I went into this game completely blind, and so far it's been very very fun. To be honest, I get the concerns about the restaurant sim part, but to me, if it's called Chef RPG, I want to be playing a RPG. There are very obvious parts where it screams Early Access, such as the capped ability points, and then the lack of a method to reset skill points. But the main core of the game is very solid. I think the most pleasant surprise was that becoming friends actually meant something. You can buy upgrades to your tools as well as just unlock recipes and ingredients faster. Also, as someone who has worked in restaurants before, the actual restaurant operating like how the game has it (chef just grab ingredients, and start cooking, waiters/busboys deal with the tables) is actually very realistic. Most of the time, the owner of the restaurant is there to fill in where needed which is pretty much what we did during operations. Josh, if you can play more, you'll start seeing that your role as the owner is more defined outside of operations such as managing supply, unlocking new recipes, layouts to rearrange for cooking stations, and much more. I think the dev meant for this game to be a sim-lite than a full blown restaurant sim.
This may be an unpopular opinion but I actually love that there is no time management in the restaurant gameplay. I find games like Overcooked really stressful and not fun and I'm glad this one is different.
Haha I felt the same! Compared to how stressed I get playing Stardew Valley (but still love it), I like that Chef RPG felt like an actual cozy game, super chill and relaxed. But I get that's not for everyone.
The Overcooked All You Can Eat edition might be more up your alley. You can play with the default settings, or make it harder or easier for yourself, such as removing the timer or just slightly increasing the amount of time. I actually find that edition perfect for cozy gameplay, since the basic "run a kitchen" is a satisfying gameplay loop on its own.
I agree that the game needs more restaurant management mechanics. The only thing challenging me during restaurant gameplay is the employees'stamina bars, but that's something you can remedy thru traits and additional equipment you can unlock later on. The npcs are also a bit lackluster tbh. They don't seem to be that connected to the town they're in. For example, Hasel, Aloys, and Bianca mention several times that they are close friends with each other yet i never see them hangout. I never see Bowie interact with Uriel, the son he supposedly adores. Basically, the npcs don't seem to have lives beyond opening their stores and selling you things, so i just don't have an incentive to talk to them after increasing their friendship levels enough to unlock certain traits.
@@donovan1345 i think i've only been to the rec center thrice if i recall correctly, so i definitely missed seeing any npcs in there. Still hoping they'll add more npc interactions tho.
I think its because we're meant to be a chef, like a fancy pants type of chef lol so it doesn't really make sense to serve customers. But I think managing the customers though reputation or options in the in game computer would be nice. Also being able to send the waiters and cooks to training to make them better, rather than having to reroll and pray they don't suck.
That would be like any other cooking game, that we have plenty of. At least give player a choise wich gameplay mechanics he/she prefers. And also I think it is this way because it has many more gaming aspects and mechanics - it is not just around cooking, but has all the aspects of running a restaurant.
i think what could solve the problem is making a difficulty mode, easy/normal/hard, easy would be for example the staff don't get tired, normal would be how it is now and hard would be chaotic and strategic like washing the dishes and managing the tables, then everyone would be happy
I too have been waiting for this Game for years and almost had given up hope that it would ever release. Naturally, I bought it the moment it went Live on Steam. Right now I got 35h in it and played through 2 whole seasons (Spring and Summer) and the first part of Fall. And I've to say I'm loving it so far and it's pretty much what I expected the game to be - including that I only play as a Chef and only do cooking while the Restaurant is open. I come from an era where a Restaurant Sim pretty much only included renting a place, placing tables, seats and kitchen gear, hiring staff and appointing them working hours, set up the menu and buy the necessary ingredients, check some statistics for the area I opened my restaurant in to check for rush hours and what kind of dishes might be popular here, then open the restaurant and lean back and do nothing but watch my hired staff do all the work and observe if I've the right amount of tables, staff, ingredients and menu or if there's room for improvement. I think I would be overwhelmed if I would've to do even more than cooking while the restaurant is open. And since you'll run more than one restaurant later down the line, I'm sure it'll get more busy naturally. I'm past Act II and have been tasked to take care of the abandoned bathhouse for which, if I'm successful, am allowed to run their teahouse. If I would've to point out one thing I don't like about Chef RPG right now, then it would be that it's always better to make dishes using the mini games, as only those can get a dish to a 100 rating. But being stuck in those mini games all the times makes you miss out on what happens in your restaurant. I've maxed out Cooking by now and even with a 10 in Cooking, my Auto-Dishes only get a rating of 77 average. I'm not sure if the rating of the dish even has an effect right now, and I haven't unlocked all the other skills yet, but I hope that, at some point, we can get to a point where we 100% a dish even with auto-cooking.
Playing as an Android with the cooking software upgrade, maxed cooking, a piece of cooking jewelry, and the perk that lets your dishes go above 100% makes your autocooked dishes crazy
I love diner dash but idk if i would want the game to do all of that. Maybe let us give food to the customers but other than that i like how cozy it is. I feel like if its alot more hectic it takes the cozy feeling away. Maybe they could give us an option in settings to choose how hectic we want it.
Exactly! Chef RPG is its own thing. I'm not sure why people want it to operate like diner dash and other restaurant games. I love the cozy feel of it without feeling overwhelmed.
I really don't want an "Overcook" management restaurants... More of a Palia type, multitasking is nice, but stressfull and raging is not what i'm looking for a cozy game
I play games to relax, not relive nightmares. 😂 After working in food and beverage for years, I can not imagine why someone would pay money to simulate the incredible frustration of serving the public. I hated the pressure of trying to please pepole. In reality, they can not be pleased.
