Cook, Serve, Delicious! 3?! – Review

After only two years, a new entry for the acclaimed hardcore restaurant management series Cook, Serve, Delicious! has released. Altering the formula from the usual brick and mortar restaurants to food trucks, Cook, Serve, Delicious! 3?! brings plenty of changes to the series while still maintaining the usual formula. Here is what it has to offer.

Story

Cook, Serve, Delicious! 3?! (which will be referred to as CSD3 for the remainder of the review) goes quite a bit more in-depth with its story than its predecessors. In a world ravaged by nuclear war, massive food chains are continuously expanding. Cook, Serve, Delicious!, was the most famous restaurant out of all, but it recently exploded, leaving little other than rubble.

Luckily, Whisk and Cleaver, two search and recovery androids, find the restaurant’s cook amongst the wreckage. Both being big fans of their cuisine and having nothing better to do, they offer their truck to the chef in order to start a moving business. One year later, the trio embarks on their culinary journey.

Graphics

CSD3’s graphics are great hand-drawn images, able to make anyone hungry thanks to the level of detail in every single meal prepared. There are also cutscenes in a slideshow format for the story which, along with the postcards and other images in the game, showcase the three protagonists and their shenanigans.

Sound

Accompanying the stupendous graphics, CSD3’s sound department is very well covered with quite good voice acting for all cutscenes and dialogues, alongside a great soundtrack and SFX. The tracks are quite varied and catchy, with plenty of long songs so as to not become repetitive. SFX are also well applied and useful as sound cues, without becoming overwhelming.

Gameplay

CSD’s gameplay as a series has stayed consistent throughout its iterations in the shape of restaurant management simulators. While this description is not the most accurate, it still pretty much describes what to expect. What such a classification doesn’t say though is how hardcore the game can end up becoming.

In CSD3 players go day to day preparing different menus to serve the customers met on each stop. Every day has different conditions, making the player pick and mix from specific selections of foods to create the perfect menu for it. One day may lock the possible meals to breakfast, fried foods or just let the player choose from every type of food.

As the player approaches each stop in a day, they must prepare the dishes in order to serve them upon arrival. These dishes are divided into two main types; special orders and batch prepared. The first are only requested during the trip between stops and at the very start of these, requiring specific steps. Batch meals on the other hand are prepared en masse, although some require certain steps for their presentation. Both types of dishes are also divided in point categories, with higher ones netting the player more money at the end of the day, which can be used to customize the truck.

Higher point categories mean more steps for preparation though, which at the same time means less time for other dishes. Making a manageable menu is one of the most important parts of the game, which can make or break a session. Having too many hard dishes will send the player in a maddening rush to finish them all in time without using the wrong ingredients or making any mistakes.

The game even introduces handicaps later on in the form of other food trucks, which will attack the player’s, applying different effects. These add to the stress the game brings, which only makes finishing each level that much more satisfying.

All this said, CSD3 has a slight issue with its difficulty, that being it’s completely optional. Whereas the previous games introduced chores that had to be finished and food with bonuses and maluses, CSD3 has removed these. Besides a few levels with point requirements, most leave it up to the player to choose which meals to prepare, allowing them to just select the easiest.

There is no drawback to this either, seeing as money is all but useful, only used for the previously mentioned truck customization. Where the previous entries forced players to maximize their revenue to keep the restaurant afloat, CSD3 makes it just an extra which can be completely ignored.

Besides all of this the game also features an upgrade system, whereupon leveling the chef level, players obtain parts that can be used to unlock new functions. These functions range from new stations to prepare more food at once to extra tools with effects such as preserving food for longer. All effects can be turned on and off, though most are pure bonuses and are quite welcome later on.

For those interested, there is an optional local co-op option, allowing two players to play together. The game also includes a “chill” mode for every level, where players have infinite time and no truck attacks, allowing them to have a more relaxed time in exchange for only being able to attain a silver score.

Conclusion

Cook, Serve, Delicious! 3?! Is quite a good game for those looking for a stressful but rewarding experience. Going into any of the CSD games expecting a calm experience is not recommendable, since they are quite the opposite. Those who enjoy a challenge and are willing to repeat levels for perfectionism will definitely find themselves at home.

Personal Opinion

“Although I prefer the previous entries of the series, seeing as they had more in the way of managing the restaurant besides the food, CSD3 is still a lot of fun. It offers clean gameplay at which one can get good at with practice with a charming style. Although this review was written after only playing the Switch version, I’d perhaps recommend the PC one over it, seeing as the repetitive motions on the Joy-Cons did no favors to my finger.”

Noparg

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No longer writing for the site, pursuing other things.

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