The Closing Shift ☕︎

Basically the closing shift is an indie phycological horror game made by the absolutely WONDERFUL Japanese indie developers Chilla's Art, where you play as an unnamed girl working the, wouldn't you guess it, closing shift. 

[ ⚠︎ Disclaimer!! This blog post will have spoilers for the game "The Closing Shift" at the "STORY" section of this post! I recommend that you play the game/watch a playthrough before reading!!]

Atmosphere

Chilla's art has a very distinct aesthetic which is prevalent in nearly every game they've ever made, for example, the lighting in many of their games can be dim and ominous, maybe even gritty in certain scenarios, but at times this formula is broken for games like one of my personal favorites, "The Convenience Store" where the stark white artificial lights of the store act as a sort of eerie beacon out in the darkness that is the outskirts of the in game town. The way they design and light their environments invokes the same fear you feel walking around your house alone at night as a child, absolutely amazing!! 

Main Character

The main character is a young, nameless girl, which is described to be quite pretty by various different NPC's you interact with as you work. I have seen some people critiquing the choice to give the MC such little character, but I actually find this to be an ingenious choice! With the faceless protagonist, it feels as if this story could happen to anyone and it really emphasizes the fact that the main character really is just some random person in terrible circumstances. Though the main character does face sexism/harassment due to her being a woman, I feel that players of any gender can empathize with the uncomfortable situations the MC finds herself in. 

Non Player Characters 

The NPC's are really what makes this game feel "alive", if that makes any sense? They flesh out the world through dialogue and natural worldbuilding which not only builds suspense, but also allows your mind to wander a worry even further as you get closer and closer to the end of the week. For example, one of the interactions with a group of teenage girls is the most standout example of exceptional dialogue. 

These girls don't talk directly to the main character, but amongst themselves, which makes the information fed to us feel much more natural. They discuss two different individuals, a "creepy looking guy" and a "dangerous person," both of which are important characters in both of the game's endings. At this point in the story, the main character as well as the player are on edge, and hearing the girls whisper about strange men in the area? The interaction honestly sends chills down my spine. I could go on and on about all the NPC interactions, like the teenage boys, the strange man (who orders literally nothing but milk), and the kind woman, but I think I should get to discussing the actual- 

STORY

[ ⚠︎ Disclaimer!! There are spoilers past this point of the post!! Go play/watch a playthrough the game now, you silly!!]

[ DAY ONE ]

Our main character leaves her modest apartment building after realizing she's late for work. She lives on the upper levels of the building, on floor two to be exact. This detail is important for later. As you walk down the steps of the complex you see a phone lying on the ground playing music. As you head over to your car you can see a man looking for his phone in the general area. He snatches the phone from you then hurriedly leaves, and the main character seemingly pays him no mind as she gets I'm her car and heads to work. 

You arrive at a knockoff Starbucks branded "Chilla's Coffee," with a chinchilla in a green circle that mimics the Starbucks logo. Walking around the counter and into the backroom you meet with the character "Funahashi Senpai," your co-worker and superior, who harshly scolds you for your lateness, which the main character apologizes for. He instructs you to leave your phone in the locker to make sure you don't text anyone during work hours.

He instructs you to watch the tutorial videos, which are actually gameplay videos of the creators plating the game, which I personally find quite charming. The UI in the videos does have all of its words in Japanese, but it isn't hard to find out what to do based off the visuals. Also, standing next to the TV you use to watch the instructional tapes is a whiteboard with various ingredient combinations for specific drinks, or as the game calls them, "Chillapuchinos." 

Now, here we reach the point where we mostly just go through a large portion of the different NPC's ordering drinks and you making them, so here is a list of all the NPC's you encounter on day one! (In order of appearance of course!) 

[Day One: Non Player Characters]

• Takashi - [A disgruntled father, upset over the high prices of the drinks at the café, as well as feeling uncomfortable by the atmosphere within the building, both comments are honestly pretty reasonable] 
• Saran - [A young girl who tells you about the rising stalker cases as well as warning you to be careful (whilst also complementing herself for how attractive she thinks she is)] 
• Kenta, Koji, Shoki, & Taka - [A group of indecisive  school boy as seen by their uniforms (A black long sleeved uniform with golden buttons going down the middle), they repeatedly talk back in forth before asking if you remember their long order] 
• Hasaku - [A private investigator asking if you've seen anything suspicious before informing you of multiple harassment cases that had happened recently. He advises you to close early before leaving]  

-----

After Hasaku leaves the café, you begin to clean up, but within a few seconds the power goes out to the building, so you are forced to go into the back room and reset the breaker. You find multiple cartons of milk on the floor in the back. You put the cartons of milk back before you head home for the day. 

[ DAY TWO ]

After walking out of the apartments, nothing seems to be out of the ordinary, so you head to work and talk to Funahashi Senpai who is standing behind the counter in his work apron. He scolds you again for being late and asks you to have more enthusiasm before he leaves work. You put away your things before you begin your shift. 

[Day Two: Non Player Characters]

• Nameless Foreign Man - [He quickly gives you his order before shouting over at you, saying you do not need to "Nihongo Jozu" him, a term which is used in Japan to express to foreigners that they have good Japanese. He expresses that something feels off in the store and then offhandedly mentions a "guy over there" but when looking around you can't see anyone else around]
• Hoodie Guy - [He silently walks in, intently staring at you as he orders two orders of just plain milk like a FREAK. He silently walks away]
• Shoya - [An uncomfortably flirty young man who is insistent that you give him your name or phone number, before asking for what drinks you recommend. You can either order him the drink you recommended, or give him a fake phone number] 

[ DAY THREE ]

When you head to your car to go to work you bump into a lady with a baby in a stroller, who gets upset at you before yelling at you to watch where you're going, Then you get a perspective of someone watching you drive away. 