Thank you for not spoiling anything! I'm so excited to play this too. The detail put into this game is so impressive! Bone's Cafe is a really good restaurant sim, if you want more multitasking.
I rly love that its not too much of multitasking. Its a cozy game and shouldnt rly stress you out. Sure some freedom would be nice but at the moment i rly love the game.
This was one of the few games I was still somewhat considering getting in Early access, even though I really don't like doing that. But now I'm convinced, I should wait! Though I do have to say, I don't like stressful kitchen games. Games like overcooked arn't fun for me personally. So I'm kind of glad the restaurant managment doesn't seem too hectic. But different strokes for different folks! ^_^
Great review! Thank you so much. Yes I thought the restaurant part would be a chaotic time management game. I’m going to hold off and wait to see if this part of the game gets overhauled.
This game is beautiful and I love it but I also agree with everything you said. Found myself just waiting around with nothing to do in my restaurant one too many times. I have confidence these issues will be addressed.
So far, only had one major bug. Couldn't close my restaurant for the night. My one waitress got 'stuck' at the table and wouldn't clean up the plates. She was about half stamina so she HAD energy. Secondly, I recommend getting the 'library' perk so there's a 10% chance of recipes every day at the library. Thirdly: seashells. Bowie will buy them from you and you can make around 1200+ a day, pumping that back into ingredients or just buying upgrades. Fourthly: DON'T WASTE GIFTS. If it's a gift and sells for a lot, like shark's teeth or cone shells, sell them. Most of the villagers tend to hate gifts (could be a bug). Fifthly: SAVE OFTEN. The game's in early access. Sixthly: DO NOT FAINT. Fainting actually /skips a day/ which is crucial time you've lost. Be home by 2am or else.
One of the biggest hurdles in running a restaurant is losing money because your staff's wages, especially the chef and waiters, are higher than your daily earnings. The more tables you add, the more customers you can seat, but you'll also have to increase the number of waiters.
It sounds like it's really light on the sim management mechanics. You can do those in a chill way (like Two Point Campus), so hopefully they enhance that part of the game.
Another frustration is the limited storage. You can’t craft your own storage boxes, and I’m unsure how to expand my bag or free up some space in my house.
In my experience, unlocking the skill where waiters ask customers to be patient is not a good idea. My waiters are running around in circles without actually delivering the orders, and the counter is piled high with dishes. It’s chaotic! 😆😆
It's kinda funny to me how Lemon Cake is tougher than Chef RPG! I constantly have to worry about customers leaving, pastries burning, and losing profit! I will still play this one though! It's not perfect, but it's enough if I want something chill to play while I watch a movie or listen to the Gaming Garden podcast! 😉~⭐ As for 9:40 I don't think it's shallow, I like how you pointed out the important parts without making it too oversimplified! Very helpful!
Thank u for posting your review. It will stay waiting on the wishlist for me because, like u said, it need more time in the oven to be fully baked, so got to give them time to fix the bugs and I also watched Miss Bubble's review and it's sad that she encounted several bugs. I can totally understand what u're saying about the busyness of the restaurant or us having more things to do like clean table etc, I think the dev should check the way that Echos of the Plum Grove does with the settings, like, just check on or off for several things like death or hunger etc, so could use that way to see what we prefer to do when we are in restaurant like, cooking only, or check on for cleaning, washing dishes, putting plates away, talking to customers etc. And have a slider of difficulty for how chaotic we want the restaurant to be, to be chill at the lowest, or highest being chaotic so if u want chaos, swipe it all the way up to the max, lol. I read the other comments and there are mix of some who also want more tasks for us to do at restaurant, but there are also some that like this the way it is, and there's no right or wrong answer here, so a difficulty slider would help with that, to give everyone what we look for in this game.
I appreciate this review. I am still going to play it,I might wait a little bit though! I do hope the restaurant gets more challenging/fun, but it looks pretty good overall.
For Both for Fields of Mistria and Chef RPG Not getting a purchase or even demo, would want to wait for full release. I want to play these cozy games but I would rather be patient and wait for the devs to launch the game Ver 1.0
Field of Mistria doesn't feels like a early access game tbh it has more mechanics than Chef rpg meaning it already has controller support, window resolutions, and ect. Plus it's worth 14 bucks, chef rpg is worth 20 bucks and Noah is planning to charge it more after the 1.0 is launched
@Chad-ug5mb Nothing wrong with either game mechanics but I just don't feel like playing a literally half baked game with content still missing. Need the full course to enjoy it
@@ahmedfalahy9337 I've been playing FoM in the course of 2 days and I get what you're saying, but I really don't feel like anything is half - baked in that game even at this state. Maybe its bc i haven't reached the ceiling yet, but it's been worth it.
@@ahmedfalahy9337 and? They're plenty of heart events. Maybe the game itself doesn't need a skill tree. Harvest Moon never had a skill tree. Overall it's probably the best well polished early access game, I came across.
I've played about 50 hours so far. I almost quit 10 hours in because of all the glitches and frustration. But the developer fixed the most glaring ones and the experience got a lot smoother. I also wanted to power through it since the art is just that beautiful and I really wanted to have a vegan restaurant. This game has a lot more than I what I had originally expected. I eventually unlocked a vegetarian research station which allowed me to research some interesting vegan recipes, I started a little farm, and I started brewing alcohol. The mini games are hit or miss. I'm fine with the DDR, frying pan, oven, blender, and sorta the barista, but I HATE the steamer, grill, and bathhouse mini games. I haven't tried the fryer one, yet. Overall, I'm enjoying the game. I also already figured out an extremely easy way to get money. I got $60k in one day selling only two VERY easy to make dishes. lol (and they're vegan!
