Ok, I didn’t expect DHALMAN at all. Has there been a demand for beating the crap out of the wildlife and the local martial arts bosses around the world, in search of the ultimate ingredients to make the best curry in the land? Yes, it’s a bizarre one on so many levels, and I’m not entirely sure how to approach this playtest. Let’s do what we always do and start at the beginning. First, I logged into Steam and clicked ‘play’…
You play the titular restaurateur who is looking to build the greatest curry establishment in the world. To be fair, the place is a bit of a dive, and he’ll be starting at the very bottom of the chain. Yet even with the cleaniest of floors, the absence of cockroaches, and a host who’ll bend over backwards for your every need, you need to have a decent menu. With a choice of three items, DHALMAN needs to source something with a kick.
Cue the first adventure, and it’s presented in the style of Street Fighter II (more on that in a second). As this is an early look at the game, the initial option is India, so you head out into the wild to learn some tricks. For the action/adventure side of the game, it’s presented as a Metroidvania, though anyone with heritage that goes back to the 80s/90s can confidently say this is a platform game.
DHALMAN will wander a series of screens, punching rabbits and eagles to obtain their goods. No, these aren’t going in your broth, but you can sell them to your associate when you get back home. In the meantime, you learn the ropes, such as sliding attacks, punches and kicks. Now, our second Street Fighter II reference kicks in as our hero has similar stretchy powers to Dhalsim and can punch and kick with stretchy prowess. Equally, he can use his arms to reach platforms above to elevate himself.
With its Indian roots, you will stumble across abandoned shrines that require some loving care. Go ahead and do this good restoration deed, and not only will you have a checkpoint upon death, but also you’ll get financial backing from Ganesha. You’ll also learn a new trick and be able to shoot a fireball on command. A couple of spammy attacks later on some bears and then I’m in a Western stand-off with a Guile/Ken crossover. The game shifts to beat ‘em up mode, but the same controls apply, and in my case, spamming attacks offered a quick win. At least on the initial difficulty setting.
With my opponent, Jiro, easily defeated, DHALMAN returned home with his spices. The end. Or is it? It wouldn’t be a curry management game if there wasn’t any curry management, eh? After your associate Dr Martin (I think – and doesn’t he make shoes?) explains how it works, you can open your shop to serve customers. It’s a watered-down Overcooked example with less stress where you take an order, complete an automated sequence, deliver it, then come back to collect the money. These all have timers which are manageable, but with additional customers, a little tricky. Once done, you can invest in cleaner walls and floors, and in future iterations, you’ll be able to hire staff.
This was a relatively quick playthrough of DHALMAN. Its biggest selling point is undoubtedly the cultural references it draws upon, as there is hardly anything in the pipeline for people outside of India to experience. On that part, it’s really interesting, as is the art, which has a very Capcom feel to it (one of their character designers is on board here who has worked on Final Fight, Mega Man and… Street Fighter II). In terms of gameplay, at the moment it looks like an indie Amiga game and a bit of a mismatch of enemies to deal with. The core three styles of gameplay certainly mix it up with a beat ‘em up, platformer, and Overcooked-like food service. From that aspect, there’s a lot of variety, and variety is the spice of life. And, speaking of spices…
