Cuisineer is a roguelite game where you play as an adventurer named Pom. The game begins when Pom receives a worrying letter from her parents. Pom immediately returns home to her town, Paell, only to find both her parents gone and their beloved restaurant completely abandoned and empty—even the tables and chairs have vanished. Pom finds a letter from her parents explaining that they have gone off for their own final adventure in this mortal realm before it’s too late. Pom soon discovers that her parents sold all the furniture to help cover the costs of their little adventure. After some thought, Pom decides that she has no choice but to get the family restaurant back up and running before it’s too late. Pom then receives a surprise visit from the taxman, who explains that her parents were in debt too and now it’s Pom’s debt to pay back!
In Cuisineer, you explore many dungeons with multiple floors looking for ingredients such as spices, meats, and vegetables. As you play and complete quests from your fellow townspeople, Pom learns new recipes that she can cook and serve at her restaurant. Pom can then use the money that she earns to expand the restaurant, purchase new cooking stations, add new furniture, and upgrade her gear and weapons to make exploring the dungeons a little easier. Not forgetting the taxman, Pom will need to pay off her parents’ debts too.
ℹ️ Reviewed on Xbox Series X | Review code provided by PR/publisher, this review is the personal opinion of the writer. Got unanswered questions about this game? Get in touch on X!
Developer | BattleBrew Productions |
Publisher | Marvelous Europe |
Things I liked!
- Visuals | I loved the visuals in Cuisineer. The camera angle is fixed, giving an isometric view. There was never a time when anything obstructed my view; when you are in dungeons and a wall would get in the way, it automatically goes invisible to avoid obstructing the view, and this all flows seamlessly. Each of the characters you meet in Paell is wonderfully crafted with so much detail, whether it’s the cute cartoon images that appear when you interact with them or how they appear in town, going about their daily lives. Pom, the main character, has also been uniquely crafted, with details all the way down to her tail, which is always wagging. If you have the coins, you can purchase different outfits for Pom from the local tailor.
- Sound | While the music during the first few hours of playing can get a little repetitive, you will soon unlock a jukebox for your restaurant that has 19 songs you can play for your patrons. I was really impressed with the detail that has gone into the sound effects. As you prepare dishes in the restaurant, you’ll hear chopping, sizzling, boiling, and other cooking-related sounds. Conversations with townspeople and other characters come with their own set of sound effects, like dialogue prompts and ambient chatter. When you encounter enemies in the dungeons, you’ll hear sounds of battles, such as weapon clashes, grunts, and magical effects. The environmental sounds are also equally impressive; these include ambient noises like the bustling of the town, the sounds of nature in the dungeons, and the clinking of cooking utensils in the restaurant. All this adds to the full immersion in Cuisineer as you play.
- Gameplay | As soon as you begin your adventure as Pom, you are taught the basics, such as how to fight in dungeons, how to customize your restaurant, and how to cook meals on the cooking stations. While cooking meals is very basic and could have been improved upon to add even more depth, I think it still works really well, and when your restaurant is busy, it can still become very chaotic. When a customer walks into your restaurant, they will automatically find a seat, look at the menu, and then their food order will appear above their head. Their order will also appear on the relevant cooking station; you then simply walk up to it and tap ‘cook.’ When the meal is ready, customers will walk and collect their cooked meal. Some customers later on will expect their meals to be brought out to them, but they tip really well, so it’s worth it! After each customer has eaten, they will walk over to the cash register to pay, and again you simply tap a button to take payment along with any tip, which can vary depending on how long they have had to wait. If you keep a customer waiting too long, they will start to wave their hands in the air and may even get up and walk out. As you navigate around the town of Paell, you will find some market stalls that alternate daily, along with some permanent stalls that you will visit daily. Cuisineer features different seasons; each season has a different festival, and Paell always likes to celebrate in style.
- Dungeons | As you head out of Paell to go hunting and scavenging for ingredients for food and other resources needed for upgrades, such as wood, stone, and many more, you will come to a dungeon map. From here, you can select which dungeon you would like to explore. You will only have one available at first, but as you pay off your debts, upgrade your restaurant, and progress through the story, more dungeons will become available. Each dungeon has multiple floors filled with lots of areas to explore and is procedurally generated, so each run-through is different. Each dungeon also has its own sub and main boss to defeat, each leaving a treasure chest when defeated. When you are in a dungeon, if at any point you wish to leave due to low health or having what you need, you can use a special amulet that transports you back to Paell. However, this does take a few seconds to charge, and if you take damage while it’s charging, you will need to charge it again, which often means finding a quieter place. As you progress through each dungeon, the difficulty increases. In Cuisineer, you can lower the difficulty from normal to seasoned; the only difference is the amount of damage your enemies will take.
Mixed & disliked!
- Repetitiveness | The gameplay mechanics in Cuisineer can start to feel repetitive, especially in the restaurant when cooking meals for customers. Personally, I didn’t mind it too much, but some players may find it too repetitive. Later in the game, I found that I was overstocked on so many ingredients, and each run in a dungeon, I was looking for rare ingredients or materials needed to complete a quest.
- Upgrading Weapons | I felt that the cost of upgrading a weapon in Cuisineer was really not worth it. For example, if you have a weapon that does 35 damage, you would need to part with 1000 coins as well as some crafting materials to go from a measly 35 damage to 36. Although I did purchase a few upgrades, I can say I really did not notice any difference. I think a larger upgrade here would have been much better.
- Cosmetic Shop Prices to high | Some of the items you can purchase, such as new outfits for Pom to wear from the tailor, are way too expensive when compared to other items, such as furniture for your restaurant. As you are always trying to expand and upgrade the restaurant along with paying off Pom’s parents’ debt, I can’t see any reason to purchase a new outfit until after you have beaten the main story in Cuisineer. Then, you can splash out on new outfits and expensive paintings.
How long did I play the review before publishing? 26 Hours
How long to beat the story? 22 Hours
How many Achievements did I earn before publishing? 36/52 or 650/1000G
How long to achieve 1000G | 53 Hours
You’ll love this game if you like these | Speed Crew & Rolling hills: Make Sushi, Make Friends
CONCLUSION
Score: 81/100 – I really enjoyed my time playing Cuisineer, from the more relaxing moments of taking meal orders in the restaurant and completing daily chores and quests in Paell, a lovely small town with so many delightful characters you meet and speak with daily. They all have their own stories, and it was fun getting to know them all. As I progressed through the main story, there was a time when I had completed all available quests and had to wait for a new season to arrive, as more quests would appear then. I liked how the upgrades progress as you advance in the story; you can’t get all the upgrades early on, which would greatly shorten the length of Cuisineer. I think they missed a trick not having an option for couch co-op, as this would have worked really well in both the restaurant and the dungeons. I hope they bring out a sequel or DLC with more recipes to learn and dungeons to explore.
Avid gamer for over 30 years who lives and breathes Xbox, I enjoy talking video games and can often be found on X.