Great review! I now know it’s definitely a cozy game 🫶🏻 Also, if you’re looking for multitasking, try traveler’s rest! it’s chaotic and somehow cozy at the same time. ❤
I didn't play yet, but expect a overcooked experience may be unrealistic. Specially with you have staff working with you. I saw other review of a person who works in restaurant and said its pretty accurate.
I'm a bit disappointed that it doesn't seem very restaurant-ey yet! I'm a huge fan of Diner Dash and Cat Cafe Manager and really wanted this to take off but here's hoping it'll take your criticism before going out of EA. Have you tried Little Dragon's Cafe or Cuisineer yet? (Both from Marvelous) PS. all the wordplay in the conclusion section, lol
It's rather frustrating that swapping out items on the number keys requires you to first remove the items you’ve already equipped before you can make a change.
i was so excited for Chef RPG but after watching quite a few content creators playing it i realised how lackluster it is, i can already tell it wont keep me engaged, i'm always iffy on EA games anyway so this one is a definite wait for me, but i know by the time it fully releases it's going to be AMAZING!
That you can do something before you get a quest to do it is OK as long as doing so doesn't "soft-lock" the game because you cannot do it after getting the quest so it never can complete - as long as it counts as fulfilling the quest and progress it just means the player is being proactive and the programmer has been careful.
I started in fall but winter is like torture. It's not that it's hard, it's that I'm bored. It's boring. There's nothing to do--- I really really need more to do and more engagement.
I agree with your review! I've been following this game a while, watching all the developer blogs and whatnot. So needless to say, I bought it right away if for nothing else than to support the developer. I have about 16 hours in, and I think you summed it up well. I don't expect perfection from an early access game, but the game so far does need some polish. A few QOL updates will go a long way. The good news is that I've seen the developer add updates just about every day since release to fix bugs and then will focus on some suggested QOL updates, so that is promising. I do think the game can become really great with time, but I kept thinking to myself that something was missing from the gameplay loop, but I wasn't sure what it was. I think you hit it right on. Running the restaurant needs more complexity. It's the main focus of the game but there's no challenge really to it. I think adding random events or something that the player, as the owner, has to resolve in different ways will help (as well as your suggestions). A random example is maybe a customer complains that they received the wrong dish or there was a problem with it or something and you need to resolve it. If you decide to not comp the meal, then you have a loss of reputation and less people come into your restaurant for a few days.
I have the same irritation with harvesting and putting your tools away. It is very obvious that it happens too. Also I need a better fishing rod but no idea how to make that happen (yet).
So far my main critics are the fact that you can't pick up things, when you have a tool equipped and that I don't really like the fishing minigame (and somehow can't seem to get a better rod, though the game keeps telling me that my rod sucks and I need a new one). Other than that, I'm loving the game, even though there are some clumsy spelling mistakes and weird bugs (like skipping an entire week after a particular flashback) 😅 But count my hooked on the game anyways! I'm really loving to run around trying to find new recipes to serve up in my restaurant!
Oh, you also skipped a week?!? 😆 I thought it was so weird that each month had like 21 or 22 days as I went straight from fall to winter after that cutscene. It all makes sense now.
@@JoshGamingGarden Yup and I didn't even notice it at first, because I was too preoccupied by the fact that I woke up at the train station without my clothes on 😂
I’ve been playing Chef RPG for a while, and while it’s fun in concept, there are definitely areas where it could be much better - especially when compared to Stardew Valley and Sun Haven, which set the bar for life sim/RPG hybrids. First, the leveling system feels unpolished. In Stardew Valley, If I want to improve at farming, I farm, and if I want to be better at combat, I fight. This natural skill progression works perfectly, rewarding players for the actions they perform. Chef RPG, on the other hand, lets you level up in general and assign points wherever, which breaks the immersion and makes skill development feel less meaningful. The game would benefit from adopting a more specific, task-driven system like in Sun Haven or Stardew Valley. Second, restaurant management feels very surface-level. For a game centered around running a restaurant, it’s missing the depth you'd expect. There’s no real inventory management or the ability to modify recipes in a meaningful way. Adding mechanics like managing staff, customizing menus based on available ingredients, and responding to customer feedback dynamically would make the gameplay more engaging. Sun Haven and Stardew Valley both do a great job of giving players a sense of progression and impact through their choices. Third, the game’s UI and interaction systems could be smoother. Simple actions, like equipping tools or harvesting, can feel clunky. You have to unequip tools to harvest crops, which disrupts the flow of gameplay. Stardew Valley keeps its mechanics streamlined, allowing players to focus on gameplay rather than fighting the interface. Lastly, buggy features like inaccurate menu reviews and unfinished dialogue pull me out of the experience. When I’m told my crab sushi is vegan, it’s hard to stay immersed! These are the kinds of polish issues that Sun Haven and Stardew Valley have already ironed out through early access and subsequent updates. Chef RPG is a solid foundation but needs improvement in its core mechanics and polish to really stand out. Drawing inspiration from the successful elements of Stardew Valley and Sun Haven could help take it to the next level.
For some reason the mini games just seemed boring to me and I normally tend to enjoy most (like 80%) of them, if not more. Even most in this game. The way it looks just didn't satisfy me while watching someone play on steam. Usually this translates to when I play so I moved it from my wishlist to my follow list. It'll pop up again on full release. I don't wanna do early access anymore, even though I barely did it to start with. I tend to pay games just once and is rather play version 1.0 or later for that. Also the game doesn't have controller support and playing with most and keyboard just gets painful.
