Coming from publisher Serenity Forge, you just know something funny is going on with Cooking Companions; previous release Doki Doki Literature Club is an excellent narrative adventure, and one that takes some dark turns despite its cheery anime girl-led aesthetic. Well, Cooking Companions looks just as cute on the surface and…let’s just say, it’s definitely not something for the kids to play (my 10 year old was immediately interested in this from the cover art, but she’s going to have a long wait to be ready for what comes next).
That’s not to spoil too much of course (there’s a warning before the game kicks off about the nature of what’s to come). We start the game with a group of friends in a cabin in the woods; Karin, Gregor, Anatoly, and Mariah – and us. We are the fifth character it seems, and in this nature excursion are tasked with being the group’s chef. After some light-hearted opening banter, it quickly transpires that we didn’t do a great job of rationing our reserves. With food running out, the group tussle back and forth on how to fix this problem; do we walk miles to the nearest town? Just eat less until we go home? Or perhaps something more…left-field?
What transpires over the following few hours can only be described as (and this is your last spoiler warning if you don’t want to know anything at all – and you really should go in as fresh as possible) a total mindfuck.
Without going into specifics, the cabin in the woods may not be all it seems and – with a massive flood suddenly cutting off all escape routes – the group must make some incredibly tough and frankly disturbing decisions in order to survive.
We do get some agency in this story though. At several points we can choose who to talk to, or which path to go down in the decision making process which will affect the outcomes of the group. A relationship meter tracks who we have chosen to spend time or side with, and this in turn affects who will listen or side with us later on.
And that’s not even mentioning the Chompettes, the sentient vegetables that are in the cabin and provide some comic relief (or, more often, make the whole situation a million times worse). It’s worth paying attention to how these vegetables interact with each other and what they say as they may offer clues as to how we should act down the line.
It’s hard to really delve into more without huge spoilers, but it’s safe to say Cooking Companions doesn’t take too long to get into some really creepy, somewhat psychotic areas. The twists and turns keep coming, and by the end of the game I was left with a somewhat unsettled feeling – in a good way. If you’ve played the aforementioned DDLC you’ll be better prepared here, though I feel like this game pushes the horror vibes even further somehow.
It’s an enjoyable story though, and by the time I’d reached the end I was hooked, wanting to see what/who/how things were going to wrap up. It’s short enough to warrant several playthroughs (and there’s even a NG+ mode) to see all the variations too. But seriously, Cooking Companions is not for the faint of heart or younger players. This goes to some dark places (sometimes literally) and it does a great job of taking simple 2D drawings and cute styling and making it as gruesome and unsettling as possible.
Conclusion
If you’re up for a disturbingly enjoyable tale for an evening or two, do yourself a favour; pick up Cooking Companions with as little prior knowledge as possible and just revel in the places it takes us. Just don’t let the kids watch.
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This game was reviewed based on Xbox S|X review code, using an Xbox S|X console. All of the opinions and insights here are subject to that version. Game provided by publisher.
