With all of us firmly focused on the release of Tears of the Kingdom, it can be easy to overlook all of the other games that will be making their way to Switch this month. So, if your May isn't already looking crammed with dungeon exploration, monster battles and a good helping of cooking, then perhaps Nippon Ichi's Monster Menu: The Scavenger's Cookbook will be able to fill you up.
Releasing on 26th May in Europe (23rd in North America), Monster Menu is a dungeon-crawling RPG from publisher NIS America where you will need to scavenge for supplies and cook them into hearty meals if you are to keep moving forward. These meals can provide stat boosts which look useful in the ensuing SRPG-style battles against dungeon monsters.
All of this is displayed with anime-style visuals which you can find in the system trailer above. For a little more information on some of the game's features, check out the following from the official NIS America site:
Survive the dungeon!
Freely wander the map while scavenging for plants and ore, or defeat monsters to obtain their flesh.
Stronger, more savage monsters appear as you progress further into the dungeon. Though the risk is greater, there's also a chance for better rewards.Your biggest enemies are hunger and thirst!
While you can obtain useful materials the more you explore, most actions your adventurers take will use up their Calories and Hydration.
If their Calories and Hydration meters are empty, they'll be in no state for battle. However, you must push forward! Be mindful to maintain a well-balanced diet for adventuring.Camp - the key to a successful adventure
When taking the stairs to progress to the next floor of the dungeon, you have the option to instead take a short rest at camp.
Before continuing your journey, use the materials you've gathered to cook, enhance your weapons, and prepare for chance encounters with strong enemies.
A limited edition physical version of the game including a whole bunch of bonus goodies such as an art book, soundtrack, chef's apron and even salt and pepper shakers is now available to pre-order from the NISA online store for $89.99.
Will you be going in for a taste of Monster Menu? Venture down to the comments and let us know.
[source youtube.com]
Comments 16
That physical has some nifty loot involved - but it is also awfully expensive for what appears to be a fairly cheaply made game.
There's also a $50 standard edition on Amazon, for those interested!
Looks a bit like that Rice and Ruin game that began with S. I’m too lazy to google it
@Mattock1987 Sakuna
@Marchop thanks. I kept thinking ‘Setsuna’ and I was too lazy to check. Long day.
I swear there was a older RPG that had you cooking and eating food to power up. I’ll keep an eye on it.
I have it preordered (as I tend to do for NIS games so they don't get lost in the shuffle...buying them after print runs is brutal) but doubt i will open it for a while. Zelda is UPON US!
@Mattock1987 Totally different playstyle to Sakuna Rice and Ruin but it does have gather/cook gameplay loop (although it functions more as a boost to combat and is really required for creating armor and boosting your harvest) and that may be what you find familiar.
Personally, while again the playstyle is different this reminds me of Battle Chef Brigade in that you are tightly locked into the harvest/cook gameplay loop. Highly recommend Battle Chef Brigade to anybody that likes match 3 style gameplay (as that is the cooking portion of the game).
@Greatluigi
For the other game, you're probably thinking of "Sorcery Saga: Curse of the Great Curry God". It's a dungeon crawler available on PS Vita, and on PC via Steam.
Cooking curry from ingredients while in the dungeons was a primary game mechanic, and the storyline of the game was to collect the ingredients to make the ultimate curry.
I'm super excited for this game! I already have it pre-ordered. I love NIS games and I like the cooking twist on SRPG gameplay.
@TrixieSparkle nope that’s not it. The game I was thinking of was sprite based. Appreciate it though.
Edit: looked it up. I was thinking of adventure bar story. Sorry. 😅
Somebody read the Delicious in Dungeon manga and decided to make a game off it...
@Greatluigi
Hadn't heard of that one before. But when you mentioned sprite-based, then I thought you were talking about something else called Marenian Tavern Story. I've got that one on the Switch, actually.
Apparently that one is a spiritual successor of sorts to the Adventure Bar Story you mentioned, and it's made by the same developer. So if you enjoyed or were interested in Adventure Bar Story, might be worth checking out.
@TrixieSparkle oh really? Ok then I’ll check it soon. Thanks.
Looks interesting. I'm passing on Tears of the Kingdom not really interested I've got other games to look out for old and new. I can play it later if I really care. Like I'm waiting for Pikmin 4 or Disgaea 7 to come out to have my year set besides the 2022 releases I still haven't bought yet.
The special edition of a cooking games doesn't come with a cook book. So I'll pass on that,
Demo for the game is out.
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