Coffee Talk Sequel Hibiscus & Butterfly Is Cozier and Even More Satisfying

When I first got my hands on 2020's Coffee Talk, I was instantly enchanted by its chill narrative, cozy coffee shop atmosphere and lo-fi beats. When I heard it was getting a sequel, I was confident I'd love it, too.

That game, Coffee Talk Episode 2: Hibiscus & Butterfly, dropped just last week, and the team behind the game was kind enough to share a review key with me on the Nintendo Switch to check it out. After playing it through (and then doing it all over again, half a dozen or so times), it's clear to me that it improves on the previous game in just about every way. Here's how.

Coffee and Talk

Coffee Talk really couldn't be a more accurate name for these games. In addition to being the name of the coffee shop you run as a barista, it perfectly describes what you do within it—serve streaming hot cups of delicious coffee and tea, and talk with your customers to learn more about them and the lives they lead.

(Coffee Talk Episode 2: Hibiscus & Butterly via Chorus Worldwide)

It all takes place in the fall of 2023 in Seattle, Washington, but the world in the game isn't quite like the one we all know. That's because in the Coffee Talk universe, human beings and mythological creatures coexist in (relative) peace. You'll serve werewolves and vampires, orcs and mermaids, succubi and elves, banshees and satyrs, and more, and discover as they tell their tales that prejudices still exist in this world, and that some races' natures—or simply what's expected of them—have major impacts on their lives. The games also feature alien lifeforms who aren't yet fully integrated into society and are even forced to dodge the grasp of suspicious FBI agents.

(Coffee Talk Episode 2: Hibiscus & Butterly via Chorus Worldwide)

Despite any differences these characters have, the Coffee Talk café is the ultimate meeting place for them all. Even with the rain pouring outside and thunder rumbling, your shop offers a cozy respite for any souls to sip on something warm and tell their stories—and the better you are at your job, the better their tales turn out.

 

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Hibiscus & Butterfly

At first, I thought the new Coffee Talk subtitle just seemed artsy, but it's actually a direct reference to the two new types of tea on offer in this game, butterfly pea and hibiscus. While in most games, your success or failure might depend on fast reflexes, clever puzzling or even picking the right dialogue options, Coffee Talk is all about making the right drink for your customers at the right time.

(Coffee Talk Episode 2: Hibiscus & Butterly via Chorus Worldwide)

In this sequel, you can serve coffee, black tea, green tea, butterfly pea, hibiscus or steamed milk drinks flavored with combinations of ginger, mint, lemon, honey and cinnamon, and giving the customer the correct beverage and making them feel great can have some major implications. For officer Jorji, that might mean the difference between solving a string of mysterious crimes and getting completely stumped, while for engaged couple Lua and Baileys, sipping the right drinks can prevent the calling off of a wedding. There's even a character who will simply stop showing up if you continue to offer her the wrong drinks—and I can't say I blame her! The sequel also introduces a new element where you can pass items between customers, or return forgotten and lost objects, which can also be a big help to them on their journeys.

The game's charm really is reflected in the thoughtfully crafted characters who frequent the café and their well-written and believable dialogue. All of the major players from the original game return, with storylines that feel just right for their development, while the title also sees a number of new faces mixed in. These new characters actually proved to be some of my very favorites. There's Lucas the satyr, a popular influencer trying to make a real impact on the world, and Riona, a slightly insecure banshee with aspirations of becoming an opera star.

(Coffee Talk Episode 2: Hibiscus & Butterly via Chorus Worldwide)

Fans who loved the extraterrestrial Neil in the previous game will love to see him reimagined in a more human form as Silver, but my favorite has to be Silver's sibling, the spacesuit-wearing alien, Amanda. I don't want to say too much about the end of the first Coffee Talk and spoil it, but the events of that game did leave me wondering if this game was programmed for her to copy my name, or if our names being the same was simply coincidence. It was the latter, which made for a handful of slightly confusing interactions, but I wouldn't have had it any other way.

