History VisualNovel / VA11HALLA

The game would [[https://rtalsoriangames.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/RTG-CPR-DLC-MixingDrinksChangingLives.pdf also have a crossover]] with the ''TabletopGame/{{Cyberpunk}}'' TRPG as a DLC for Cyberpunk RED that incorporates the characters and setting into the Cyberpunk universe.

* AnAesop:
** Even in a dystopia, the average person is basically good, kind, and decent. If you take the time to get to know them, people will look out for each other if given the chance.
** Face your fears. A day of anxiety and awkwardness is better than a lifetime of regret and heartache.

* HollywoodHacking: Averted, as explained by Alma. The way Alma goes about her explanation is a very realistic explanation as to how a hacker might gain access to a system. The explanation leaves Dorothy a steaming, aroused pile of bolts, though.

** Virgilio usually gives you riddles for his orders. Although he'll still call you out if you get them wrong, there are two especially cryptic orders that you won't be penalized for.

** The Lilim have their consciousness backed up on a server and are automatically transferred to a new body. As a result, the Lilim have a hard time conceptualizing mortality, although according to Dorothy they do fear "death." Notably, Dorothy turned down a client who wanted to cut her head off not because Dorothy thought she would die, but because it would have been a big hassle to deal with the aftermath.

* CentralTheme: Forging connections, and the ways in which people look out for each other.

* HookerWithAHeartOfGold: Dorothy. Dana and Jill even admit that although she's a sex worker, [[UnproblematicProstitution she's so earnest and cheerful about what she does]] that it's hard not to root for her.

* OhMyGods: Zigzagged. Whatever religions are going on in Glitch City, at least one of them has more than one deity. Various customers say "Oh gods!" or "Gods only know..." from time to time. The specifics of the religion beyond that are vague. Other characters also refer to "God" in the singular, so it's likely just that different characters have different faiths.

--> '''Kiririn 51:''' We're going for the weeb audience. What's dignity anymore?

* ShownTheirWork: In a conversation with Alma and Dorothy, the way that Alma describes hacking into a network is a real way of exploiting security vulnerabilities in a system. However, [[AndSomeOtherStuff a lot of details are intentionally left out]].

* TruthInTelevision: Alma insists she's not a hacker, [[InsistentTerminology she's a "security consultant" who just happens to know how to hack into stuff]]. Such hackers really do exist, and are referred to as "white hats" in hacking communities, so named after the fact that the good guys in Wild West shows always wore white hats to signify them as such. White hats will be paid by companies to hack into their systems and/or find blind spots in their cybersecurity, albeit without doing any actual damage. That way, the company can patch the leaks or otherwise improve their security systems. The way that Alma describes finding these hypothetical blind spots is even [[ShownTheirWork accurate to real-life hacking]], albeit [[AndSomeOtherStuff with the more explicit details intentionally left out so the player can't try it]].

** Brian, the BTC Regional Manager, is this to Dana and by extension the rest of the staff. He has a good working relationship with Dana herself, and although Valhalla is in danger of going under, Brian is going out of his way to fight to keep it open for as long as possible, since Valhalla is one of the only one bars in his jurisdiction that doesn't give him any headaches. Likewise, he is either accepting or at least looks the other way for Gillian's sordid past and tries to ensure that Jill and Dana will both have good employment if the bar closes.

* ChekhovsGun: On the third day, Stella will mention undergoing a procedure that turned her into a [[CatGirl Cat Boomer]] because of Nanomachine Rejection. Had Stella not gone through it, she would have died. [[spoiler:Later on, Jill finds out that nanomachine rejection is what killed Lenore due to a heart attack.]]

* ExtinctInTheFuture: Dorothy is programmed to be phobic of chinchillas, even though they're extinct. Jill can even commen what an AbsurdPhobia it is to be afraid of something that no longer exists.

* GameplayAndStoryIntegration: If Jill can't pay her bills or there's not enough stuff in her home, she'll get distracted, and her usual reminders to the player of what her current client ordered will be replaced with rambling. On Day 10, when she's in the deep of her HeroicBSOD, she'll become distracted regardless.

* HeroOfAnotherStory: ''VA-11 HALL-A'' is a story about a {{Cyberpunk}} setting told through the lens of somebody who is of no consequence to any of it. As the bartender of the local GoodGuyBar in one block of a mega-city, Jill's clientele includes the PlayfulHacker Alma, the augmented HitmanWithAHeart Jamie, the White Knights resident TokenGoodTeammate Sei, and the DefectorFromDecadence Virgilio. Jill's boss is the in-universe MemeticBadass Dana Zane, and her coworker is Gil, who has a MysteriousPast that implies he's actually rather dangerous. Most of the game is incidentally learning about these people as they come in for a drink, before they leave to go back to their story. Jill, by contrast, is an ordinary woman trying to get through her life while still being a good person and the doing the best she can at her job. Jill can't affect the setting much at all, nor does she want to. The story, by and large, focuses on Jill's personal life and the snippets of the day that she gets from her clients as TheBartender of a hole-in-the-wall dive bar.
* HollywoodHacking: Averted, as explained by Alma. The way Alma goes about her explanation is a very realistic explanation as to how a hacker might gain access to a system. The explanation left Dorothy a steaming, aroused pile of bolts, though.

* WhamLine: On December 21, [[DramaBomb the story begins taking a drastic turn]]. [[spoiler:When Jill asks how Lenore is doing, Gaby responds with "She's dead." Cue a very bitter conversation between Jill and Gaby that really messes with Jill's psyche and makes the story take a much more personal turn. Up until this point, Jill had largely been an impersonal vector through which the player could experience the world; after learning of her ex-girlfriend's death, Jill gets much more focus as a character.]]

''VA-11 HALL-A: Cyberpunk Bartending Action'' is a VisualNovel developed by Venezuelan developer [[http://sukeban.moe/ Sukeban Games]], which describes itself as "a booze 'em up about waifus, and post-dystopia life." It takes heavy inspiration from old UsefulNotes/PC98 games, with a chiptune soundtrack and a distinctly retro anime art style. In lieu of dialogue choices, Jill must mix the correct drinks for her clients. What she serves them can change the conversation; adding more alcohol to get the client hammered may get juicier stories, or it may just make them leave if they're a lightweight. The goal is to make enough money to pay your various utilities, and of course, better service means a bigger paycheck. Despite the game's dark cyberpunk setting, its tone is mostly comedic with colorful characters and plenty of (sometimes crude) jokes, but also has its share of emotional moments and dark stories that remind the player [[CrapsackWorld what kind of place they live in.]]

The game was released for [=PC=] on June 21, 2016, with a UsefulNotes/PlayStationVita release in 2017. Ports to the UsefulNotes/PlayStation4 and UsefulNotes/NintendoSwitch were released in 2019.

** Most of Virgilio's orders are intentionally cryptic. Although he'll still call you out if you get them wrong, the game won't count them as mistakes.

* DevelopersForesight: You can't check messages in your apartment during Day 6, since Jill spends the day with Dana instead. Should you somehow end up there anyway (most likely by cheating), [[BreakingTheFourthWall there's a series of messages from the developers which will taunt you]].