I've seen people in my live stream saying it works well on the SteamDeck, other said they had issues playing with a controller. It's kind of mixed, sorry not very helpful!
At least they’re not those awful big-eyed, tiny pointy-nose anime-style portraits, like in Fields of Mistria. I can’t even play that game because it makes you look at that crap
Hunting reminds me of Oregon Trail. The fishing sounds awful. I rarely like fishing minigames but the chance to autofail is a no no. Not going to try early access version at least, might watch reviews of full release.
I like it but I don't love it. The game itself is great but I did not like any of the characters designs. The main game pixel art is fantastic but , I didn't like any of the detailed character portraits. Just didn't find any of them aesthetically pleasing. Also some main characters are unpleasant and that doesn't help.
Sorry Josh, but I think you are too harsh in this video. It's Early Access, so there will be bugs like getting stuck at one point or having to move away before you can interact with an object. These bugs are the reason developers make the game Early Access, because they want their players to give feedback and tell them about the bugs they find. For you to make these bugs the reason for saying "don't buy the game - yet" - wow, that's harsh and a little unfair in my opinion!
I love the game, I'm simply describing my experience and pointing out things that I'd like to see improved! I'm sorry if it came off as harsh, but I did specify at multiple points in my video how some bugs are to be expected since it is early access and that I have no doubt they will be fixed. Many of them have in fact already been fixed! I'm just showing what my experience was so people know what to expect. Some games in early access have few bugs, some have more. I play a wide range of EA games and like I said, I feel like this one is in the middle, which is not a bad thing. The game can definitely be worth playing as it is now, for me personally I'll be waiting a bit more. The reason I make these videos is so people know the pros & cons of the game at the moment and make their own decision. It also gives feedback to the developer, which is one of the main purposes of Early Access.
I tried the game but uninstalled after less than 20 minutes lol, the fact you can't change controls is ridiculous. The map doesnt even actually show all the locations from the start. It'd be helpful to show the NPCs we need to talk to on the map somehow. The fishing minigame was so confusing, IDK if its because I just use touchpad and not a mouse but I just gave up on trying to catch one. We also cant run from what I can see? Strange. Equipping tools then putting it away was not intuitive at all. 😭 The grammar typos were disappointing, like this is how they want to present their game and themselves as a dev to the public as a first impression? 🤨
I knew this game was overhyped. I feel like the cozy content creators are the reason for a lot of overhype for most of it. Not saying you just what I’ve noticed. I love watching your content and at least your honest.
I was expecting more of a resemblance ro traveller's rest and how you run your tavern.... so bummed about this... also don't like the townie thing with random people walking round and I can't actually talk to really many of the legit townies unless I find them. MEH
![[UNCUT] The Loyal Pin ปิ่นภักดิ์ EP.8 (1/4)](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/7OwUsMs0M5s/mqdefault.jpg)
He plans on making more tasks for the restaurant. I think he wanted to get the base stuff down first, before expanding upon.
I went into this game completely blind, and so far it's been very very fun. To be honest, I get the concerns about the restaurant sim part, but to me, if it's called Chef RPG, I want to be playing a RPG. There are very obvious parts where it screams Early Access, such as the capped ability points, and then the lack of a method to reset skill points. But the main core of the game is very solid.
I think the most pleasant surprise was that becoming friends actually meant something. You can buy upgrades to your tools as well as just unlock recipes and ingredients faster.
Also, as someone who has worked in restaurants before, the actual restaurant operating like how the game has it (chef just grab ingredients, and start cooking, waiters/busboys deal with the tables) is actually very realistic. Most of the time, the owner of the restaurant is there to fill in where needed which is pretty much what we did during operations. Josh, if you can play more, you'll start seeing that your role as the owner is more defined outside of operations such as managing supply, unlocking new recipes, layouts to rearrange for cooking stations, and much more. I think the dev meant for this game to be a sim-lite than a full blown restaurant sim.
This may be an unpopular opinion but I actually love that there is no time management in the restaurant gameplay. I find games like Overcooked really stressful and not fun and I'm glad this one is different.
Haha I felt the same! Compared to how stressed I get playing Stardew Valley (but still love it), I like that Chef RPG felt like an actual cozy game, super chill and relaxed. But I get that's not for everyone.
Same
The Overcooked All You Can Eat edition might be more up your alley. You can play with the default settings, or make it harder or easier for yourself, such as removing the timer or just slightly increasing the amount of time. I actually find that edition perfect for cozy gameplay, since the basic "run a kitchen" is a satisfying gameplay loop on its own.
Have you tried CatCafe Manager? Its practically Diner Dash without the stress!
Agreed!
I agree that the game needs more restaurant management mechanics. The only thing challenging me during restaurant gameplay is the employees'stamina bars, but that's something you can remedy thru traits and additional equipment you can unlock later on. The npcs are also a bit lackluster tbh. They don't seem to be that connected to the town they're in. For example, Hasel, Aloys, and Bianca mention several times that they are close friends with each other yet i never see them hangout. I never see Bowie interact with Uriel, the son he supposedly adores. Basically, the npcs don't seem to have lives beyond opening their stores and selling you things, so i just don't have an incentive to talk to them after increasing their friendship levels enough to unlock certain traits.
I've seen them hang out in the rec center place. The father daughter interactions are there too, just sparse out in the town.