(Coffee Talk Episode 2: Hibiscus & Butterly via Chorus Worldwide)

It also helps that the game's pixel art is fantastic, really selling each character and their personalities, as well as the stormy Seattle environment. The game's music is another major selling point, with the entire chill, lo-fi beat soundtrack by Indonesian artist Aremy Jendrew (who appears as a golem on the music's album artwork). If you need some great music to study to, I can't recommend this soundtrack enough.

 

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The Magic of Coffee

While serving coffee and tea is key to making the narrative unfold, there's also an innate satisfaction to the process. Once you pick your ingredients, it takes a second to brew and prepare the drink, and the accompanying sound effects (and the customer reactions) are a joy in themselves.

For the most part, you'll be wanting to create special drinks for your customers, which have unique names and visuals that set them apart from the basic beverages. When you brew a "Flowerbed" or "Zobo" instead of a basic lemon green tea or honey hibiscus, then you know you're onto something, and once you serve the drink, it'll be stored on an app in your in-game phone for easy reference.

(Coffee Talk Episode 2: Hibiscus & Butterly via Chorus Worldwide)

The first time around, I didn't get every drink right, and that was okay by me. The customers didn't seem too bothered, and it was fun to simply play to the best of my ability and forgive myself for any barista errors (or mistakes forgetting to deliver key items to people at the right time). The game showed me where all of the characters wound up, and while those results were mostly satisfactory, I immediately wanted to dig in to fix my mistakes and see what I'd missed story-wise.

Before I did that, though, I decided to spend some time in the game's Endless Mode. There, you can mix drinks and try out different combinations in order to discover more of the specialty drinks that you might have missed during the game. I'm a nerd and systematically tried out every possible combination—only to find that there were still three drinks missing from the list. Later, I found out that these story-specific beverages have to be unlocked during the main game, but at least this trial and error left me better equipped for my second, "perfect" run.

That's when I found out how massively replayable this game is. Even though I made most of the right choices the first time around, I was really surprised to see how much the story shifted when every last drink was correct and every item was given to the right recipient. The only orders I found confusing this time were the ones where somebody wanted a sweet, comfy drink, which essentially entailed a base with two honeys, and I kept thinking they wanted a specialty drink. Even so, if you make a mistake, you can just reset the game to restart the day you're on and fix it on the next go around. The "good endings" for the characters are really good, and it was wonderful to see all of the pieces fall into place and to serve drinks like flaming coffees and Berry-Blue Hibiscus "Pie" to customers to complete their stories. Helping everyone reach their full potential is super cozy and satisfying every time.

(Coffee Talk Episode 2: Hibiscus & Butterly via Chorus Worldwide)

And then it was time to play the game like an absolute menace. This time, I'd regularly serve the lactose-intolerant Jorji pure steamed milk, and everyone else got espressos (or milk, if they actually wanted espresso).  It was fascinating to see just how poorly things went when everyone got bad drinks, making their lives fall apart and their dreams fizzle. As bad as I felt to see everyone's stories go wrong, I can't deny that I was super entertained, too.

From there, I used the game's list of achievements to see what I'd been missing, and I played through a few more times to knock out all of the story beats for the full picture. Doing this even grants players a special ending involving a cute cat that visits the shop.

(Coffee Talk Episode 2: Hibiscus & Butterly via Chorus Worldwide)

All in all, I adore everything about the game—with one exception. You can draw art on top of any lattes you brew, and I find the system so unintuitive and difficult to use. As someone who considers myself pretty artsy, it bugs me to no end that I can't make anything cute with it (but, in all likelihood, that's probably just a skill issue).

(Coffee Talk Episode 2: Hibiscus & Butterly via Chorus Worldwide)

 

Coffee Talk Episode 2: Hibiscus & Butterfly now on Steam, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4 and 5, Xbox Series X|S and Xbox One for just $12.99.

 

Curious about my impression of the first game? Read my full review HERE.