Funahashi Senpai tells you that today is your first closing shift before asking you if you get any weird customers at night. When you express worries about being stalked he laughs in your face and tells you that you aren't attractive enough to have a stalker before leaving. 

[Day Three: Non Player Characters]

• Remi, Mayumi, & Mari - [Mari goes to the bathroom as Remi and Mayumi order. Remi makes a derogatory comment about Mayumi's weight as the two of them argue about what Mari ordered. As the girls sit down the aforementioned conversation about suspicious activity in the area happens]
• Kaiya & Akria - [Kaiya is an elderly and seemingly homeless man who doesn't seem to have enough money to pay for a drink. Akira, a younger kind man offers to pay for the drink and Kaiya thanks him before the two of them both leave] 

As you get up to buss the tables and strange man stares into the CCTV system as he stands in the driveway of the restaurant. If you go outside to check where he's standing nobody will be there. Checking the CCTV again will reveal him to be gone. If you go out and look at the order screen in the driveway you will see a creepy love letter taped onto the screen, seemingly addressed to you.

The scene then cuts to someone sitting on a ratty bed as they eat a fruit [an apple?],  in an unidentified room. 

[ DAY FOUR ]

You receive an uncomfortable letter from the same person remarking that he, "knows you best, second to only your parents." Before saying that, "today is our anniversary." Even more concerning, your car has broken down and you need to take the bus to go to work today.

A man gets on the bus and peers over at you a few times, before the bus stops your spot. When you get off the bus, you can see a man standing up in his seat, staring at you with his hand pressed longingly against the window. 

You put away your stuff and talk to Senpai as per usual, but you do frighten him by barging into the bathroom as he was leaving. Senpai hurriedly leaves you to start working. 

[Day Four: Non Player Characters]

• Drive-through Woman - [She orders her drink and quickly drives away. As you take her order you can see a strange man sitting in the back of the store who never takes his eyes off you, even as he walks out the café]
• Yoko - [A kind older woman who gives you a rosary which is meant to ward off evil. She expresses how much her and her son love the food here before leaving ]
• Idol Girl - [The girl seems to be an Idol recruiter who wants the MC to give up her phone number. MC refuses and the Idol orders then quickly leaves]
• Mametaro - [A weird shirtless man who is insistent that its too hot for him to wear proper clothes. Once you inform him of how cold it is outside (as it is currently snowing at this point in the game), he leaves] 

-----

You finish your cleaning as per usual, then the power goes out and a giant digital clock begins to tick down, the red glowing numbers being the only lighting as you work. Shadowy figures walk into the building and give you their orders, I believe that this minigame is unbeatable, but I may be wrong. 

Once you fail you hear a loud distorted laugh before waking up back in your bedroom.

[ DAY FIVE ]

You wake up from your bed and  you hear a weird noise come from one of the lower areas of the apartment complex, going around to investigate you realize that the noise is coming from someone [A child?] jumping around outside. You then head to work.

Oddly enough you don't see senpai at the beginning of this day, and all your items seem to already be in your locker. Hasuka returns to tell you thanks for informing him of the weird occurrences in the area

[Day Five: Non Player Characters]

• Nana & Sumika - [The two girls walk in and order before Sumika asks if there is a photoshoot, as she saw someone outside taking photos of the store, and probably our Main Character. The two walk away as they discuss Sumika's son, who is a hermit]
• Stroller Woman - [The same stroller woman you ran into before, it seems now that she's just pushing the stroller around, but there doesn't actually seem to be a baby inside (this could just be a game model issue)] 
• Machiko - [An older woman who remarks on something being strange before giving you her order. She then asks if someone is preparing the stores antenna, as she saw someone standing on the roof] 

After the work day ends you can go up to check the roof. You see that the vent at the top of the store is open, and as you climb in you can see that someone has been living inside the walls of the building. The Main character begins to panic saying she needs to close the store, fast. 

As you go to flip the "Open" sign to closed, an odd man runs up to the door and stares into the glass. If you attempt to leave the building the man will attack you and you will get a game over. At this point in the game you can now get two different endings! 

ENDINGS

Ending One: Failed Escape

The Main character attempts to use a screwdriver found in the stalkers room to open up the vent's, she crawls through to outside with her keys, gets in her car and attempts to drive away, but the stalker is waiting in the back of her car, and he forces her to crash the car before he (presumably) kills her. 

Ending Two: "True" Ending

You can get onto the roof of the store (where you can see the dead body of Hasuka in the snow) and drop one of the bricks laying on the roof on the head of the stalker, killing him. After doing this you get a text sequence where the MC says that she went to the police and told them about it, but after they went back, the body was nowhere to be found.

As you sit and watch the TV you can hear a phone ringing outside, at first you think that its someone else's, but then you realize its yours. You go down to get it off the bottom floor of the apartment complex then you head back inside. As you answer the call on the phone in your apartment, the camera pans out, revealing something (or someone) from inside your closet sliding the door open. 

All in all, 10/10 game, absolutely ADORE IT, and I would recommend every indie horror game fan to play it! I'm practically on the edge of my seat writing this right now! Thank you all so much for listening to me ramble, and I hope you all have a great Day/Evening/Night!! 

˚₊‧꒰ა [Seraphim Loves You!! (/Platonic OFC)] ໒꒱ ‧₊˚