With a release window set for this summer and a brand-new gameplay trailer having just dropped, Whitethorn Games and solo developer Steven Kaule’s new title Magical Delicacy is looking like an enticing experience stuffed to the gills with deliciously baked goods and platforming aplenty. I got to play this at PAX last year, and here’s why the game already has me hooked.
Magical Delicacy takes place in the island town of Grat, a harbor city built on a series of cliffs. The verticality of many Castlevania titles translates very well to the vibe of this quiet burg, populated by both humans and animal-folk that gives it a ton of charm and character right out of the gate. Protagonist Flora is new in town, and is a witch looking to establish herself with a shop of her very own, only to get caught up in mystery and conflict as powerful factions dispute over the nature of magic.
Flora is an exciting protagonist in that she reads as a totally realistic young woman, a far cry from the exaggerated moe tendencies that characterize the heroines of the similarly-themed Atelier games. She’s sassy, anxious, and determined to figure life out for herself in her new environment, and the twenty-minute demo sets the stage for a Ghibli-esque coming-of-age story for her.
The gameplay is just as enticing, as even without combat, I was eager to explore every nook and cranny I could possibly get to. The demo ends just after acquiring the double-jump power, which I’m sure opens up the map enormously, and I audibly shouted with frustration because I wanted to keep going and see what was in all the places I couldn’t reach before.
And all the exploration is in service of the game’s cooking system, which requires ingredients you harvest from the town and its surroundings, as well as those purchased from local shops with the money earned from breaking objects and delivering orders. The economy system is simple, but I can already tell I’m going to get addicted to the loop of delivering orders and using the funds to upgrade my kitchen space.
The cooking itself is a fun and simple task that has the player combining ingredients with specific properties and building up to a dish worthy of being served to hungry clients, minus the stress of a regular management sim. Players will still need to keep track of their items being cooked before anything gets burned, but it feels like a closer approximation of real life cooking than something like Diner Dash.
Magical Delicacy is shaping up to be an enchantingly good time, full of magic, mystery, and material collection. I can’t wait to get my hands on it when it launches this year.
You can check out the new gameplay trailer below, and the demo on Steam here. Magical Delicacy will be coming to Xbox One and Xbox Series consoles, and PC via Steam and the Xbox app, this summer, and will also be available day one on Xbox and PC Game Pass.
