Game: Adventure Bar Story
Console: Nintendo 3DS
Developer: Ride On
Release Date: 19th February 2015
I've been playing Adventure Bar Story on the 3DS for quite a while now, on and off, but only recently have I begun to feel as if I'm ready to review the game. It's the sort of thing that can quite easily been picked up and put down as needed, with a simple overarching storyline and a general list of activities which need to be done each day in game in order to progress.
The story focuses on two sisters who are running a bar serving hot and cold food, snacks and various drinks. Siela, the younger of the two has a knack for cooking and making the various things served at the bar, as well as adventuring to find new types of ingredient to cook with. Gameplay takes place in two stages; the first is prior to the bar opening for the day, in which players can leave town and travel to one of the other areas of the map in order to collect ingredients and battle enemies.
Unlike most RPGs, levelling up occurs via eating the dishes Siela prepares for sale in the bar. This means that players must decide which dishes will be sold and which to keep back for levelling. The most complex and expensive dishes also yield the most exp. points, and as such players must consider their financial state also; health potions and other useful items can be expensive. Due to the eating/levelling mechanic in the game, training characters can be a slow and obtuse process, requiring battle, collection of ingredients and recipes, and allocation of cooked food rather than simply battling.
Players encounter new friends and party members as they progress through the story, and are able to choose 2 of these to accompany them in any travels outside of the main city. A variety of magic spells can be learned by each party member as they take part in more battles, and there are different types of weapons which suit different party members skills accordingly.
Battles take place in much the same way as many other RPGs; there's a choice of a regular or skilled (magic) attack, items with which to heal or help your party and the option to run away if things get too much. The difficulty curve is such that new areas can be challenging at first, leading to careful exploration, with more discoveries of each area occurring over time. Unlike other RPGs though it's possible to just eat a ton of high exp. foods and come back far stronger, which can be useful.
The storyline progresses as Siela takes part in various cookery contests at the Royal Palace in an attempt to beat her rival chef from the Cassel Garden restaurant, who is looking to buy her bar. In my 6 or 7 contests at the palace (there's one every in game month), I've never placed anything but first, so I can only assume that they're not particularly difficult to win with a little preparation. The reward for winning is more custom at your bar, and some rare-ish ingredients.
Graphically the game is presented in a retro-esque style, emulating the look of 16-bit games with its sprites, with anime influenced character avatars appearing when characters speak. The locations and areas featured in the game are varied and interesting for the most part, although once most of them are unlocked it can be somewhat of a drag to be limited to visiting just one a day. Musically the game's soundtrack has some enjoyable moments, but nothing that'll stick with players for long.
Overall Adventure Bar Story is cute, enjoyable break from the gameplay of standard RPGs. Running a bar alongside fighting monsters and exploring makes for an interesting dynamic and working out the various recipes can be fun, but after a while the whole gimmick gets in the way somewhat and can actually make the game less enjoyable.
Rating: 73/100
Grade: C
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