Lily Kingston has just graduated from college and is trying to find a new job! Lost and alone, she's helped out by her uncle, who is the owner of a fancy Italian restaurant. She begins working there as a waitress even though she has no experience. Clumsy and yet endearing, she tries hard at her new job and is often helped by her attractive male co-workers... Could one of them win her heart or will their secrets threaten a budding relationship...?
A slice-of-life visual novel, or interactive story game, about a group of people working in an Italian restaurant. Change the ending of the story through the choices you make and learn more about all the characters and their daily lives.
(It's also probably worth noting that this game was made in just one month.)
Apr 23rd, 2012 2 people agree 0 people don't
In my opinion the story is too much of a (boring) soap opera (even the post prologue part of it). Though the game's name already suggests, it's all about love, it could have been less borrowing the cliche.
Furthermore there are too little real choices, so playing this game is all about reading and tapping your space key to get on reading, which becomes quite annoying over time. Due to this, replaying the prologue part by taking other choices, wasn't as much fun as hoped for, because you have to read a lot of already known text until at long last the story takes a very little twist.
On the whole this game wasn't quite enjoyable for me, but technically and in terms of artistical design it seems well done. So if you are fond of manga and light fiction, this is probably yours.
Jun 14th, 2012 1 person agrees 0 people don't
I have very mixed feelings about this game. I'd probably have rated it lower than I did were the artwork and general production level not significantly above the level of most freeware amateur VNs.
The trouble is that the game is not exactly what it's promoted as being. That's clearly intentional, but unfortunately I don't find that the twist which occurs after the prologue really adds anything to the game. It comes across as a shot at myself, the player, criticizing my expectations and the conventions of the genre, while still acting out those same conventions with no sense of self-awareness. If you were to strip away the framing device, the post-prologue twist, and all of its trappings, the game could stand on its own merits as one of the better freeware OELVNs, but it's hard to feel good about a game that not only intentionally pulls the rug out from under the player's expectations but proceeds to spend so much of its time calling those expectations shallow and fake.
The game could possibly get away with that if it did something truly unconventional with its story and gameplay, but the real story of Ristorante Amore isn't one bit more unpredictable than the story it purports to be and then mocks the player for wanting.
It just leaves a bad taste in my mouth.
Apr 20th, 2012 1 person agrees 0 people don't
After playing about twenty games with absolutely no storyline, Ristorante Amore was a nice vacation for me. It is quite clear that Ristorante Amore has a focus on the story and characters rather than gameplay. You play as Lily* who works as a waitress in an Italian restaurant. As you could have guessed by the title, Lily* has three love options. Each love option covers the general expectation, the rude introvert, the out-going extrovert and the princely dreamboat.
So you play through and you are done... or are you? Here is where Ristorante Amore takes a pretty hilarious twist. What you were just playing was just the prologue, there is much a lot that was originally obscured from view. If I was to tell you what the twist was, I'd spoil the entire game. So to keep the story unspoiled, all I will say is the protagonist role is switched.
Ristorante Amore was certainly fun but it felt more like reading a manga or watching an anime rather than playing an actual game. Most choices you make don't effect the final outcome. There is only one question per “chapter” that effects who you ultimately choose. Regardless, Ristorante Amore was funny, fresh, had great character art and is definitely worth the (free!) download, even for you asexual people out there. Final score for me is 75/100. Good job Cyanide Tea.
Apr 16th, 2012 2 people agree 1 person doesn't
Well-executed and creative subversion of the otome vn genre. A must read if you're looking for something that breaks the mold.
May 28th, 2013 0 people agree 0 people don't
Well I'll be honest. This game entertained me more than anything I've played in a while!
I downloaded this not knowing anything about it-- and I was pleasantly surprised! The story it tells is pretty interesting, and I liked the 'choose your fate' sort of options. I'll definitely go and see what happens with other options. I gave it a 10 because I had a lot of fun with this game.
This is a playthrough I recorded and more parts will come.
Youtube.com
Again, this game is very engaging and sometimes hilarious. Or maybe I'm just weird.
Mar 28th, 2013 0 people agree 0 people don't
For a free visual novel, Ristorante Amore (RA) is a really good deal. The story and the narative is nice, although the CG art sometimes doesn't look as good as the in-game animation.
The good (and might've been bad) thing about Ristorante Amore is that the flags are pretty obvious to those who are familiar with VN genre. I got all the romantic endings in about 2-3 hours without even peeking at the walkthrough. :)
And I love how the main character interacts with other characters. There are subtle differences when the main character went to different route, but in the end there is an overall consistency for the personality of the main character. The game is open enough for players to tackle each romance route without actually having the main character changing personality. I felt like I saw different layers of a person instead.
I am hooked on the music though. The music did a great job in building atmosphere for the whole game. I have to say, whoever did the music, you're doing a great job. All in all, Ristorante Amore is a good experience, albeit a short one. :)
Mar 3rd, 2013 0 people agree 0 people don't
A nice visual novel. The premise was really interesting- recommend playing beyond the prologue before "putting down the game" - an interesting surprise awaits. A good effort :) enjoyable to play.
Nov 10th, 2012 0 people agree 0 people don't
Pros:
- great soundtrack
- nice twist in the plot
- blinking characters (!)
- lots of things to configure (speed, loudness, etc)
Cons:
- quite short
- some actions are strange to me
- no "real" Anime-style; looks rather like a video game
Conclusion:
RisAmo is quite ok for a visual novel. You put a lot of time in this, so I won't be so critical. It is a free game after all! But there are still negative aspects...After all I don't think that I wasted my time playing RisAmo! Try it!
Jul 28th, 2012 0 people agree 0 people don't
To be fairly honest, I stopped playing after a while - I have finished books or games I wasn't so fond of before, but when I notice I'm jumping every time the "and a few more hours passed" sign appears hoping that it's the last one, I suppose there's no point in going on.
I can see a good amount of effort put into this game, but the amount of polish doesn't alleviate the anatomical errors (particularly the way the hands are drawn in some poses) on one side or the story, which I personally didn't find interesting enough to finish the game.
I understand that the first part is probably supposed to be a bit cliché and not so compelling, but the second part didn't keep me there either, in the end.
It also felt a bit preachy at times, I can think of one bit where one of the characters is essentially told that trying to help his female co-worker is being rude and a chauvinist and making assumptions about her strength... while essentially making assumptions about the intentions behind such actions.
I did, however, appreciate the editing/testing work. I didn't find any glaring errors in the text or bugs disrupting almost play through. A good amount of effort seems to have been taken into keeping the graphic style consistent and customising the UI, and the music tracks are unobtrusive and well chosen for the setting.
