Battle Chef Brigade Serves Up The Perfect Comfort Food

Last month I was having a week that was rough for a number of reasons, which I won’t get into, but after dealing with a lot of life coming at me, I was looking for a game that would make me feel good. One that had been at the back of my mind came to the forefront immediately, and I decided to give it a shot: Battle Chef Brigade. 

Trinket Studio’s newest creation has a wacky concept that’s entirely up my alley: fantasy Iron Chef. As a lover of all things camp, I was intrigued as soon as I first heard about it. But its match-3 gameplay had been a bit of a turn-off to me. I (egregiously, I’ve realized) associate match-3’s with mobile freemium games that I quickly get bored of. With my brain a mess though, something that simple sounded perfect.

I was in love almost immediately. As soon as the opening scene played out, I found myself warming to Mina and her family. Lilly pushing Mina from the start reminded me of my own mother, and Mina as the oversleeping, yet talented slacker was charming in her own way. The core concept isn’t new: a talented young person running away from home to pursue her dreams. But Mina and the other characters she encounters are unique and deep enough to keep the story interesting. I became attached to many of these characters, and never really found myself disliking anyone (except for Wart, whose depiction I kind of take issue with).

Getting to the tournament was where I really started to get in deep. Battling the other aspiring chefs allowed me to lose myself in the game and forget everything else for a bit. I finally began to appreciate the match-3 gameplay and have fun with it during these fights. Learning to manage my time between hunting and cooking took up all my focus, and soon I was getting wins pretty consistently. Playing around with which equipment I was bringing into the arena became a fun experience to figure out my cooking style. I fell in love with managing my equipment in a way I never have in other, “more serious” RPGs.

It was so nice to have a change of pace in conflict as well. I loved having action and puzzle oriented gameplay factor into a story where the tension mostly comes from Iron Chef style battles. While there is a larger narrative that has more consequences for the world at large, Battle Chef Brigade never feels dark or angsty. It takes its issues seriously and presents difficult subjects, but they don’t feel as over the top dire as many other games do. I felt safe playing this game in the same way I do when I watch something like Food Wars. I knew that even when bad or disappointing things were happening, the game wasn’t trying to make me feel bad. The problems are handled sincerely, but not darkly.

Cheesy as it is, following Mina’s character arc made me feel better about where I’m at. Seeing her grow as a person and learn to appreciate the people around her felt good. Her story made dreams seem achievable, despite mistakes or obstacles. It also handles failure incredibly well, posing Mina as someone who is always compassionate and encouraging to those who she defeats in the Kitchen Colosseum. I loved that even though Mina isn’t perfect, she’s never cruel to anyone.

The art in Battle Chef Brigade is beautiful and contributed to my sense of comfort. The colors are warm and add intense personality to each of the unique backgrounds you find yourself in. Musically, it’s lovely, capturing the adrenaline of battles without becoming overly stressful, and highlighting the quiet moments beautifully. These aspects rounded out the experience and made me feel totally at home in this game world.

I beat the game a few weeks ago, but it still hasn’t completely taken its claws out of me. When I have a few minutes to spare, I play the Daily Cook-Off and see if I can get a score high enough to make the leader board (so far, I haven’t been successful, but I’ll get there one day). I started a second playthrough on the harder difficulty and come back to it off and on when I need another taste of the comfort food it provides. This game was, and continues to be just what I need, whenever I need it, and I’m beyond grateful for that.

(All images courtesy of Trinket Studios)