@@donovan1345 i think i've only been to the rec center thrice if i recall correctly, so i definitely missed seeing any npcs in there. Still hoping they'll add more npc interactions tho.
I really like the idea of adding a multi-tasking aspect to make restaurant management more synergistic and introduce a sense of strategy.
That's what I liked about Travellers Rest. I was a bit disappointed seeing how they handled it in Chef RPG
I think its because we're meant to be a chef, like a fancy pants type of chef lol so it doesn't really make sense to serve customers. But I think managing the customers though reputation or options in the in game computer would be nice. Also being able to send the waiters and cooks to training to make them better, rather than having to reroll and pray they don't suck.
That would be like any other cooking game, that we have plenty of. At least give player a choise wich gameplay mechanics he/she prefers. And also I think it is this way because it has many more gaming aspects and mechanics - it is not just around cooking, but has all the aspects of running a restaurant.
@@hyiso811there’s a skill that allows your chefs/waiters to go up 2 points in both categories over time
@@productivity4623 Ye I know, its balls c:
i think what could solve the problem is making a difficulty mode, easy/normal/hard, easy would be for example the staff don't get tired, normal would be how it is now and hard would be chaotic and strategic like washing the dishes and managing the tables, then everyone would be happy
I second this because I like how it looks now. 😅
I too have been waiting for this Game for years and almost had given up hope that it would ever release. Naturally, I bought it the moment it went Live on Steam.
Right now I got 35h in it and played through 2 whole seasons (Spring and Summer) and the first part of Fall. And I've to say I'm loving it so far and it's pretty much what I expected the game to be - including that I only play as a Chef and only do cooking while the Restaurant is open.
I come from an era where a Restaurant Sim pretty much only included renting a place, placing tables, seats and kitchen gear, hiring staff and appointing them working hours, set up the menu and buy the necessary ingredients, check some statistics for the area I opened my restaurant in to check for rush hours and what kind of dishes might be popular here, then open the restaurant and lean back and do nothing but watch my hired staff do all the work and observe if I've the right amount of tables, staff, ingredients and menu or if there's room for improvement.
I think I would be overwhelmed if I would've to do even more than cooking while the restaurant is open. And since you'll run more than one restaurant later down the line, I'm sure it'll get more busy naturally. I'm past Act II and have been tasked to take care of the abandoned bathhouse for which, if I'm successful, am allowed to run their teahouse.
If I would've to point out one thing I don't like about Chef RPG right now, then it would be that it's always better to make dishes using the mini games, as only those can get a dish to a 100 rating. But being stuck in those mini games all the times makes you miss out on what happens in your restaurant. I've maxed out Cooking by now and even with a 10 in Cooking, my Auto-Dishes only get a rating of 77 average. I'm not sure if the rating of the dish even has an effect right now, and I haven't unlocked all the other skills yet, but I hope that, at some point, we can get to a point where we 100% a dish even with auto-cooking.
Playing as an Android with the cooking software upgrade, maxed cooking, a piece of cooking jewelry, and the perk that lets your dishes go above 100% makes your autocooked dishes crazy
I love diner dash but idk if i would want the game to do all of that. Maybe let us give food to the customers but other than that i like how cozy it is. I feel like if its alot more hectic it takes the cozy feeling away. Maybe they could give us an option in settings to choose how hectic we want it.
Exactly! Chef RPG is its own thing. I'm not sure why people want it to operate like diner dash and other restaurant games. I love the cozy feel of it without feeling overwhelmed.
Diner dash was stressful 😬
You can get recipes daily by going to the library and checking the bookcases.
I really don't want an "Overcook" management restaurants... More of a Palia type, multitasking is nice, but stressfull and raging is not what i'm looking for a cozy game
I play games to relax, not relive nightmares. 😂 After working in food and beverage for years, I can not imagine why someone would pay money to simulate the incredible frustration of serving the public. I hated the pressure of trying to please pepole. In reality, they can not be pleased.
I love all your cooking puns at the end xD I also agree about the running of the restaurant being lackluster and we should have more to do.
I love how this video is very informative but is also short and straight to the point. I would love to see more videos in this format. Thank you!
Agreed on the restaurant management mechanics! I am super interested in this game, but am definitely going to wait for full release.
Thank you for not spoiling anything! I'm so excited to play this too. The detail put into this game is so impressive!
Bone's Cafe is a really good restaurant sim, if you want more multitasking.
I rly love that its not too much of multitasking. Its a cozy game and shouldnt rly stress you out.
Sure some freedom would be nice but at the moment i rly love the game.
This was one of the few games I was still somewhat considering getting in Early access, even though I really don't like doing that. But now I'm convinced, I should wait!
Though I do have to say, I don't like stressful kitchen games. Games like overcooked arn't fun for me personally.
So I'm kind of glad the restaurant managment doesn't seem too hectic. But different strokes for different folks! ^_^
Really good and informative thanks Josh.... Travelers rest and stardew are keeping me busy😁👍🏻
Thank you. I am going to wait on this one
Great review! Thank you so much. Yes I thought the restaurant part would be a chaotic time management game. I’m going to hold off and wait to see if this part of the game gets overhauled.
This game is beautiful and I love it but I also agree with everything you said. Found myself just waiting around with nothing to do in my restaurant one too many times. I have confidence these issues will be addressed.
So far, only had one major bug. Couldn't close my restaurant for the night. My one waitress got 'stuck' at the table and wouldn't clean up the plates. She was about half stamina so she HAD energy.
Secondly, I recommend getting the 'library' perk so there's a 10% chance of recipes every day at the library.
