Pastry Lovers

About

"Pastry Lovers" is a Visual Novel set in the fantasy Carseland Kingdom, where you play as Sakura, a young girl with dreams of becoming a renowned pastry chef. Enroll in the prestigious St. Patras College to learn from professionals and develop your skills, while also forming friendships and alliances with unique classmates. The game features multiple storylines and over 10 endings, allowing you to discover different outcomes based on your choices and actions.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player Play through the game's story or campaign solo

75%

Audience ScoreBased on 187 reviews

story30 positive mentions

grinding11 negative mentions

The game features charming artwork and character designs that enhance the overall experience.
The story offers a mix of romance and cooking, providing an engaging narrative with multiple routes and endings.
Despite translation issues, the game is enjoyable and provides a fun, light-hearted experience for fans of the otome genre.

The English translation is poorly executed, with numerous grammatical errors and awkward phrasing that detracts from the story.
Gameplay can become repetitive, particularly with the stat-raising mechanics and the need to repeatedly visit characters for affection.
The character development is lacking, with many characters feeling flat and their relationships with the protagonist not being well-explored.

story
137 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
22%
72%
6%
The story of the game is centered around an orphan aspiring to become a pastry chef, featuring relatable characters and a mix of light-hearted and deeper themes. While some players found the narrative engaging and enjoyable, many criticized the execution, particularly due to poor translation and predictable plotlines, which detracted from the overall experience. Despite its flaws, the game offers multiple endings and character routes, appealing to those who appreciate a blend of romance and light mystery.
- “The story is sweet and silly with a cast of supporting characters, and multiple endings for each route.”
- “The storyline is pleasing, a bit of mystery thrown in, and just enough side events to keep it interesting without taking away from the main story.”
- “The story is wonderful and moving, and you only get the whole picture after playing all routes, which makes the game even more interesting.”
- “The story... I think the general idea is kind of cute and could be interesting, but god, the execution is horrible in so many ways.”
- “Unfortunately, the translation for this game is horrendous, and it really ruined the story for me.”
- “The translation is terrible, the menu design is really bad, the story is shallow and predictable, and the game in general controls poorly.”
gameplay
33 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
27%
64%
9%
The gameplay of this visual novel is a mixed bag, with some players enjoying the stat management and dating simulator mechanics, while others criticize the repetitive nature and poor writing. Although it offers various routes and mini-games, the overall execution is seen as lacking, with some mechanics feeling unbalanced or unclear. While it can provide a decent amount of gameplay hours, many reviewers suggest that the quality does not justify the price, especially given the translation issues and minimalistic gameplay.
- “The gameplay is stat-based, but mixes things up periodically so that you're building stats in different ways for different systems.”
- “I love the stat mechanics, as they make it feel like you can actually strategically work towards getting a good ending as opposed to hoping you click the right answers.”
- “Highly recommended for those who like a medium-length (between 10-30 hours) visual novel with stat management and dating simulator mechanics and random facts on a large variety of pastries, desserts, beverages, and eastern culture and mythology.”
- “As a visual/interactive novel, this doesn't feature any notable gameplay; it's just a lot of clicking through badly written dialogue that would never have been accepted or published in print, which poses the question, 'how did something this badly written end up on Steam?'”
- “Gameplay: 2/10 (make a story enjoyable. This game feels like someone just read me his autobiography in pastry class with 0 storyline. No story.)”
- “I think this game is definitely worth it, being an extremely bad otome game player (oops), after 4 hours of gameplay, I have yet to complete a single route.”
music
31 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
23%
68%
10%
The music in the game receives mixed reviews, with many players appreciating its charm and soothing qualities that enhance the atmosphere, particularly in relation to the visuals. However, some find the soundtrack limited and occasionally annoying, suggesting that it can detract from the overall experience. Overall, while the music is generally considered pleasant and fitting, opinions vary on its impact and quality.
- “The soundtrack is cute and magical, very special to me.”
- “Not only does it consist of lovely storylines and plots that you can highly expect from an otome visual novel, the soundtracks are especially soothing and pleasing to the ears, which fits perfectly together with its beautiful illustrations and breathtaking scenery designs.”
- “The music undeniably suits the characters and makes the game very atmospheric.”
- “The music is annoying; I ended up going to the volume mixer on the computer.”
- “The soundtrack was pretty limited, though charming in its own way.”
- “The music left much to be desired as well.”
graphics
26 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
46%
42%
12%
