the arrival of a cat, or the sudden appearance of a socially awkward astronaut decked out in her full spacesuit.

As you play, you have a big old grin on your face. It be fabulous. And it makes you want to play and press on deeper into the experience to see what’s in store.

Okay, so Coffee Talk Episode 2: Hibiscus & Butterfly won’t be for everyone. If you want a game with guns and explosions you’re barking up the wrong tree there, fella.

But if you want a twist on fairy tales, set in a coffee house, with human/monster hybrids sporting horns from their heads, all of them with a strange desire to spew their innermost secrets at you whilst jazz music soothes in the background… yeah, you’ll enjoy this one.