Thirdly: seashells. Bowie will buy them from you and you can make around 1200+ a day, pumping that back into ingredients or just buying upgrades.
Fourthly: DON'T WASTE GIFTS. If it's a gift and sells for a lot, like shark's teeth or cone shells, sell them. Most of the villagers tend to hate gifts (could be a bug).
Fifthly: SAVE OFTEN. The game's in early access.
Sixthly: DO NOT FAINT. Fainting actually /skips a day/ which is crucial time you've lost. Be home by 2am or else.
I'm honestly enjoying it, I haven't got as far as you have, but you nailed some of the "issues". Lots of room for improvement all around tho.
Love all the food analogies at the end of the video Josh
I don't want the stress of a diner dash type game. I want something like the original Pizza Tycoon, but looking like this.
One of the biggest hurdles in running a restaurant is losing money because your staff's wages, especially the chef and waiters, are higher than your daily earnings. The more tables you add, the more customers you can seat, but you'll also have to increase the number of waiters.
It sounds like it's really light on the sim management mechanics. You can do those in a chill way (like Two Point Campus), so hopefully they enhance that part of the game.
Another frustration is the limited storage. You can’t craft your own storage boxes, and I’m unsure how to expand my bag or free up some space in my house.
In my experience, unlocking the skill where waiters ask customers to be patient is not a good idea. My waiters are running around in circles without actually delivering the orders, and the counter is piled high with dishes. It’s chaotic! 😆😆
It's kinda funny to me how Lemon Cake is tougher than Chef RPG! I constantly have to worry about customers leaving, pastries burning, and losing profit! I will still play this one though! It's not perfect, but it's enough if I want something chill to play while I watch a movie or listen to the Gaming Garden podcast! 😉~⭐ As for 9:40 I don't think it's shallow, I like how you pointed out the important parts without making it too oversimplified! Very helpful!
Thank you for always sharing your honest reviews with us!! This game looks amazing
I appreciate all the cooking puns 🤣
Thanks for the review. I watched you stream of it but I do love getting a concise overview to help me make a decision.
Thank u for posting your review. It will stay waiting on the wishlist for me because, like u said, it need more time in the oven to be fully baked, so got to give them time to fix the bugs and I also watched Miss Bubble's review and it's sad that she encounted several bugs.
I can totally understand what u're saying about the busyness of the restaurant or us having more things to do like clean table etc, I think the dev should check the way that Echos of the Plum Grove does with the settings, like, just check on or off for several things like death or hunger etc, so could use that way to see what we prefer to do when we are in restaurant like, cooking only, or check on for cleaning, washing dishes, putting plates away, talking to customers etc. And have a slider of difficulty for how chaotic we want the restaurant to be, to be chill at the lowest, or highest being chaotic so if u want chaos, swipe it all the way up to the max, lol.
I read the other comments and there are mix of some who also want more tasks for us to do at restaurant, but there are also some that like this the way it is, and there's no right or wrong answer here, so a difficulty slider would help with that, to give everyone what we look for in this game.
I appreciate this review. I am still going to play it,I might wait a little bit though! I do hope the restaurant gets more challenging/fun, but it looks pretty good overall.
I really don't like that the servers just basically engulf the empty plates, I hope the dev adds a dish pit and/or bussers to the game later on
For Both for Fields of Mistria and Chef RPG
Not getting a purchase or even demo, would want to wait for full release.
I want to play these cozy games but I would rather be patient and wait for the devs to launch the game Ver 1.0
Field of Mistria doesn't feels like a early access game tbh it has more mechanics than Chef rpg meaning it already has controller support, window resolutions, and ect.
Plus it's worth 14 bucks, chef rpg is worth 20 bucks and Noah is planning to charge it more after the 1.0 is launched
@Chad-ug5mb
Nothing wrong with either game mechanics but I just don't feel like playing a literally half baked game with content still missing.
Need the full course to enjoy it
@@ahmedfalahy9337 I've been playing FoM in the course of 2 days and I get what you're saying, but I really don't feel like anything is half - baked in that game even at this state. Maybe its bc i haven't reached the ceiling yet, but it's been worth it.
@amaririii_ch
There's still heart events to see and skill tree not complete
@@ahmedfalahy9337 and? They're plenty of heart events. Maybe the game itself doesn't need a skill tree. Harvest Moon never had a skill tree.
Overall it's probably the best well polished early access game, I came across.
I eventually hope they will let u hire a manager so you dont have to be there onsite to open the restaurant and you can go exploring, foraging.
I happened to see a bike parked outside my home. I wish I could hop on and ride it.
I've played about 50 hours so far. I almost quit 10 hours in because of all the glitches and frustration. But the developer fixed the most glaring ones and the experience got a lot smoother. I also wanted to power through it since the art is just that beautiful and I really wanted to have a vegan restaurant. This game has a lot more than I what I had originally expected. I eventually unlocked a vegetarian research station which allowed me to research some interesting vegan recipes, I started a little farm, and I started brewing alcohol.
The mini games are hit or miss. I'm fine with the DDR, frying pan, oven, blender, and sorta the barista, but I HATE the steamer, grill, and bathhouse mini games. I haven't tried the fryer one, yet.
Overall, I'm enjoying the game. I also already figured out an extremely easy way to get money. I got $60k in one day selling only two VERY easy to make dishes. lol (and they're vegan!
This was really helpful. Great video!
