Cooking With Dragons
From the mind that brought you Harvest Moon, Yasuhiro Wada, comes a brand new title for the Playstation 4 and Nintendo Switch. Little Dragons Café was developed by Aksys Games and TOYBOX Inc, and published by Rising Star Games. It seeks to combine character-driven storytelling with seamless integration of multiple game mechanics we already know and love.
Fans of farming simulators, cooking simulators, adventure and rhythm games all have something to look forward to in late August. We recently had a chance to experience the beginning of the game in its current build first-hand. It will easily cover 30-40 hours of game play, but experiencing the first hour or so was enough to know that the release day can’t come fast enough.
The game starts with the player choosing one of two twin siblings as a main character. The choice seems to be for the purpose of deciding between a male or female protagonist, with the other sibling filling the role of assistant. After naming each sibling (or sticking with the default Ren and Rin), the story begins with waking up in the loft above the family café, and helping their mother acquire ingredients to cook for customers. It’s here that we first get a taste of the game’s varied mechanics.
Culinary Rhythm
While collecting eggs laid by the ‘eggbirds’ roaming outside the café is self-explanatory, the cooking system is a bit more unique. After selecting a recipe and choosing the appropriate ingredients, a bar appears at the top of the screen. This bar will be immediately familiar to fans of rhythm games, as ingredients combined with a directional button scroll across the screen toward a circle on the far-right.
A catchy tune plays as each ingredient is given a score based on the player’s ability to hit the correct directional button in time with the music. The better the score, the better the dish; and consequently, the happier the customer. However, we’ve learned that some customers won’t mind if everything isn’t perfect.
How to Train Your Dragon
After the game’s first day comes to a close, our protagonist and his/her sibling head to bed. The next morning, they awaken to an unpleasant discovery. Their mother is in a deep sleep, and nothing they do seems to wake her. It’s at this point that a mysterious old man who prefers to be called Pappy appears at her bedside. He tells the children that their mother is a human-dragon hybrid, and the only way to correct the imbalance keeping her from waking is to raise a dragon themselves. He produces a dragon egg, and before long it hatches.
The color of your baby dragon can be one of 32 colors, and changes depending on what food you feed it. After selecting a name for the baby dragon, it’s time to get to work. Running the café is at the core of the game, but exploring the surrounding world is what fuels that part of the experience. Searching the beautifully rendered environment for recipe fragments and ingredients is both simple and satisfying.
In addition to harvesting from various plants, there’s a fishing mechanic, as well as a number of hovels only accessible by the baby dragon. When your dragon gets older, they can hop up to areas you can’t jump to, and will eventually be a mount that you can use to fly to previously inaccessible areas. The in-game clock speeds along at an accelerated rate, making each day approximately 15 minutes in length. This ensures that as soon as it seems an area has been depleted of resources, the day ends and the resources are replenished. The days feel short at times, but are still well-paced.
Café of Misfits
Perhaps the most engaging part of the game is interacting with the employees who come to work at the café. Described by the creator as “losers and misfits,” each character has a distinctly flawed personality. This might sound confusing, but it shows that flaws are part of what make an individual unique, not what defines their potential. The cut-scenes introducing these characters are hilarious, entertaining, and help you come to care for each staff member. If the early interactions are any indication of the rest of the game, there will be no shortage of compelling drama in Little Dragons Café.
While many details remain a mystery, the game is looking to be a compelling single-player experience for a wide variety of players. The game’s beginning is an encouraging experience which promises depth, balanced by engaging gameplay. Little Dragons Café will be released (including a special edition containing 18 character cards, a soundtrack CD and a red plushie of the baby dragon) on August 24th for the Playstation 4 and Nintendo Switch.
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