The graphics of the game receive mixed reviews, with many praising the artwork as beautiful and appealing, particularly the character designs and backgrounds. However, several users note a lack of consistency in the art style, suggesting that different artists contributed to various elements, leading to a disjointed visual experience. Overall, while the graphics enhance the game's charm, the inconsistency detracts from the overall presentation.
- “The graphics are beautiful, the pastries look positively delicious, and the music is charming.”
- “Graphics are pleasing to the eye and add to the cute and complex story.”
- “A lot of lovely visuals and effort went into this game and the storyline is deep and has lots to explore!”
- “It's like they just decided that they got bored with making this and just slapped any artwork for the endings.”
- “The art style for the sprites is inconsistent.”
- “Something also bothering me is the fact this game seems like it's pulled together from free assets; there is no definitive art style in this game, and not even the main characters remain consistent between sprite and CG.”
grinding
11 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be tedious and repetitive, often comparing it to the frustration of clicking through a visual novel with slow text progression. Many reviews highlight the extensive stat collection and attribute farming required, which can lead to a lack of engagement and a sense of monotony, although some players who enjoy grinding may still find value in the experience. Overall, the grinding is seen as a significant drawback, making the game feel laborious rather than rewarding.
- “I didn't hate it enough to want to rage-quit the game, but it did get pretty tedious.”
- “Cons - it's very grindy at the beginning.”
- “It got very grindy real quick too.”
character development
8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
63%
13%
25%
While the game features stunning character designs and engaging interactions, many users feel that the character development is lacking, with some stating it is virtually non-existent despite the visual appeal. The beautiful aesthetics and backgrounds are praised, but they do not compensate for the absence of meaningful character growth.
- “The character design and interaction is beautiful and entertaining.”
- “The character designs are just so lovely, and the characters themselves engaging.”
- “Makes you think how much work has been poured into drawing such poses and keeping up with the extremely difficult character design.”
- “Character development is non-existent.”
- “When I say the character development isn't there, I mean it.”
humor
7 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game largely stems from its poor translation, which many players found unintentionally funny, leading to laughter over awkward sentences and inconsistent dialogue. While the translation issues detracted from the overall experience, they also contributed to a quirky charm that some players appreciated, alongside a feisty main character and engaging love interests. Overall, the humor is a mixed bag, with many finding it entertaining despite the flaws.
- “The poor translation made me laugh a lot of times and the weird plot was hilarious as well.”
- “The translation to English wasn't always smooth, but I understood what it meant and found the odd sentences kind of funny.”
- “Throw in a surprisingly feisty main character, some appealing love interests, and some startling changes in gameplay... well, this game can entertain you for a good 4-10 hours, depending on how tolerant you are of a sometimes hilariously bad translation.”
stability
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game has been reported to have numerous glitches and translation issues, which can significantly impact gameplay, including freezing during key moments. While some players find these problems manageable, others feel they detract from the overall experience, making it difficult to enjoy the game fully.
- “It has a lot of glitches and the translation is very stiff.”
- “But it's so buggy that I can't really play it.”
- “A bug at one of the pastry tests 'freezes' the game.”
emotional
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The emotional aspect of "Pastry Lovers" is characterized as wholesome, focusing on the uplifting journey of Sakura, an orphaned girl. While the game avoids darker themes often found in otome games, some players expressed discomfort with certain terminology used within the narrative.
- “Pastry Lovers is a sweet and wholesome game about a girl, Sakura, who was abandoned by her family and raised at an orphanage in the West Isle.”
- “It was wholesome.”
- “- Simple and not dark or heart-breaking like some otomes.”
atmosphere
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
150%
The atmosphere of the game is enhanced by its quirky translation, which adds charm, and is further complemented by a fitting musical score that aligns well with the characters, creating an immersive experience.
- “I didn't really take issue with the translation being rough in certain places; I thought it added some quirkiness to the atmosphere.”
- “The music undeniably suits the characters and makes the game very atmospheric.”
- “The atmosphere felt flat and uninspired, lacking any real sense of immersion.”
- “Despite the game's potential, the atmosphere was dull and failed to evoke any emotional response.”
- “The environments were lifeless, making it hard to feel connected to the game world.”
replayability
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
300%
"Pastry Lovers" is noted for its short length and high replayability, offering a stress-free experience that encourages players to revisit the game multiple times.
- “Pastry Lovers is a short and replayable otome that is stress-free.”
- “Pastry Lovers is a short game that lacks depth, making replayability feel limited.”
- “While the game is enjoyable, there isn't enough variety to keep me coming back for more.”
- “The storyline is too linear, which significantly reduces the incentive to replay.”