Developer: Streamline Games
Publisher: Streamline Media Group
Platform: PC, PS4, Switch
Tested on: Switch
Bake ‘n Switch – Review
When we look at the greatest cooking games in the last few years, almost everyone will name the Overcooked series. Streamline games wants to throw a new name in the mix and maybe hit the top charts as well, with their new game Bake ‘n Switch. Step into a colorful world and become an apprentice baker, meet magical living dough creatures and battle against the ever-growing threat of moldy monsters.
Story
The background story for Bake ‘n Switch can be read on the site of Bake ‘n Switch but sadly they don’t mention a single thing in the actual game. It would add another level of depth to the game because now you are just playing a party game with not much else of a storyline in it.
The flow of the story is none existent in the game. You get little videos in-game which have no context, story or voice-overs but are just visual cutscenes about what is to come.
Graphics
Visually the game looks decent, but it’s nothing to write home about. It has that cartoony look and feel to it but lacks in execution in terms of the environment. Some of the plants are sloppy-looking and they just don’t live up to expectations. What they did right environment-wise was the theme variety of the stages, which avoid repetition and a boring look overall. The characters, on the other hand, are well polished. Sadly, there are only six main characters. What makes the game look so joyful and aesthetically pleasing are actually the dough buns, armadillo croissants and all the other cute food creatures that you encounter in the game.
Sound
Sound-wise they did a great job by adapting their joyful and upbeat soundtrack to the look of the game. It compliments each other well and makes the game more immersive. If you listen closely, you can hear the unique sound of the different adorable food types, and all the moves you make are accompanied by the quirkiest of sounds.
Gameplay
Bake ‘n Switch is a violently cute (PVP) party brawler for two to four players, where strange, adorable dough creatures are sacrificed to the Guardians of Dough. Throw and punch the dough creatures onto each other to form even bigger doughballs. Those doughballs are meant to be thrown in the oven which is placed in the middle of each stage. The more dough creatures you are able to bake in the oven, the more points you will accumulate. Simple, right?
Although it sounds simple, the game missed the mark on the level of difficulty. Two people who are good at this type of game will need to be very lucky or play stages over and over again before they will reach the three-star mark. This from the very first stage of the game. We get that they wanted to make the game more challenging, but for two players it is almost impossible to reach the end goal. The stages also don’t scale very well when you play with more than 2 players as the difficulty level stays almost the same. So it is much easier to reach the three-star mark when you play with more players.
They also didn’t include a single-player option. This is a major issue in our opinion. Okay, it is a party game, but you have no way of training by yourself or reaching stages by yourself when you have no one around who wants to play with you. All right, you have the online mode, but you need friends on your Nintendo Switch who also own the game to be able to enjoy online gaming.
The main objective of this game is to three-star all stages. When you jump into one, your first instinct should be to run to the dough creatures so you can punch or throw them on top of each other. This will create bigger doughballs who can reach up to 30 little dough creatures. When coordinated correctly, you can make the bigger doughballs, which already consist of at least ten little dough creatures, eat some of the little dough creatures around them. This will only happen when the little dough creatures are in close proximity to the big fat one. You also need to look out when you throw those dough creatures into the oven because it obviously takes some time to cook them.
You also have the choice between six different characters in the game, each with unique abilities that can help against the different threats you encounter in the game or help with the actual task of collecting and throwing those dough creatures in the oven. You can choose how you want to approach it. Whether you want to play alongside each other, work as a team or even sabotage one another it is all up to you.
ConclusionÂ
Bake ‘n Switch failed to hit the mark in several areas. This due to the lack of a solo player experience, difficulty levels and even the graphics at some points. We hoped for another great Overcooked adaptation that was fun to play through, but instead, we got a game that has a certain potential but failed at the execution. To not end this review on a sour note the game does really has potential, it only needs to be tweaked at certain areas and it will be a runner up to the overcooked series! We have learned that a single-player mode will be added in the future, which might actually improve the entire game as a whole.
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