Great review! I now know it’s definitely a cozy game 🫶🏻 Also, if you’re looking for multitasking, try traveler’s rest! it’s chaotic and somehow cozy at the same time. ❤
I was skeptical of it going into EA but after hearing your thoughts im glad it did!
I didn't play yet, but expect a overcooked experience may be unrealistic. Specially with you have staff working with you. I saw other review of a person who works in restaurant and said its pretty accurate.
I hope you could become friends with your waiters or there could be returning customers that you can get based on the food you serve
Just right ❤ gives me what I need to know to decide. I definately want this game if it is Steamdeck compatible
I'm a bit disappointed that it doesn't seem very restaurant-ey yet! I'm a huge fan of Diner Dash and Cat Cafe Manager and really wanted this to take off but here's hoping it'll take your criticism before going out of EA. Have you tried Little Dragon's Cafe or Cuisineer yet? (Both from Marvelous)
PS. all the wordplay in the conclusion section, lol
Cuisineer is awesome but a bit grindy.
Little dragon cafe shouldn't have gone out and the price was way too much for the quality.
Nice video, Josh! I am loving the game. 😊
I've been loving the game. I think the restaurant has the exact amount of complexity it needs.
Try Ale and Tale Tavern , and u can micro managing to your heart content .... cause u do all the stuffs yourself , it's a chaos lol
It's rather frustrating that swapping out items on the number keys requires you to first remove the items you’ve already equipped before you can make a change.
Pros - the colours and you can play past the minigames or hire a chef or two. Cons - little bit grindy
Thanks for putting this game on my radar
i was so excited for Chef RPG but after watching quite a few content creators playing it i realised how lackluster it is, i can already tell it wont keep me engaged, i'm always iffy on EA games anyway so this one is a definite wait for me, but i know by the time it fully releases it's going to be AMAZING!
I enjoyed what I did play of it but ultimately decided to hold off on playing more for several content updates to be added.
This game is amazing❤
Perfect length video!
That you can do something before you get a quest to do it is OK as long as doing so doesn't "soft-lock" the game because you cannot do it after getting the quest so it never can complete - as long as it counts as fulfilling the quest and progress it just means the player is being proactive and the programmer has been careful.
I started in fall but winter is like torture. It's not that it's hard, it's that I'm bored. It's boring. There's nothing to do--- I really really need more to do and more engagement.
I'm passing. Was hoping this would be more like recettear
Thank you for the review.
I agree with your review! I've been following this game a while, watching all the developer blogs and whatnot. So needless to say, I bought it right away if for nothing else than to support the developer.
I have about 16 hours in, and I think you summed it up well. I don't expect perfection from an early access game, but the game so far does need some polish. A few QOL updates will go a long way. The good news is that I've seen the developer add updates just about every day since release to fix bugs and then will focus on some suggested QOL updates, so that is promising.
I do think the game can become really great with time, but I kept thinking to myself that something was missing from the gameplay loop, but I wasn't sure what it was. I think you hit it right on. Running the restaurant needs more complexity. It's the main focus of the game but there's no challenge really to it. I think adding random events or something that the player, as the owner, has to resolve in different ways will help (as well as your suggestions). A random example is maybe a customer complains that they received the wrong dish or there was a problem with it or something and you need to resolve it. If you decide to not comp the meal, then you have a loss of reputation and less people come into your restaurant for a few days.
No controller support was a shock tbh...
I have the same irritation with harvesting and putting your tools away. It is very obvious that it happens too. Also I need a better fishing rod but no idea how to make that happen (yet).
I personally though the length of this review was perfect for Early Access!! ❤❤
You got to realize this is a comfy life sim. It's not supposed to be chaotic and stressful.
So far my main critics are the fact that you can't pick up things, when you have a tool equipped and that I don't really like the fishing minigame (and somehow can't seem to get a better rod, though the game keeps telling me that my rod sucks and I need a new one). Other than that, I'm loving the game, even though there are some clumsy spelling mistakes and weird bugs (like skipping an entire week after a particular flashback) 😅 But count my hooked on the game anyways! I'm really loving to run around trying to find new recipes to serve up in my restaurant!
Oh, you also skipped a week?!? 😆 I thought it was so weird that each month had like 21 or 22 days as I went straight from fall to winter after that cutscene. It all makes sense now.
@@JoshGamingGarden Yup and I didn't even notice it at first, because I was too preoccupied by the fact that I woke up at the train station without my clothes on 😂
I’ve been playing Chef RPG for a while, and while it’s fun in concept, there are definitely areas where it could be much better - especially when compared to Stardew Valley and Sun Haven, which set the bar for life sim/RPG hybrids.
First, the leveling system feels unpolished. In Stardew Valley, If I want to improve at farming, I farm, and if I want to be better at combat, I fight. This natural skill progression works perfectly, rewarding players for the actions they perform. Chef RPG, on the other hand, lets you level up in general and assign points wherever, which breaks the immersion and makes skill development feel less meaningful. The game would benefit from adopting a more specific, task-driven system like in Sun Haven or Stardew Valley.
Second, restaurant management feels very surface-level. For a game centered around running a restaurant, it’s missing the depth you'd expect. There’s no real inventory management or the ability to modify recipes in a meaningful way. Adding mechanics like managing staff, customizing menus based on available ingredients, and responding to customer feedback dynamically would make the gameplay more engaging. Sun Haven and Stardew Valley both do a great job of giving players a sense of progression and impact through their choices.
Third, the game’s UI and interaction systems could be smoother. Simple actions, like equipping tools or harvesting, can feel clunky. You have to unequip tools to harvest crops, which disrupts the flow of gameplay. Stardew Valley keeps its mechanics streamlined, allowing players to focus on gameplay rather than fighting the interface.
