Battle Chef Brigade is an extremely rare example of a game which breaks the mold of conventional genres. Glancing simply at the opening graphics, you would likely expect an anime-esque beat ‘em up with a few Cooking Mama mechanics. Instead, what you have here is a Monster Hunter Iron Chef, with match-three puzzle mechanics and an engaging storyline. You’re not here to simply carve up a kingdom threatening dragon’s rear, you’re there to serve it to your customers.
The game sees you stepping into the shoes of Mina Han, a cook who aspires to join the Brigadiers, combat chefs who defend the kingdom. After fleeing her home she participates in a tournament to prove her worth. While sticking to many essential fantasy tropes, the cooking angle opens up a number of doors these tales would otherwise overlook. How the kingdom survives, how others are judged and the intentions of the villain are twisted by this. Furthermore, as it is separated out into six chapters, it allows the player time to stop and explore the interactive towns which are dotted across the overworld.
Rather than sticking to the usual side-quest and main quest formula, the game mixes things up with daily challenges. These are used in place of the typical methods of grinding, and usually add a slight twist onto one gameplay style or another. Restaurant Rush, for example, requires you to manage multiple ongoing meals at once to complete puzzles before individual timers run out. No single one is ever the same, and the coloured balls representing ingredients can break if shunted about. This adds another level by not only making speed an essential part of the game, but completing certain puzzles in as few moves as possible.
Challenging chefs is where the game truly shines, as it sees you sprinting back and forth between hunting monsters and slow-burning meals. You will often have a challenge set before you, with a judge’s specific preferences revealed just prior to the start, before being sent off into the wild. Each area has its own ecosystem with certain monsters dropping certain orbs, meaning you always need to quickly pick out the right species for the meal you have in mind.
However, there are additional layers to this. Certain breeds grant higher quality materials, a few rare ones offer augmenting ingredients, while the density of bone structure needs to also be accounted for. Bones can be turned into prismatic cores, which in turn boost the score of certain combos. This is to say nothing of other issues, such as the need to remove poisons from certain meats, the benefit of sauces, or the side effects of how you cook them. While the system might be seemingly simplistic, the sheer number of factors you need to account for allows Battle Chef Brigade to benefit from the sheer number of multiplying factors which come into play.
Even without the match-three mechanics, it helps that the dungeon crawling combat system has been extremely well programmed. Mina’s slashes and kicks are extremely responsive, and the sheer variety of enemies means you will need to constantly change tactics in how you deal with certain monsters. While most fit into the expected Metroid categories, they have odd behavioural quirks which can come back to bite you. Notably the scavengers which become hostile and try to gobble up your recent kills. Combined with the active timer of the meals you need to leave cooking on the stove, it turns events into a fast-paced treasure hunt for the right ingredients.
The only true flaw worthy of mention is how situational many cooking implements are. There is no way to alter them after learning the theme of the battle, leaving the player to work with very general builds. You can overcome this by utilising the combos you feel are the most effective with the right timing, but it can lead to a few frustrating losses. Besides this, the only other issues stem from elements it currently lacks, such as a multiplayer contest mode. However, that’s easy to forgive thanks to Trinket Studios’ tight budget.
With those minor gripes aside, Battle Chef Brigade is easily one of the best indie releases of 2017. It’s more than merely the sum of its parts thanks to how it combines the varied gameplay elements to build an ongoing world, and how each mode links directly into the other. If you have even the slightest interest in brawlers or even desire a match-three release with a twist, definitely give this one a look.
BATTLE CHEF BRIGADE / DEVELOPER: TRINKET STUDIOS / PUBLISHER: ADULT SWIM GAMES / PLATFORM: PC, NINTENDO SWITCH / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW
