This is an entry for the 14th WOLF RPG Editor Contest.
I was interested in playing this game because it's a work by Nagomiya Soft, the creators of the popular game "Kyou Rakuten Gai".
(I haven't played "Kyōraku Tengai" yet.)
This game, billed as a Japanese-style gourmet RPG, featured interesting puzzle-like combat.
When I say "puzzle," I don't mean a battle like a chess puzzle, but rather a more casual battle where you have plenty of room to experiment and try different things.
The completion time was approximately 2 hours.
Game Overview (No Spoilers)
In order to cure his sister's illness, chef Kusami, along with the sealed-away gluttonous goddess Shishikui, sets out to find the "Seven Divine Herbs," a panacea.
The objective is to explore seven locations with the wild goose and collect the seven sacred herbs.
First, choose a dungeon to explore on the field and enter it.
While there are varying levels of difficulty, there's no set order, so you can tackle them in any order you like.
When you defeat a boss, Shishikui acquires a skill, and it seems that there's a specific order in which you can progress through the game more advantageously depending on the skill (similar to Mega Man).
However, I wasn't particularly conscious of it, but I was able to clear it without any problems.
Once you enter the dungeon, commands will appear.
It's structured like a traditional non-field RPG.
When you "move forward," you will advance deeper into the dungeon, and a battle will occur.
Also, if you want to gather ingredients without going further in, you can select "Combat" to fight on the spot.
This is very useful when you want to repeat battles in the same spot after reaching the boss.
Various events will occur when you "take a stroll".
Be aware that not all events are good.
The battles are turn-based command battles.
You will select commands, and actions will be taken in order of speed.
In battle, the most important thing is to obtain the enemy's meat.
Using Kusami to perform physical attacks will allow you to obtain meat from your opponents (you can obtain it repeatedly just by dealing damage).
This meat can be used as is or consumed using cooking commands to produce various effects.
It's helpful to collect plenty of healing items in preparation for the boss fight, so let's actively defeat enemies.
Also, since you can obtain meat as a material even if you defeat enemies, there's no need to hold back and try to prolong the battle.
In this game, you do not gain experience points by defeating enemies.
Since your level only increases when you defeat a boss, the only benefit of regular battles is obtaining items.
Using the Kusami cooking command, you can produce different effects even with the same ingredients.
If you're only using the meat, you could use a wild goose instead.
A boss battle awaits you at the deepest part of the dungeon.
The skills you can acquire upon defeating the enemy will be displayed, and then the battle will begin.
The goal of a boss battle is not to defeat the boss, but to "increase the 'deliciousness'."
By filling the two flavor gauges on the screen, the Shishikui will awaken and gain access to a one-hit kill technique.
So, first, try out various actions and figure out what makes the gauge go up.
During boss battles, enemy minions appear, so if you can obtain meat from them, you should never run out of healing items.
It starts out as a trial and error process, but once you understand how it works, I think you'll find it as satisfying as finding the solution to a puzzle.
Once all the flavor gauges are successfully filled, Shishikui will awaken and you will be able to use "The Great God's Supper".
Using this on the boss will end the battle.
Review (no spoilers)
Each boss had different gimmicks incorporated into them, which made it very enjoyable.
The enemy attacks aren't too intense, so I think it's a difficulty level where you can fight without being wiped out, even on your first try.
While you can technically retreat even during boss battles, there's no particular penalty for being wiped out, so feel free to give it a try.
The story unfolds almost entirely through the interactions of Kusami and Shishikui, but they make a great team.
Kusami looks like a cool beauty, but it was cute to see her flustered and panicked every time Shishikui made an unreasonable request during a boss battle.
In boss battles, there's a standard strategy: withstand the onslaught while building up your savory gauge, and finally finish them off with Shishikui's ultimate attack.
Like a television program, the established format provided a sense of stable catharsis.
I also like the boss's background music, "Miko Kagura," which you end up hearing the longest, and it was one of the things that got me excited.
Besides that, I also liked the field music, "The Mischief of Sunlight Filtering Through the Trees."
One minor issue I noticed was that when using recovery items on the menu screen, the white border made it a little difficult to see who was selected.
Also, since the status effects displayed in the item descriptions are only icons, it was difficult to tell at a glance what kind of status effect it was (it's not a problem once you get used to it).
I think it would be easier to understand if the core status effect was displayed on the item icon, and a textual explanation was provided in the description box (this is just a thought, so it might be off the mark).
This RPG is recommended for those who want to enjoy puzzle-like combat in a casual setting.
When I say it's like a puzzle, I don't mean a chess-like endgame problem, but rather a work that offers the enjoyment of finding the solution through trial and error.
Strategy Notes (Spoiler Warning)
The real appeal of this game lies in the trial and error process of figuring out what actions to take during combat to maximize your chances of success.
Please be aware that looking at strategy notes might spoil some of the experience.
During my playthrough, I didn't particularly use Namaste's shop.
While it's probably possible to complete the game without using it, there might be a clever way to utilize it.
Lake Uwabami
Attacking the Snake Apple and knocking it into the swamp, or having the Hitomata Orochi dive into the swamp while damaged, will increase the upper and lower umami gauges respectively.
In short, what you need to do is to keep attacking the snake apples until you've knocked out a sufficient number, and then focus your attacks on the human-faced serpent.
Nikomi Volcano
The umami gauge increases as turns pass while inflicting burns on the dwarf vine.
However, if the temperature approaches 100 degrees Celsius, it will boil over, causing significant damage to the appliance.
Methods for lowering the temperature will be explained later.
Another way to increase your umami gauge is to lure your enemy companions into the fight.
If the Hinabekazura has taken some damage and there are other enemies nearby, it will drag the enemies in and recover its HP.
Since the temperature drops when it drags other enemies in, keep actively damaging the dwarf vine.
The key is to focus your attacks on the dwarf vine; this will cause it to spontaneously combust and burn, while also drawing in the other enemies.
Himuro Snowfield
The umami gauge of the ice rose increases by inflicting frostbite on it and by using its blood-sucking roots.
You can inflict frostbite on them by using Yukidai Fuku.
Additionally, if you are hit by the thorny whip, you will bleed, and if the enemy uses their blood-sucking root while you are bleeding, the other savory gauge will also increase.
The task at hand is to inflict frostbite on the ice roses while simultaneously attacking the enemy.
Oguma Valley
Attacking Anamotaz and receiving its counterattacks will increase your umami gauge.
However, taking a direct hit from their counterattack can be tough, so it's best to blind them with feral mole meat before attacking.
Additionally, forcing your opponent to use Super Regeneration will increase another gauge.
It will use this attack once you've dealt a certain amount of damage, so simply focus your attacks on it.
The goal is to blind the opponent while simultaneously launching an attack.
Sugar Jungle
When you damage a Honeybee, it will recover with a repair command, and its gauge will increase at that time.
Also, if you attack the Honeybee Nos when there are no honeybees in front of it, you can deal significant damage, and the umami gauge at the bottom will increase at that time (probably).
Equipping the Shishikuki with the Counterattack skill and using its Nioh Slash while simultaneously using Kusami's Knife Slash will allow you to efficiently eliminate honeybees.
Making the honeybee bleed will reduce its flavor, so be careful not to use any techniques that cause bleeding.
Sludge Swamp
The umami gauge increases when you poison a poisonous catfish and then purify it.
Continue to poison them with the meat of a freshwater anemone, etc.
Also, when your HP drops to a certain level, you'll perform a super regeneration and recover all at once, and the gauge at the bottom will increase at that time.
Since the gauge increases significantly, you should prioritize increasing the gauge when purifying poison first.
Niehime's Kitchen
This map appears after clearing six locations.
Green sugar plants absorb abnormalities, which increases their umami flavor.
Status ailments will heal on their own, but we want to speed things up, so let's heal them.
The Shisha Kebab dish can cure all ailments, so if you keep using this, you should be fine with the smelly taste.
I think the wild goose can also survive if it's kept healthy by eating the meat of the stag beetle.
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