Lastly, buggy features like inaccurate menu reviews and unfinished dialogue pull me out of the experience. When I’m told my crab sushi is vegan, it’s hard to stay immersed! These are the kinds of polish issues that Sun Haven and Stardew Valley have already ironed out through early access and subsequent updates.
Chef RPG is a solid foundation but needs improvement in its core mechanics and polish to really stand out. Drawing inspiration from the successful elements of Stardew Valley and Sun Haven could help take it to the next level.
I liked the video.
It would be great if farming games could just come with different modes: normal and hardcore 😂
hey josh, if "we harvest shadows" got released full, would you play it ?
Man i got this game on my wishlist on steam, and watch pixel architect but sadly i forgot to get this thing during release last week. T_T
Well its only his first game
Is your first langage French ? More specifically Canadian French ?
For some reason the mini games just seemed boring to me and I normally tend to enjoy most (like 80%) of them, if not more. Even most in this game. The way it looks just didn't satisfy me while watching someone play on steam. Usually this translates to when I play so I moved it from my wishlist to my follow list. It'll pop up again on full release.
I don't wanna do early access anymore, even though I barely did it to start with. I tend to pay games just once and is rather play version 1.0 or later for that.
Also the game doesn't have controller support and playing with most and keyboard just gets painful.
Do you think it’ll work okay on the Steamdeck? I’m scared to try it…😅
I've seen people in my live stream saying it works well on the SteamDeck, other said they had issues playing with a controller. It's kind of mixed, sorry not very helpful!
@@JoshGamingGarden very helpful, thank you!! 😊
Garcia Brenda Martin Richard Lee Susan
Jackson Larry White Matthew Brown Frank
I feel like he tried to jam too many ideas in it and forgot what is more important. Look at the game name. Focus on that and make it more fun.
Miller Kenneth Perez Betty Smith Steven
I am not a fan of the art style and portraits at all 😅
Agreed
This game is looking a bit raw, maybe a year in the oven will do the trick :D
Might get hate for this one but…. It’s called CHEF rpg not restaurant rpg. 😅
A chef should still be busy & multitasking in the kitchen though 😭
The character portraits just don't look appealing to me.
Agree… I hope there’ll be mods for this like portrait mods in stardew TT
Same thoughts
At least they’re not those awful big-eyed, tiny pointy-nose anime-style portraits, like in Fields of Mistria. I can’t even play that game because it makes you look at that crap
Really?? I love them
Very muted pastel colors. Looks like the trans pride flag. 🏳️⚧️ no one has bold colors. It’s just off putting.
Hunting reminds me of Oregon Trail. The fishing sounds awful. I rarely like fishing minigames but the chance to autofail is a no no.
Not going to try early access version at least, might watch reviews of full release.
Johnson George Allen Frank Brown Donna
I like it but I don't love it. The game itself is great but I did not like any of the characters designs. The main game pixel art is fantastic but , I didn't like any of the detailed character portraits. Just didn't find any of them aesthetically pleasing. Also some main characters are unpleasant and that doesn't help.
I guess I'm skipping this game for now.
no controller support is a skip for me
🌻🍉
Sorry Josh, but I think you are too harsh in this video. It's Early Access, so there will be bugs like getting stuck at one point or having to move away before you can interact with an object. These bugs are the reason developers make the game Early Access, because they want their players to give feedback and tell them about the bugs they find. For you to make these bugs the reason for saying "don't buy the game - yet" - wow, that's harsh and a little unfair in my opinion!
I love the game, I'm simply describing my experience and pointing out things that I'd like to see improved! I'm sorry if it came off as harsh, but I did specify at multiple points in my video how some bugs are to be expected since it is early access and that I have no doubt they will be fixed. Many of them have in fact already been fixed! I'm just showing what my experience was so people know what to expect. Some games in early access have few bugs, some have more. I play a wide range of EA games and like I said, I feel like this one is in the middle, which is not a bad thing. The game can definitely be worth playing as it is now, for me personally I'll be waiting a bit more.
The reason I make these videos is so people know the pros & cons of the game at the moment and make their own decision. It also gives feedback to the developer, which is one of the main purposes of Early Access.
Everyone has a shit tumblr artstyle
So go play stardew valley
I tried the game but uninstalled after less than 20 minutes lol, the fact you can't change controls is ridiculous.
The map doesnt even actually show all the locations from the start. It'd be helpful to show the NPCs we need to talk to on the map somehow.
The fishing minigame was so confusing, IDK if its because I just use touchpad and not a mouse but I just gave up on trying to catch one.
We also cant run from what I can see? Strange. Equipping tools then putting it away was not intuitive at all. 😭
The grammar typos were disappointing, like this is how they want to present their game and themselves as a dev to the public as a first impression? 🤨
I knew this game was overhyped. I feel like the cozy content creators are the reason for a lot of overhype for most of it. Not saying you just what I’ve noticed. I love watching your content and at least your honest.
So what is this game? A harvesting game?
I was expecting more of a resemblance ro traveller's rest and how you run your tavern.... so bummed about this... also don't like the townie thing with random people walking round and I can't actually talk to really many of the legit townies unless I find them. MEH
The npcs are super ugly. Not sure if the game was going for a woke feel but the portrait art isn’t appealing.
what the heck does "woke feel" even mean? 💀
@@stinko_bunfat, ugly, rude women. And soy useless men. SJW catering at its finest. Don’t play dumb, everyone knows what the woke look is.