This review contains spoilers
I am a fan of RachelDrawsThis and have played her previous games but sadly was not a huge fan of this one, which started off promising but wound up letting me down. The ingredients are there but it just lacked that special spice it needed to bring everything together.
The actual tycoon simulator is kinda fun but very barebones and the pacing is odd- in the first few levels I was stuck waiting for the clock to run down BUT later levels were super hectic and I would get stuck working way past the clock just kind of waiting for the dishes to cook. In a way that actually makes it a really good simulation of working as a server but as, like, gameplay it left something to be desired and made it a slog to replay the levels after I realized I'd missed something.
But my biggest complaint about the gameplay is that it doesn't really impact the story at all. You do have to replay a day if you fail to meet the sales quota but other than that there's no real consequences for losing customers, and your only "reward" for doing well is the tip money you can put towards the upgrades. There are a bunch of references to Vince being a harsh boss with high standards so the fact that your actual work performance is never commented on felt like an oversight.
The other issue is that the game is predicated on peppering in small details that will unsettle you and hint at the darker story lurking beneath the posh exterior, but these details feel a bit... sparse. A little bit of blood here, some weird noises there, an uncanny comment or two, but that's all. There aren't many secrets in the restaurant and there's basically no point to exploring it except during the one night shift the game allows you.
I was also surprised by how little change there was from day to day- since the game was forcing me to play through the restaurant shifts I was hoping that there would be new treats to keep me going every day, but they never materialized. Nothing ever really happens in the back alley or the window of your apartment, despite those being two of the only environments available, and the few hooks that appear (the rat, the peephole, the register) don't actually go anywhere. Not as many cutscenes as I would have hoped either. A lot of cool ideas that lack follow through.
(Also, the game introduces a question/answer mechanic during the tutorial and implies that customers will ask you questions, but none ever do. I thought that was odd.)
The strength of the game is, of course, the ambience, art, and characters. The game looks adorable and the few cutscenes we do get are all sleek, stylish, and appropriately creepy. The writing feels natural coming from the mouths of the characters, but the polish of the writing is let down by the story, which sadly wasn't very interesting. The "twist" was like the most obvious choice for a restaurant setting... like wow, the creepy chef was cooking a PERSON? I think I've heard this one.
I think the creators did a good job of trying to flesh out Vince and Rory's characters, but while I got a strong sense of their personalities I was still a bit confused by their motivations so the endings weren't very satisfying. While the two had chemistry, it didn't really seem like they had any sort of actual connection, so the revelation of Vince's obsession and the subsequent struggle just lacked punch. I didn't really get catharsis out of seeing the restaurant burn, but watching Rory die was equally anticlimactic.
I almost wish that the game had also given you the option to take Vince's side and eat his meal because I think that would have been a much more interesting ending- it would have added a hint of subversion to the unfortunately tired story and dovetailed nicely with the traits we saw the characters displaying (Vince's need for control/barely concealed loneliness and Rory's lack of direction/need for affection). Or something, I don't know.
It's always tough to criticize a project like this because at the end of the day, it's incredibly good for something that someone made and distributed for free and I would still recommend giving it a play, but like... if I did recommend it to someone I'd tell them to read the spoiler free endings guide the creator posted because they aren't gonna wanna have to replay the levels if they miss something.
The actual tycoon simulator is kinda fun but very barebones and the pacing is odd- in the first few levels I was stuck waiting for the clock to run down BUT later levels were super hectic and I would get stuck working way past the clock just kind of waiting for the dishes to cook. In a way that actually makes it a really good simulation of working as a server but as, like, gameplay it left something to be desired and made it a slog to replay the levels after I realized I'd missed something.
But my biggest complaint about the gameplay is that it doesn't really impact the story at all. You do have to replay a day if you fail to meet the sales quota but other than that there's no real consequences for losing customers, and your only "reward" for doing well is the tip money you can put towards the upgrades. There are a bunch of references to Vince being a harsh boss with high standards so the fact that your actual work performance is never commented on felt like an oversight.
The other issue is that the game is predicated on peppering in small details that will unsettle you and hint at the darker story lurking beneath the posh exterior, but these details feel a bit... sparse. A little bit of blood here, some weird noises there, an uncanny comment or two, but that's all. There aren't many secrets in the restaurant and there's basically no point to exploring it except during the one night shift the game allows you.
I was also surprised by how little change there was from day to day- since the game was forcing me to play through the restaurant shifts I was hoping that there would be new treats to keep me going every day, but they never materialized. Nothing ever really happens in the back alley or the window of your apartment, despite those being two of the only environments available, and the few hooks that appear (the rat, the peephole, the register) don't actually go anywhere. Not as many cutscenes as I would have hoped either. A lot of cool ideas that lack follow through.
(Also, the game introduces a question/answer mechanic during the tutorial and implies that customers will ask you questions, but none ever do. I thought that was odd.)
The strength of the game is, of course, the ambience, art, and characters. The game looks adorable and the few cutscenes we do get are all sleek, stylish, and appropriately creepy. The writing feels natural coming from the mouths of the characters, but the polish of the writing is let down by the story, which sadly wasn't very interesting. The "twist" was like the most obvious choice for a restaurant setting... like wow, the creepy chef was cooking a PERSON? I think I've heard this one.
I think the creators did a good job of trying to flesh out Vince and Rory's characters, but while I got a strong sense of their personalities I was still a bit confused by their motivations so the endings weren't very satisfying. While the two had chemistry, it didn't really seem like they had any sort of actual connection, so the revelation of Vince's obsession and the subsequent struggle just lacked punch. I didn't really get catharsis out of seeing the restaurant burn, but watching Rory die was equally anticlimactic.
I almost wish that the game had also given you the option to take Vince's side and eat his meal because I think that would have been a much more interesting ending- it would have added a hint of subversion to the unfortunately tired story and dovetailed nicely with the traits we saw the characters displaying (Vince's need for control/barely concealed loneliness and Rory's lack of direction/need for affection). Or something, I don't know.
It's always tough to criticize a project like this because at the end of the day, it's incredibly good for something that someone made and distributed for free and I would still recommend giving it a play, but like... if I did recommend it to someone I'd tell them to read the spoiler free endings guide the creator posted because they aren't gonna wanna have to replay the levels if they miss something.