Game:Â Syrup and the Ultimate Sweet
Genre: Adventure, Role-playing, Simulation, Visual Novel
System:Â Nintendo Switch (also on PC, Mac, Android, Xbox One, PS4)
Developer|Publisher: NomnomNami | Ratalaika Games
Age Rating:Â EU 3+ | US T (Teen)
Price: US $4.99 | CA $5.99 | UK £4.99 | EU €4.99
Release Date:Â 4th March 2020
Review code used, with many thanks to Ratalaika Games!
Originally made for YuriJam 2015, this adorable little visual novel has only recently made the leap onto consoles.
Story
Syrup and the Ultimate Sweet follows Candy Alchemist Syrup and her assistant/friend Pastille’s adventures after they find a candy golem in the basement of their sweet shop, Atelier Sweets.Â
The main character list is quite small; there’s Syrup, Pastille, the candy girl (depending on your choices she sometimes gets a name and sometimes doesn’t), Butterscotch who is Syrup’s witchy rival, and Toffee, Butterscotch’s familiar. The limited character list means that each one is individually really well developed – they all have very adorable yet distinct personalities, so it’s easy to keep track.
Depending on the choices you make there are 10 different endings. Some are cute and heartwarming, and some are utterly brutal, but there’s an Endings List that has revealable hints to obtain all 10 endings. I definitely recommend going for all 10, because the story varies greatly based on your different choices rather than the unfortunately common trend of choices not really affecting events.Â
Gameplay
A quick run-down for anyone not familiar with visual novels; you sit and read the story, occasionally making decisions that then impact the characters. The best way to explain it is if you took a choose your own adventure book, combined it with manga, and then made it digital. They aren’t for everyone but are a very popular genre all over the world.
Gameplay-wise there’s never much to say about a visual novel, as all you’re doing is reading and occasionally pressing a choice, but the silky smooth performance of Syrup really was nice to sit back and relax with. The UI is basic, as expected, though sometimes the menus might have done with slightly better controller support.
Also, I was pleasantly surprised to find a dyslexia-friendly English font – yay!
Graphics and Sound
Syrup and the Ultimate Sweet is utterly adorable. The 2D, bright, almost childish graphics perfectly suit the world they’re representing, with vivid colours making the characters stand out nicely from the more pastel backgrounds. It amused me that Syrup is surrounded by pink – a pink assistant, pink shop, and pink candy girl, but she doesn’t wear pink at all, instead having bright green hair and a white lab coat. The contrasting designs of the characters really reinforced the uniqueness of each one.
The sound isn’t anything to write home about, unfortunately. It’s there, and it’s undeniably cute, but it doesn’t really add to the game that much. I am oddly pleased by the lack of voice acting though; there’s so much personality in the characters themselves that voice acting would have ruined the vibe of the game, in my opinion.
Conclusion
A super-sweet little visual novel with some rather dark humour elements, Syrup and the Ultimate Sweet is a good way to while away an hour or two with a cup of coffee.
I’m not sure how the game came under PEGI 3: I don’t want to put spoilers in here, but with the naked candy girl and the whole eating-a-sentient-being thing, the age rating is surprising. On the other hand, it’s cutesy enough that it never feels malicious.
Final Verdict: I Liked It
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