First impression: CAFE SOURIE

Made by: Cuffs

Genre: Eroge, Romance, Drama, Slice of life

Summary: Shinichi still clings on to the day when his childhood friend one day suddenly moved away. When she years later returns, can she bring back the smile he had lost since?


Note: First impression means I've only finished a few routes and not all the endings.

Final Score:
Story 7/10
When I first got the game, I thought it was a nakige, but luckily it turned out to be a pretty standard and nice story. The story had really nice pacing and it didn't feel like I had been reading very long when I actually been going at it for hours. You can tell the creators thought about all the characters, because when reading it the first time I got really interested and wanted to know more about all of the girls. Sure there was the standard tsundere osananajimi with pigtails, but instead of stopping there, they added a deep back story and new elements to bring more depth to the character.

Now, anyone can probably guess that Cafe Sourire isn't anything revolutionary. But it's a really nice story, perfect now that summer is here, about childhood friends and about a boy who forgot what it was like to be happy.

Music 7/10
Nothing I would listen to on my spare time, but it fitted very nice with the game. The OP song on the other hand was great and I've been listening to it a lot lately.

Art 8/10
A big part for me that made the experience was the lovely artwork. A thing I'm always bothered about is how anime/manga characters never change cloth or hairstyle (since it's a pain in the a** for the creator) but in Cafe Sourire all the girls had several sprites with changes to them, much appreciated~

The backgrounds were fine and the soft coloring really brought together that soft and lighthearted story that the game is. My only complaint is that sometimes the girls look a bit too young. I felt like a lolicon at times...

HNNNNNNNG SO MOE

Voices 7/10
I didn't recognize many of the voice actors, but whoever did the voice for Kyoko (Moritamo Shiho?) was great. She kept a nice distance between her shy voice without sounding scared.

Total: 7/10
A nice, relaxing, somewhat short game perfect to play now during summer. Interesting characters and a lighthearted theme makes Cafe Sourire a very enjoyable eroge.
After all, "Sourire" means "smile" in French.

I want a pajamas like this! >o<