cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/2941073

So I just finished Venba. It took me about 2 hours to finish it, and I have to say it is a wonderful story about family, inter-generational culture, and cuisine. I wouldn’t call this a cooking game, but rather a narrative focused story centered around cooking and the role that food plays in our culture, relationships, and memories.

Sound

I’m going to start here, because it is fantastic. Honestly, I challenge you to even proceed past the splash screen. This intro track to the game is just so wonderful and simple and such a vibe, it was difficult to even start the game because I just wanted to keep listening to it. Before I started the game, I instantly looked up the soundtrack and bookmarked it. Throughout the game, the music was continuously fantastic, but additionally the sound of the food being cooked was very authentic. I had read that the developers had actually cooked all of the in game meals and recorded the actual sounds of the food as it was prepared. This realism totally paid off and it is such a pleasure to listen to. There is no voice acting in the game, with dialog being presented with a scratchy pencil on paper noise as each word is revealed. It is nice, and I was not left wishing the game had voice acting.

Graphics/Art Design

The game is presented in a flat 2D animation that has a rough textured look to it, and the details of the food are wonderful. If you’ve seen the trailer and you like what you see, I am here to say it is wonderful throughout.

Gameplay/Controls

The gameplay consists of 2 parts:

1. Narrative Decisions
2. Cooking Recipe Puzzles

For the Narrative Decisions, while I have only played it once, I do not get the impression that my decisions in any way changed the outcome of the story. Instead, at times you are presented with different dialog choices that change the flavor of the conversation, but ultimately don’t appear to do much other than that.

For the Cooking Recipe Puzzles, these are backbone of the gameplay. Narrative moments lead you from one cooking moment to another, in a sort of ABAB format. Early on they consist of presorted ingredients on the table and you use the left stick to move a floating hand around and press a button to pickup and release items. You are presented with an recipe that is incomplete in some way and must use clues, memories, or other hints to piece it together. If you fail, then Venba will say “oh that isn’t right, let me try again”, so there is little risk here. The joy here comes from puzzle itself, the beautiful art, and most of all the sound design.

Replayability

Honestly, it isn’t very replayable unless you want to go back and pick different dialog options.

Fun Factor and Value

I found the story to be the reason to play this, and I had a wonderful time living in Venba’s shoes. I think if you have a family and children you are more likely to connect to this. If you are Indian or of Indian descent and speak/read Tamil (there is no spoken Tamil in the game, only written) then I think you are even more likely to connect with the story and enjoy all it has to offer. This is not to say you won’t enjoy it if you aren’t Indian or have a family, just that the story here is squarely centered on an immigrant family raising a family in western culture. The cooking gameplay specifically is not the heart and soul here alone, but it is how it is interconnected with the narrative elements that makes it so enjoyable.

As for the value, it is a great 2 hour story for $15. Personally, that is a no-brainer for me (how much are tickets to the movies nowadays?), but I could see how other’s might want to wait for a deal.

Verdict

It’s an easy Buy from me. I highly recommend it to anyone intrigued by the premise. If you think the price is high for such a short experience I can understand wanting to wait for a slight discount.

What are your thoughts? Let me know below.

Remember to use spoiler tags for spoilers