Back in the Kitchen with Cook, Serve, Delicious 2

For some reason I have a weird fondness for food games.  I have no idea where the desire to play cooking sims comes from...I hardly cook for myself.  That's why I was extremely surprised at how much I enjoyed the self-proclaimed "hard core restaurant sim" Cook, Serve, Delicious.  I've logged 52 hours of button mashing, food prepping madness in the original and was pumped when I heard that a second CSD was on the way.  Now that Cook, Serve, Delicious 2 has landed I have found myself frantically trying to prepare orders, do chores, and keep my patrons from angrily storming out of my restaurant.

So far I've only had time to spend a few hours with CSD 2, so there's a good chance that I haven't stumbled upon all the new features.  I can report that the gameplay is largely unchanged--it's still a whirlwind of pushing the perfect button combos as speedily as you can.  What has changed are some of the restaurant features.  Instead of simply having a few prep stations (...a few means 8 or 9) you also have "holding stations" that allow you to partially prep some food and then keep it ready for any customers who come in--basically the food is already cooked and you just have to finish throwing it all together.  Or, for foods that require no prep (like simple dishes--chicken nuggets, tater tots, etc.) you will have those automatically available (in a limited quantity).  Holding stations are great for hectic rush hour times--you can move people who want simple foods through quickly and focus on those that require more steps.  The downside is that it's another set of stations that demand your attention.  If you don't pay attention to the quantities left, you can be left high and dry during a rush hour and have to completely divert your attention away from filling orders in order to restock.

A tiny fragment of the foods to purchase.  Yummy!

The sheer quantity of different types of food in the game is impressive--soups, breakfast foods, drinks, entrees, side dishes...there has to be over 100.  Not only that, but the food looks absolutely delicious.  I think CSD 2 is the only game that makes me hungry while I am playing it.  I can usually feel myself salivating more while I play--the art style for the food is that realistic.

One big change that seems to have many CSD players divided is the campaign system.  Players have a choice to either start off in their own bare bones restaurant and run it or to play one of the many "cook for hire" (C4H) scenarios where they can choose to work in a certain restaurant.  Each C4H restaurant has specific number of challenges that increase in difficulty as you progress.  Players earn experience from these scenarios and can also unlock special items that can be used to decorate their own restaurants.  As players gain experience they earn both levels and "stars."  With increasing levels and stars more items to decorate your restaurant become available and players unlock more C4H restaurants.

Some of the unique restaurants in "cook for hire."

I started with C4H because I was initially confused about what I was supposed to be doing.  The C4H menu is large and filled with a giant array of different restaurants--the one little button for your own restaurant seems bland compared to the sprawling menu of other places to work.  C4H is a great place to start--you can gain some experience, learn how to use holding stations, unlock items, and start earning some cash to flesh out the pantry for your own restaurant.  Each day at one of the C4H restaurants offers different levels of rewards (bronze, silver, and gold)  based off the number of bad or average orders.  To earn a gold medal you must have a perfect day...this can be tougher than it sounds.

I've enjoyed messing around in the various C4H restaurants but I will admit that it feels odd not to be in my own restaurant.  I know that I could be doing it, but the C4H restaurants just look so dang interesting.  The feeling of being in your own restaurant and growing it from a grubby, no-stars slob-fest into a lobster serving, luxury palace is completely gone.  What was the focus of the original game seems to be an uninteresting side quest in CSD 2.  This is particularly sad because there are some neat design functions that allow players to personalize their restaurant with items that they unlock along the way.

My current restaurant design.  Eclectic, maybe?

Another point of contention with some players has been the fact that the game was released in an unfinished state.  Most of the unfinished aspects of the game were fairly minor (no mouse support for menus) but there were a few that were slightly miffing--a half-finished set of tutorials, missing prices for food, a buzz system that wasn't working, no listed food detractors.  The developer--literally one guy--has promised to polish up the rough edges and fix any issues that come to light.

Even with these launch issues I've been having fun testing out the many new foods and C4H restaurants.  I've unlocked a tsunami of items and have designed my own restaurant into a bizarre combination of odd art and wood flooring.  Mostly I'm learning the even tougher task of prepping foods with many, many more items and balancing the numerous prep and holding stations.

It's possible that you will read some negative reviews based around the unfinished state that the game was released in.  It is a little frustrating that the game wasn't completely finished on release, but once it is finished it promises to be a food filled adventure that is on-par or even better than the original.  For only $12.99 there is sooooo much cooking to do.

UPDATE 9/18/17:  Many of the issues that were present upon release have been fixed.  There is now mouse support in the main menus and the missing prices buzz and food detractors has been fixed.  Chubigans has promised to continue working to fix and add more to the game.

Cook, Serve, Delicious: Battle Kitchen and New Game +

Some games are really easy to pick up after some time not playing them.  The indie restaurant/cooking sim Cook, Serve, Delicious is not one of those games.  This weekend I decided to return to the frantic world of correctly filling orders, managing chores,  weird food related dates, and impressing snotty celebrities.  Let's just say that you really need some practice to perfect the keystrokes in CSD.

I also decided to check out the "Battle Kitchen" addition which came out a few months ago.  "Battle Kitchen" includes a bunch of really great features to keep you engulfed in the chaotic world of fictional restaurant management.  Each week a new challenge is added that tests your skills.  The challenges are themed and include a Steam leaderboard.  The challenge this week was themed around meat (namely steak), potatoes (hashbrowns), and beer.  Each order consisted of a steak, some hashbrowns, and a beer to top it off.  The stakes (or steaks!) are high--each time you mess up an order you are penalized time.  Orders must be completed quickly and accurately to earn a good place on the leaderboard.  You can re-try the challenge as much as you want and your fastest time is posted.  My best attempts earned me a place somewhere around 176.  Not that impressive.

Weekly challenge screen.

Besides the weekly challenge there are also other challenges.  The Strike challenge requires you to make as many orders as you can before you make three mistakes.  There are challenges with different food sets that push you to limit your mistakes.  Three strikes and you're done.  The Endurance challenge pushes players to achieve as many perfect orders as they can with rapidly changing conditions.  You are pushed to make a snap decision mid-stream that will insert a new food or upgrade a current food making the challenge much more difficult.  Out of all the new challenge modes I felt like I had the most success in the endurance challenge.

Battle Kitchen also added in several options for up to 4-player multiplayer.  You can play co-op with a friend or challenge a group of friends.  The downside is that you need gamepads for the other players.

Besides the great new play options there have also been some cosmetic changes.  Players can pick from a wide variety of chef themed profile pictures or unlock special characters by earning stars in the challenge modes.  The graphics have been improved and some of the food that looked a little weird before looks much more delicious.

Special unlockable profile pictures from other indie games.

I thought I wanted to start a new campaign and was greeted by the option to create a new game using "new game +" mode.  The selection screen is almost like a warning and they aren't kidding.  New game + is extremely difficult and will wreck your life.  You start off with 6 prep stations and can have "Super Rush Hours" in which orders pour in as fast as you can fill them.  On the plus side, you start off with $15,000 to spend.  I only lasted two days in new game + before I decided to give up.

If you haven't played any Cook, Serve, Delicious you should!  It's a highly addictive and fast paced game that is fun and challenging.  The "Battle Kitchen" patch has added a lot of great content that makes it all that much more fun to play.