Based on the title you might think we’re not compiling delicious Arby’s video game memes again (no such luck, although now I’m hungry). Instead, Food Fantasy is its own game coming soon to mobile platforms that aims to dethrone some of the biggest mobile names by starting a food fight.
What sets this game apart from the horde of similar titles crowding the Google and Apple app stores? Food Fantasy brings a whole bunch of cooks into one kitchen, and for once that’s not a disaster waiting to happen.
There are some killer cooking games on the Switch right now, and freemium gacha titles continue to be the rage around the world, so it makes sense to combine them into one fan service-heavy package.
Important Note: This is an advanced preview build and not the final product! Expect big changes and some smoothing out of various features when the game lands July 20th.
The layout and resources will be familiar, and there’s plenty of eye candy
Whipped, Mashed, Pureed, And Fried
You get a gacha creature summoner, a lite JRPG, and a restaurant sim all in one with the cross-genre Food Fantasy. This is a game about running a restaurant and then battling fallen angels with anthropomorphic food.. that it’s clear you kinda want to bang.
Yeah, you read that last part right. Loads of waifu / fan service stuff is going on here, along with plenty of innuendo in the text and imagery. I’ve never really wanted to get it on with milk before, but this game might change your mind on that front.
When the cuties aren’t trying to get senpai to notice them, you’ll be busy developing and improving recipes, assigning cooks, prepping meals and completing quests.
All the typical freemium resources are up for grabs, which are earned through the restaurant portion of the game, with upgrades and other items acquired through battle. Of course you also summon “food souls” that are creatures of randomized strength, then upgrade, fuse, and evolve them in various ways.
Just for fun, then there’s also a JRPG / visual novel storyline mode keeping it all held together. There’s no question that you’ve seen and heard all of this before, but its presented in a new and frankly kind of amazing way.
That is in fact sentient, female tea that’s dual wielding pistols
Gotta Keep Tapping!
Whether beating up delinquents who don’t pay their bills at your restaurant or battling demon things out in the wilderness, there’s quite a bit of combat in Food Fantasy.
This is all handled in your typical auto battle way, but there’s more player engagement than you’d expect and you can’t really just walk away and have the game grind itself while plowing through your energy reserves.
Of course you’ve got to decide when to deploy creature skills as in any gacha, but that’s just the beginning. Another layer is added by having to time tapping boss weak points to prevent super abilities from being used, swatting away healing helpers that revive enemies, and breaking your fighters out of traps.
All that chibi genocide is so you can get ingredients to make the perfect meal!
The Bottom Line
To be clear, FF is an utterly ludicrous game with an exceedingly tongue-in-cheek attitude, but there’s a ton to do and the mixing of styles is handled well.
Food Fantasy knows exactly what kind of game it is, and doesn’t shy away from leaning into that silliness. Baby bottles drip healing milk during battles with evil rabbits trying to club you with carrots, while every anime cliche you can think of will fly across your screen during conversation segments.
Somehow this all works out for a genuinely fun time in a game that seems like it should just be a time wasting mobile entry but manages to be more than that.
How many games let you get licked to death by a tentacle lady wielding an eyeball fork?
