Cookin' Up Monster Bits

Every once in awhile someone decides that mashing together a bunch of random game genres is a good idea.  Crypt of the Necrodancer managed to bring together a unique combination of rhythm game, dungeon crawler, and roguelike into a fun (but freakin' hard) game.  It was with this in mind that I decided to take a gamble on another game with a seemingly strange blend of genres.  Battle Chef Brigade is an engaging blend of fighting game, match three puzzle game, and cooking game.  It sounds bizarre...but it works.

The story of the game involves a young woman named Mina who works in her family restaurant.  Mina is a young adult who is ready to strike out on her own but feels a strong sense of loyalty to her family.  Her dream is to compete in a countrywide cooking contest for a chance to join an elite group of warrior cooks known as the Battle Chef Brigade.  She decides to run away and finds herself in the middle of a fierce competition full of amusing characters.

There's a pattern to the days that Mina spends at the tournament.  Each day she can complete a set of three jobs to earn some gold.  Gold can be used to purchase new items that fall into three categories--combat, ingredients, and cooking implements.  Mina is also expected to challenge a different character every day.  The competition involves killing monsters, preparing the parts, and then presenting them to a judge to receive a score.

To prepare a dish, Mina must first kill a bunch of monsters and take their parts back to the cooking area.  Each monster part has its own gem pattern and is dropped into a pan (or oven) and then the gems are part of a match three game.   When gems are matched up they will upgrade--there are three different levels of gems and points are awarded according to the total level of gems in your dish at the end of the competition.  It's very important to try to upgrade as many gems as you can.  Doing so is no small task though as each challenge is timed--you really have to pay attention to how much time you have left.  Every challenge is judged by either an individual judge or a panel of judges.  The judges all have their own preference for ingredients--fiery, watery, or earthy.  Each match also has a theme ingredient.  In order to get the most out of your dish, it's very important to keep the preferences of the judge in mind and to make sure that you include the theme ingredient.  At the end of the match the dishes are scored and the character with the highest score is declared the winner.

I'm sure it doesn't sound very complicated, but matching gems gets harder as different, more demanding components are added.  Ingredients with bones, poisoned items that explode, fragile gems that will break if they're moved too much...matching gets complicated toward the end of the game.  Challengers also get more talented and dishes require more thought and careful planning.

Altogether, I found Battle Chef Brigade to be a fun adventure with a unique style.  I would recommend it to anyone who is looking for something that is distinctive from other games.  There's a bit of so many different genres that there's bound to be something enjoyable for everyone.

Pros:

--Cute, positive story.  It's largely based around the competition, but there are other events that occur and you're given a nice backstory for the main characters.  It's largely about working together to overcome a threat.  (I don't want to spoil it)

--Anime style.  All the characters have their own vibe and the art style in the game is definitely anime inspired.  I enjoyed the animated cutscenes and the dialogue that was part of the story.

--Diverse cast of characters.  The cooking competition is filled with some very unique characters.  Thrash is an orc with bulging muscles--he looks very intimidating, but he's actually a really nice orc.  Ziggy is a lanky guy who is always accompanied by a strange floating blob of goo...who he claims is a ghost (there's more to Ziggy than meets the eye).  Cezar is a grumpy dwarf who hates it when you try to make small talk with him.  The townspeople who provide Mina's daily jobs for gold are also delightful characters--Belchior is an eccentric inventor with a house full of cute cats; Thorn is a crabby, elfish woman who grudgingly helps with hunting skills; and Pontida is a dwarven woman who runs a restaurant where speed is key.

--Equippable items let you personalize your playstyle.  Each challenge allows you to pick the items that you want to use as part of the competition.  There are special cooking pans to help you with a certain type of gem, combat upgrades like daggers that will ignite monsters and do damage over time, and ingredients which will appear in your pantry at the beginning of the match (or expertise books which offer a bonus for making sure a dish meets certain requirements).

--Cooking is challenging without being completely overwhelming.  It's a little bit like Bejeweled Twist and you will need some puzzle solving skills to cook truly amazing dishes.  As the competition winds on, the competitors are increasingly difficult to defeat.

--Daily challenges with leaderboards.  If competition is your thing, the daily challenge allows you to compete for a score and a place on the Steam leaderboards.

--Challenge modes.  Speed mode challenges you to match as many patterns as you can within a time limit.  Hunting mode is combat oriented and challenges you to enter an area use your skills to break as many plates as you can within a time limit.

Cons:

--Short.  I finished the entire story mode in eleven hours.  It was a lot of fun...I was wishing for more.

--A tad repetitive.  The competition is basically the same with a few variables thrown in like the preferences of the judges or the theme item.  I wish there was more interaction with the character that you are competing against--maybe each character has a special ability?

Battle Chef Brigade is currently featured in the Steam summer sale and can be yours for $11.99.  Give it a whirl.