PSVR Full of goofy little experiences, and Startenders is the newest addition to that lineup. A procedural bartending game with a twist, the experience provides a completely enjoyable distraction for a while.
As a mundane, office-working human, you’re suddenly transported to a space station, where you’re forced to work as a “beginner,” a bartender who’s on the whims of a convoy of cosmic customers. leans forward. The game is very economical in how it presents everything to you, so there isn’t a lot of momentum on your part, allowing the action to do a very limited amount of action. Hand tracking is solid, you rarely get any temporary movement in more active games, and resetting your position is rarely a necessity.
Beverage mixes are clearly presented, and all of your equipment and ingredients are within arms’ reach when positioned at your bar. You have revolving platforms that allow you to cycle the machines you need, and all of the steps and ingredients are presented with easy-to-follow icons, so it’s rare that we’re overwhelmed with personalized drink orders. feel. Once you start catering to multiple customers at once, the gameplay becomes frenetic, and as you progress through the campaign, the challenge rises to an unexpectedly high level.
Much of the difficulty comes down to the luck of the draw, as the patrons and their requests are procedurally generated, but this added repetition to the title. For whatever reason, patrons have a tendency to ask for the same drink back-to-back, so we’ll find repeat orders far more than ideal.
Bartending gets old fairly quickly, so the title does a good job of breaking things down, offering a plethora of tasks and distractions between shifts working on drinks. There’s a neat minigame that builds all the tools you really need for the job, plus some half-baked sports games in your bedroom.
Overall, the title jams a surprising amount of content into one reasonably priced package, delivering a satisfyingly idiosyncratic experience worthy of your time.
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