Game: Epic Chef
Genre: Adventure, Indie, RPG, Simulation
System: Steam (Windows) (also available Switch, PlayStation, and Xbox)
Developer|Publisher: Infinigon Games | Team17
Age Rating: EU 12+ | US Rating Pending
Price: US $22.49 | UK £17.99 | EU € 22,49
Release Date: November 11th, 2021
Review code provided with many thanks to Press Engine
Epic Chef is a comedic take on the standard farming and cooking simulation game. Players have to grow their own food, upgrade their homes, and take on cooking competitions with fellow citizens of the town Ambrosia.
The Story and Gameplay
After stowing away on a ship, Zest finally finds himself on the island of his new home. All the citizens claim the property is haunted after hearing screaming and spooky noises. Undeterred, Zest starts his new life as a farmer. Our reluctant hero is forced to take part in several cooking competitions and become a chef, no matter what his own dreams are.
The gameplay is fairly standard for a simulation, players have to plant crops and take care of livestock in order to get ingredients for cooking. But the game’s cooking system and leveling system are unique to Epic Chef.
Players can combine different ingredients in certain orders to raise the sophistication, vigor, or spirit of a dish and sauces can also boost each of these things. Players take on different chefs with different specialties, forcing them to create an array of different kinds of dishes. The more players win, the more money they will be able to make, allowing them to further upgrade their properties.
The Epic Chef‘s leveling system is also interesting; players perform different chores that boost either their vigor, sophistication, or spirit, and then they need to eat a cooked dish that will add to their levels. The more chores and activities players do, the more levels they can gain from eating.
The Pros of Epic Chef
There are loads of things to like in Epic Chef. Like many sim games, players have to manage their time. Time passes fairly quickly in the world, but thankfully, things don’t take up as much time as some other similar titles. Players don’t have to worry about repetitive tasks like watering or feeding a whole bunch of different kinds of animals. Zest spends a lot more time focusing on cooking, learning recipes, chatting with villagers, and solving their problems.
Unlike many farm sims, players can build tons of storage for their various ingredients. And the boxes have automatic signage on them that tells the players what’s inside the box. This is a huge advantage for players who like to stay organized. What I wouldn’t give to have this feature in other, similar games, like Valheim.
Fast travel was very well thought through as well. Players not only have a speedy little ostrich-like bird that they can ride around and summon anywhere but there is also an air balloon travel system to get from one side of town to the other super fast.
The graphics, story, and characters are great, each character has a unique personality and the cartoonish graphics are incredibly appealing. There’s a lot to love about this goofy little story, and the simulation part is filled with hours of fun. This is not a short little game like I expected, but it’s a full adventure with tons of hours of fun for the player.
The Cons of Epic Chef
The humour in Epic Chef is not for everyone. While there were some very funny jokes, there is a lot of cursing and several low-brow jokes that missed their mark with me. The way the slaughterhouse works was a little off-putting, and there is a joke about putting a whistle inside of a donkey’s butt that I did not find funny at all. While this might not be true for everyone, I didn’t find all of the humour funny.
There was also a few little issues with the game that I don’t like; there is no run button, for example. Instead, the SHIFT key, which usually is run in PC games, summons a giant bird right in front of the character. But most of my issues with the game are small things that don’t really affect my overall enjoyment of the title.
Conclusion
For anyone who played the demo like I did, they may be worried about bugs. Thankfully, all the bugs that seemed to be present in the demo haven’t appeared for me in the full game. It’s a much better experience now than it was before. This game is fun, funky, and a fresh look at simple cooking and farming sims.
Final Verdict: I Like it a Lot.
