When does being bald become an advantage? When playing SEDAP! A Culinary Adventure, of course. While all the other gamers are pulling their locks out with their poor mismanagement when it comes to cookin’ and fightin’, you’ll be sitting there smug with your shiny bonce, replying, “What?”
Don’t you just hate those reviews that sniff the arses of developers, publishers and press folk and say it smells of vanilla, as does the game they’re promoting, especially when a review code is provided? Me, too. It’s usually quite obvious that some people want to keep getting the games ‘for free’ and say something’s good when it’s not. Well, surprise, surprise, this IS a review code, and SEDAP! A Culinary Adventure IS good.
Not that I’m in bed with Kopiforge, but this Overcooked-inspired cook/slash fest is fun and infused with just as much cardio exercise as those circuits you do with your over-priced gym membership. Far from a masochist, I can’t recall that many games besides Souls-likes where I put myself through a series of anxiety-ridden challenges to unlock new areas, tools, utensils and charms. That rogue-like loop of ‘one more go’ exists here but at the risk of your ticker.
SEDAP! A Culinary Adventure doesn’t break any new ground with its storytelling. Som and Gon have an idea for starting up their own hospitality business. Far from a spa, mindfulness escapes, and Michelin-starred menus, they start in the forest and forage a plethora of veggies and varmints to chuck in the pan and serve up with some rice. Som is the cook and specialises in gathering and perfecting dishes, whereas Gon is the hunter who will slay the local beasts for their meat and is also a skilled mixologist.
Like similar titles in this gene pool, you have a time limit to concoct the customer’s dish and then serve accordingly. The faster you do it, the better rating you get. Ratings are good for word of mouth, but also a requirement for getting cash to purchase new gear that can hit harder, chop faster, or make kale smell better.
At the start of each stage, you’ll get a flyover of the area so you can plan your runs. Plants can be picked at or bashed if they come alive, traps avoided, pressure switches engaged, and stage bosses appeased with your culinary skills. Surprisingly, it was quite rare for me not to get a 3-star rating for each level as the difficulty increments are just about right, meaning you have the skillset by the time you reach the harder challenges.
These, of course, reset by the time you start a new biome, and the first stages are easier again, though they will introduce a new mechanic, such as the way you source your ingredients or how you prepare them. These interactions are represented by QTEs, where you have to press a button at the right time, button-mash, or spin the joystick wildly to pull at leaves. And, by the time you start to get cocky, rush hour is introduced, where you have less time to prepare dishes. It’s very stressful but in a good way.
Naturally, better weapons will help with combat, and improved utensils will make you more efficient, but one of the highlights of SEDAP! A Culinary Adventure are the equipable charms that improve health, movement speed, attack power and much more. To prevent this feature from being abused, each item has a weight restriction, meaning you must balance your gear to fit the purpose.
The story elements were ok, but nothing to write home (or a review) about, and the presentation throughout was really nice. The difference between SEDAP! A Culinary Adventure and all the other stress-fest plate-spinning games are the gameplay mechanics. It never feels too unfair, even when slightly overwhelmed with orders or the odd enemy that stops you from getting that elusive 3-star rating.
SEDAP! A Culinary Adventure is one of the better games within this sub-genre from a one-player perspective. It’s easy to grow tired of these because there’s nothing that stands out about them or the stress they induce. But the key ingredient here isn’t the mango or bowl of rice, but enjoyable gameplay, controls, and variety of QTEs. You can even bring a friend in for co-op, but we all know games don’t have any friends.
Like this? Why not try some other similar titles:
- Abra-Cooking-Dabra
- Cannibal Cuisine
- Shakes On A Plane
- Witchtastic
- Shake and Bake
