Greetings, Cafe Regulars.

A special scoop from our crews, just a few weeks before the release of Coffee Talk Episode 2.

Hey hey! Aul here, Human Resource Manager of Toge Productions, somehow ended up writing Toge Productions’ devlog. Why, you ask? Well, who knows... But I hope you’d stay and see through this journey of Coffee Talk Episode 2: Hibiscus and Butterfly regardless!

Now, before delving into the topic indicated by the title of this news, here's a little anecdote about Coffee Talk and myself. I came across Coffee Talk during a sort of “Dark Night of the Soul” period in my life. I had just been made redundant by the previous company I was working for due to the pandemic, and like how we all were at that time, I was in a bad mental state when I stumbled upon the trailer of Coffee Talk for PS4 on Youtube.

At first, it was the lo-fi rendition of Clair de Lune that caught my attention. But soon I became captivated by the art and concept of the game. Being a coffee and café lover who got robbed of the pleasure of chilling in a coffee shop due to the lockdown, I immediately bought the game and fell in love as I delved even deeper into the story of Coffee Talk. The quirkiness of the character designs (I mean, to this day, Lua is still my video game crush of all time), their relatable stories, and the interactions I had with them was an experience that helped me through my bad time during the early pandemic.

And fast forward a couple of years, with the help of the universe aligning my path with that of Toge Productions, here I am, sharing my stories with you and more importantly, the sequel of the game we’ve all played and hold dearly in our hearts! (Otherwise, you wouldn’t be here reading this, right? XD)

Now, as we all know, the most important part of Coffee Talk —being a narrative-driven visual novel—is its story. Coffee Talk Episode 2: Hibiscus and Butterfly have a high bar to clear in order to match its predecessor. So I sat with the game’s Narrative Designer and Lead Writer, Junkipatchi (or Junki for short) and asked her about all of Coffee Talk Episode 2: Hibiscus and Butterfly’s story and narrative development.

Now finally, let’s hear from her in this interview with Junki!

1.) What is the Overarching theme of Coffee Talk Episode 2: Hibiscus & Butterfly?

Although from the surface it looks like the theme of Coffee Talk Episode 2: Hibiscus and Butterfly is ‘Social Media and the internet’, to me, the overarching theme of Coffee Talk Episode 2 is about ‘Growth’— which encompasses endings, beginnings, with all the goodness and pain it brings. The Social Media topic is, more or less, a catalyst for the actual theme– ‘Growth’– itself. We also chose to incorporate both Social Media and the Internet as a part of the main theme because they're something that most of us have probably very used to, particularly during the pandemic.

Speaking of the pandemic itself, however, we made a conscious decision not to include it in the game's storyline. This way, Coffee Talk can stay true to its calming and chill nature.

2.) How long does it take to write the story for Coffee Talk Episode 2: Hibiscus and Butterfly?

Oh wow, I guess the process itself started back in 2020 when Toge commissioned Kosmik to write a new character for (at that time) a Coffee Talk DLC, so, I guess, 2-3 year-ish? Hahaha.

As we were writing the Coffee Talk DLC, Toge realised the potential of the story, so they decided to expand the DLC plan from 5 days to 7 days long, and then our console publisher, Chorus Worldwide, proposed extending it to 9 days. We continued to keep expanding the DLC until they ultimately decided to go big and turn it into a full-fledged sequel…

And so, after the decision was made, it was only natural to expand on various aspects of the game, including new features. As a result, the story underwent another revision to ensure that it supported these new features and was cohesive both in terms of story and features.

3.) Is there any radical change from the first draft of the DLC to Coffee Talk Episode 2: Hibiscus and Butterfly itself? Characters that didn’t make it into the game, perhaps?

Actually, yes! Initially, a human character named Rhea was created for the Coffee Talk DLC, who was a "aesthetic wellness and health" social media influencer. However, as the game plan evolved, we decided to split Rhea into two separate characters. One of them is Lucas, the boisterous satyr influencer, who took on Rhea's influencer side and turned it up to the max. The other is Rhea, who was renamed to Riona, a banshee with a dream.

The split allowed us to keep up with and play around with one of the core pillars of the Coffee Talk series, which is all about "Breaking the Stereotypes." For instance, Riona, as one of Banshees in Coffee Talk's alternate world, is ‘known’ for their terrifying wails and bad luck, but still aspires to be an opera singer anyway. Similarly, Lucas, a loud, slightly brash and vivacious satyr-influencer, may have his own layers that you'll gradually discover as you play the game ;)

Other than that, there was also an incomplete concept of a dwarf character that was supposed to be included in the second DLC far in the future at that time.

However, Toge decided to add only two new characters for the sequel because we felt the need to explore more of the old friends from the first game and emphasise the theme of growth, showing how the passage of time affects everyone. That's why we pulled the brakes on new characters for now.

4.) Finally, as the writer for Coffee Talk Episode 2: Hibiscus and Butterfly, is there anything you want the players to be excited to find?

The story "branchings" in Coffee Talk Episode 2 are probably more intricate compared to the first game, haha. What I mean by that is that your favourite patron may have layers of thoughts on their situation, and there are more than a couple of ways to discover them, if that makes sense.
Additionally, there are plenty of world-building elements in the storyline that we hope will enrich the Coffee Talk universe in your mind, not to mention the return of old characters, ready to tell you what they've been up to.

We really hope all of the new elements, along with what we've cooked up for the game design (and everything else in between) will give an engaging experience that leaves a lasting impression for anyone who picks up the game.

Following up on the success of the first game was personally quite a daunting task, considering how special Coffee Talk is to many of its fans… but we loved writing it, working on it, and hope that we can meet everyone's expectations with this sequel!

And that, everyone, was the interview with Junki, the story writer for Coffee Talk: Hibiscus and Butterfly!

Hopefully, this little interview will rouse your excitement for Coffee Talk Episode 2: Hibiscus and Butterfly. And if it hasn’t, then worry not! This interview is only the first part of a dev blog series that will cover other aspects of the game. I’ve interviewed everyone on the Coffee Talk team about their journey into making Coffee Talk Episode 2: Hibiscus and Butterfly, so just wait for what everyone has to say about the game!

Thank you for coming, and I’ll see you again on your next visit!

In the meantime, you can follow us on social media and join our community to get the latest information information about related events and announcements. See you next week, when we will drop another devlog interview with another crew from Coffee Talk team. We are eager to see your comments about this devlog and the what's to come.

WIshlist and Follow Coffee Talk Episode 2 on Steam

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1663220/Coffee_Talk_Episode_2_Hibiscus__Butterfly/

Please stay safe and healthy, friends!
Fully brewed with love,

Coffee Talk Team. ːctfreyaː