Game: Born of Bread
Genre: Adventure, RPG, Platformer
System: Nintendo Switch (also on Steam (Windows), Xbox and PS5)
Developer|Publisher: Wild Arts Studio | Plug In Digital
Age Rating: EU 7+ | US Everyone 10+
Price: US $29.99 | UK £26.99 | EU €29,99
Release Date: December 5th, 2023
Review code provided with many thanks to Plan of Attack.
Born of Bread to Make You Smile
Born of Bread is a colourful RPG that takes notable inspiration from a famous Mario series that is made of paper. But I choose to compare it more to indie hits like Bug Fables. What makes Born of Bread stand out is how wholesome and feel-good it is with its positive presentation. Its gameplay is more casual, offering mild to moderate challenges, so if you’re looking for something that will make you smile whilst not making you stressed, you have come to the right game.
Some Things Should Stay Buried
The story is a rather strange but charming one. A baker is instructed to make the grumpy Queen some bread for tea. In the process, he creates a sentient golem he calls Loaf. Instead of serving the fella up for supper, he decides to keep him as his adopted son. Meanwhile, a group of archaeologists have gone digging in the wrong tomb, causing a bunch of mischievous demons to be released. Led by the small but naughty fella called Jester, these baddies pick up where they left off from their slumber, looking for some important sun crystals, one of which is at the castle. Things kinda collide at the castle between the baker, Loaf and the demons, and so an adventure begins.
With the help of a few friends you meet along the way, it is up to Loaf to confront Jester and his minions and restore a semblance of order to the kingdom. The whole presentation of this story is fun and silly. It’s quite clear from the beginning it doesn’t take itself too seriously and just wants you, the player, to have a few laughs along the journey. For me, some of the jokes landed, and some went over my head, especially as the plot went on. I really liked the personalities of some of the characters such as the angry Queen coming across as a light-hearted version of the Queen of Hearts from Alice in Wonderland. The star of the show was Loaf, though he doesn’t talk.
I really got the impression you are playing as a child new to the world and just taking everything in with wonder and positivity. This is made all the more adorable by the small facial expressions he makes. As a parent, I could not help imagining I was playing as my son. I didn’t take any deep meaning from the plot but sometimes you don’t need that in your video game where you play as sentient bread.
Explore and Hit With Your Ladle
The gameplay is a mixture of exploration and turn-based battles. Controls are easy to pick up. During exploration segments, you can wander around towns and dungeons, talking to NPCs and hunting hidden treasures. You have a main mission to follow, but you can also take on optional side quests from NPCs you meet along the way.
Enemies also wander around the levels, so you can choose to engage with them or try to find a way around them. You have a ladle borrowed from the kitchen, which you can use to uncover secrets or open barrels. If you time the hit just right, you can also enter combat with a starting turn to gain an advantage. Born of Bread incorporates some light platforming, and if you do fall into a pool of water or take a tumble, you will lose a small bit of health. The good news is if this is too frustrating, you can turn it off in the options menu. Overall, it’s a formula that has been done before, but I found myself taken in by the experience. Even when you’re exploring dark caves or creepy swamps, the game has this lovely feeling about it.
Battle System
One way or another, you will need to battle at some point. As mentioned, these are turn-based, requiring some active engagement from the player. What this means, if you are new, is when you select an attack, a mini-game will appear on the screen requiring specific button prompts to land an attack successfully. These little mini-games are easy to understand for experienced players but might take a few attempts for new players to get used to. Born of Bread does break you in easily by making the first few forays into battle quite casual.
The difficulty shifts more to the challenge in the boss fights, but it tends to warn you when this comes up so you can prepare. Button prompts also play a role in defence. When an enemy attacks, if you time a button press right, you can absorb or even prevent damage to your team. As a player who often hates these systems, I actually found I was quite successful with Born of Bread.
If it doesn’t click, the battle system allows for flexibility to work around it. Healing items are usually plentiful to keep you in the battle. Attacks and special attacks cost special points, as seen in the top left of the screen. These points can be replenished with items, but another way is to succeed in one of the game’s more unusual features. A little dragon friend you meet literally live streams your battles online, and you can see a live chat scrolling on the top right of the screen as you battle enemies. It’s very odd indeed, but if you pay attention and fulfil the chat’s mini-missions, you can restore points. Again, this is all optional.
There are various weapons to find through your travels. When you equip these in the menu, you engage in a little inventory mini-game similar to Tetris to fit all the pieces in a small backpack. There’s also a small skill tree where you can unlock new abilities. You can also pick up boons to help with gameplay features, like seeing enemy health or giving a clearer hint when to defend against an attack. A final point to mention is enemies have specific strengths and weaknesses to certain elements and attacks. The game clearly highlights these during battles, preventing busy work, a feature I really appreciated.
Sticker Book Graphics
Graphically, Born of Bread is exploding with positivity. Born of Bread is a game that wants to make you smile, and it did a darn good job of it for me. Character sprites are paper-like, much like the games this takes inspiration from. Environments feel vast and colourful like you’re playing through a living sticker book. Or maybe I think that because my little one is really into those at the moment. To accompany the game, you have a chirpy soundtrack that has retro-feeling beeps and boops during battles to an uplifting score as you explore the environments.
One of my favourite features is the game throws in facts during loading screens, usually about bread, even acknowledging the tedium of loading screens. This ran well in both handheld and TV modes. The text did feel a little small in handheld mode, especially if you want to read the chat in battles. I managed to get Loaf stuck in the environment a few times when doing some of the platforming. I had one occasion when the game crashed. All these issues were fixed when restarting the game, but I do advise saving often.
Conclusion: Bread of Heaven
Born of Bread is a lovely RPG surprise to end the year on. A wholesome and feel-good experience that is suitable for absolutely everyone, especially if you’re looking for a more casual RPG experience. It has a plot that captures the childlike fascination and wonder of a new world, an actively engaging battle system but not too overbearing, and an overall jolly presentation that had me smiling throughout the adventure. Something delightful to enjoy in handheld or share the experience with the little one; just remember silly voices are a must. Born of Bread is feel-good gaming at its best and an adventure I highly recommend checking out.
Final Verdict: I Like it a Lot
If you’re still on the fence, be sure to check out the free demo on the eShop.