Developer: Trinket Studios
Publisher: Adult Swim Games
RRP: £15.49 (Gog.com. Humblebundle and Steam)
Released: 20th November 2017
Available on: Gog.com. Humblebundle and Steam
Played Using: An Xbox 360 Control Pad
Approximate game length: 12 Hours
In a world filled with monsters mankind has done the only thing one could sensibly do… it hunts and eats them, often with a lovely garnish. The thing is that might seem like a stupid premise but I honestly have no doubt in my mind that had monsters existed that this is exact the answer we would have come up with.
In Battle Chef Brigade you play as Mina (and later a different character), a budding chef who wants to become part of the Battle Chef Brigade. However joining the Brigade isn’t a simple as signing a piece of paper. Only the best are
allowed to join and so a competition is held where all the hopefuls compete and the winner gets the honor of taking their place among the Brigade.
So the question is how does this game portray the act of becoming a Battle Chef? What mechanics does is use? Well actually it uses two very different game
styles, its one part 2D side scrolling brawler and one part match three puzzle game.
The match three mechanics are used in the cooking aspect of the game. What’s interesting is that you are the one who decides what gems get added to the mix which is something I don’t think any other match three game has done. If one has I’m unaware of it. Of course in order to cook you require ingredients, that’s where the brawling comes in. You have to hunt for the ingredients of your dishes, killing all sorts of monsters and harvesting fruit and vegetables. This is all done with a timer counting down of course, so everything from hunting, planning, cooking and serving the dish must be done before the countdown has run its course.
You have to challenge other contestants in the competition to a duel in order to advance. You can only do one a day and its best to issue a challenge after you’ve exhausted all the jobs you can do for the day so that you can perhaps buy some equipment first.
Wait did I mention jobs and equipment? I did indeed. There are tasks you can perform in the hub town that will pay (as well as teach you some of the mechanics of the game). That money can in turn be used to purchase equipment that you can take into a duel which may make your life a bit easier.
You can change the equipment you would take into a duel at any point before a challenge is issued. This means that you have to make sure you have exactly what you need upon your person before. This can be quite difficult especially as you have no idea before hand who the judges are and what their tastes as like.
As I just mentioned your duels are overseen by a judge (or judges in some cases), these judges will request a specific taste to appear within the dish, these are represented within the match three mechanic as gems. The gems have
three levels, and three of a lower level can be combined to create one of the next level. They will also want specific ingredients in the dish meaning that you have to hunt down a specific creature and include at least some of its components in your dish. This can be quite problematic as sometimes a judge will demand a taste that the ingredient just doesn’t provide.
As the game progresses it becomes quite challenging with poison and fragile ingredients making an appearance.
I have to say that I really do love the art style of this game, especially the way the background artwork is created in beautiful watercolours. The animation of the characters is smooth and there wasn’t a single character that I didn’t enjoy, at least on some level.
This game is great, I wasn’t sure what to expect walking into it because I’ve seen so many games with match three mechanics that just do the same thing over and over. This one though is very different, the brawling is fun as is the act of cooking! It helps that the story is also pretty engaging as well.
If this appeals to you perhaps try;
Sundered
Ironcast
