Fantasy Tavern Sextet Vol.1 New World Days Review – Open for Business

Sometimes, I ask myself, “I wonder what eroge will end up on my desk next.” I never once thought a game named Fantasy Tavern Sextet: Vol.1 New World Days would show up. Surprisingly, with a title so pandering, I was expecting something more vulgar. However, I then realized that “sextet” is defined as a set of six people, and I felt like the degenerate that I never wanted to become. Still, there’s a rather sweet story tied into this comedic fantasy eroge.

Fantasy Tavern Sextet: Vol.1 New World Days is the first part of a fantasy story where a nameless protagonist finds himself sucked into another dimension. The story’s opening is paced quickly as you meet the main character, who works as a cook at a maid cafe. After closing, he opens a locker, where he is then transported to another world and saved by a bar owner named Lupine.

The two travel back to her tavern known as the Stray Sheep, where they meet some patrons, and it’s decided that you will be the new cook. Additionally, a catgirl shows up named Daisy, who acts as the loud character in the group. There’s plenty of interaction between the cast, but this entry focuses on forming a relationship with Lupine and Daisy.

Nothing about the story is “good,” but it’s also not bad. The main lead is actually not your typical horny main protagonist featured in other qureate games. Instead, he’s a little more thoughtful and understanding of the characters around him, still, expect the typical accidental moments of him walking in on characters changing or falling on a character and not realizing where his hand is.

For the most part, the game tries to keep a comedic tone throughout the first half, with some moments on backstory and worldbuilding. You’ll have a better idea of the world by the mid-point of this adventure, and then it turns into more of a romance thereafter. It plays it safe, and I wasn’t ever really bored at any moment, so I can say that’s a plus from me on the story as a whole. I will say that I found it interesting how furries were seen as rodents in the world, which played some significance in Daisy’s character and some scenes.

Laziness seems to hold Fantasy Tavern Sextet: Vol.1 New World Days back from being much better as the story has all the workings to create a nicely balanced choice system but doesn’t use it. During gameplay, players can make choices, but none of them matter, save for the last choice where you get to choose one or both of the girls. This is a missed opportunity as some of the choices could have weighed heavily on the narrative.

For instance, you can choose not to kiss the girls, but they’ll kiss anyway. Sure, my first time through, I chose to kiss both of them, which made the scene of them finding out so significant, but then I replayed and found out that it didn’t really matter, and the story will play out the same every time. There are other similar choices in the game, none of which affect the outcome; you will always get romantic with these girls.

Although the ending leaves readers on a cliffhanger, I think the story handles its runtime well. The entire narrative is so lighthearted and vanilla that you’ll complete it in one sitting without feeling like it wasted your time. Further, it does well on building up this fantasy world that leaves the next volume open to explore more about the characters and introduce another duo into the mix.

The art is rather good, which has become standard from this developer. The characters are well animated and have a range of emotions that fit their voices. There weren’t any costume changes that I can recall, but there is a good batch of environment backgrounds and CGs. Sadly, the music was just annoying, and I turned that down within the first hour.

Fantasy Tavern Sextet: Vol.1 New World Days is a decent romantic comedy that doesn’t force you to play as a protagonist with a one-track mind. There’s some depth, but not much as the choices don’t matter, and you’ll probably forget about any emotional beats once the romance kicks in. Still, I’m looking forward to the next volumes to see where this fantasy goes.