Food Fantasy: Penne For My Thoughts
Food Fantasy serves up a full course meal of amazing graphics and engaging game play.
A Real Pizza Work
Have you ever looked at your sandwich or bowl of soup and thought to yourself, “I wonder what this would look like if it were a person?” No? Me neither! Frankly, because I’m of a sound mind…most of the time. But the folks down at Elex Wireless went there and I gotta say I’m not sad at all that they did.
Food Fantasy took the age-old idea of taking monsters or inanimate objects and re-imagining them as anime characters. Then, in turn, Elex Wireless took those characters and created a mobile game with mechanics and backstory elaborate enough to contain all these fantastically anthropomorphized edibles.
First of all, the artwork in the game is fan-freaking-tastic! Look at those gorgeous screenshots! Even the in-game stuff is on point. They took their already cleverly designed food people and made chibi (Japanese for small or short) versions that are primarily used during battles or in the restaurant or anywhere that they would need to show animation. The artwork alone was enough to grab my attention…and keep me severely addicted to collecting all the characters just to see their designs. The game in itself, though, is a whole other can of worms.
The S’more You Know
I’ve often been privy to that grand feeling of overwhelming panic when starting a new game. You boot it up and they instantly bombard you with a crap ton of things you will be expected to do and achieve and collect and level up…breathe deep with me now. It’s ok, we’ve all been there! But, then you get into the game a little further and your overloaded thinking organ calms down a bit. You start getting a hang of how to pace yourself and it no longer seems like such a pile of hurdles.
Food Fantasy definitely gave me a slight panic attack at first. There are so many things to keep track of and learn how to manage and collect and whatnot. Plus, there are multiple events going on all the time that will add in new things for you to collect and achieve. Finding a balance in this game can be a task all in itself. Currently, I’m at level 36 and things are starting to slow down a bit, for which I am grateful. But, I am starting to feel slightly under-leveled for the tasks they are starting to give me. I’m not the kind of person who generally enjoys having to “grind” for experience, especially in something like a mobile game and unfortunately this game can kind of force you to do just that unless you want to drop real cash on it. I don’t, so I’m stuck with grinding or being patient. I’m fine with being patient for the most part with a minimal amount of grinding when I have the time to invest.
Not a Waffle Lot
And that’s another thing. This is not your average, few-minutes-to-spare, time waster mobile game. This game takes a certain amount of dedication. It crosses a line between mobile and full console game in terms of how much time you can potentially invest without running out of things to do. At the same time, it is still a mobile game, and sinking multiple hours on end into it is just not going to happen. Not without throwing money at it anyway.
I have spent a total of one dollar on this game and really that was only because they had a “New Player” special that they tempted me with. Your first purchase (no matter how much you spend, hence only $1) unlocked a fancy high-level character and some much-needed items. So, I spent the dollar to get some summoning tokens or something and I feel it was more than worth it. My husband tried to tempt me into spending more “in the interest of the blog,” but personally I like the challenge of having to earn everything I need to progress. I like the fact that the Ultra Rare characters that I have were earned merely by playing the game, and some sheer luck, and not because I bought them. Perhaps if my interest starts to wane I might spend a few more dollars to spice things up, but for now I’m quite satisfied not needing to spend anything to enjoy myself.
Made Pho Each Other
Now, as I mentioned, this game can be very convoluted, so in the interest of keeping this post relatively short I won’t get into the details of Food Fantasy too much. But, your main objectives in this game are to run your restaurant and protect the various districts from a recent onslaught of “Fallen Angels”. All of this is done through the use of your Food Souls. Those cleverly designed food people I alluded to earlier. Some of them are better suited to running your restaurant, cooking and waiting tables, while others are better put to use fighting through the many stages and battling bosses. If you get a really stellar team put together you can eventually pit them up against other player’s teams for some nice rewards. You will also need teams to send out on deliveries and explorations. I like to use my new or lower level characters for this as it will level them up without me having to go back to earlier stages.
The story sequences, I feel, can run a little long at times, but the plotline can be interesting to follow. If they were to make a full-fledged anime or manga out of it, I would be all the way on board to watch/read it! I love how the characters all have their own unique personalities, as well as, relationships. Since there is a great deal of actual voice acting you can often hear the characters talking about each other. Most characters will have a “partner” with whom they prefer to be in battle with and having the pair together will grant you a special attack move. I assumed at first the pairings would be food items that go together like Milk and Black Tea (who are the first pair you are given in the game), but as it turns out some Food Souls are siblings, and some are just friends with a little backstory of their own. Also, some Food Souls will want to pair up with a specific character while that particular Food Soul will want to pair up with another. So, as sad as the unrequited Food Soul pairings can be it does lend itself to making very powerful teams with lots of special moves at your disposal! One of my favorite, and most confusing, characters is Omurice (rice omelette). He is a diehard fan of Jello (she’s a pop idol), and he is fully decked out in her swag. Yet, his desired partner is Orange Juice (who I also love. She is gorgeous). Double Scoop on the other hand, the loli Vanilla and Strawberry ice cream twins, want Vodka as their battle partner for no obvious reason. Who doesn’t love a shot of Vodka with their ice cream...I guess.
Dill With It
I love all the character designs and seeing who I unlock next or who I can summon once I get enough points is definitely the biggest highlight of this game for me. I do recall some other reviews claiming the game is too full of “Fan Service” and that honestly baffles me. When I think of fan service I think of scantily clad ladies and panty shots and overly suggestive dialogue. There is exactly none of that in Food Fantasy. You might see a midriff or some cleavage amongst the various costumes. Yes, the female characters have boobs…duh. But there is nothing even close to outrageous. Has anyone watched the Seven Mortal Sins anime? THAT is fan service…that anime is the poster child of fan service…. *sigh* I want one of those figurines so bad!! …What was I saying? Oh yeah, fan service…not in Food Fantasy.
I’m having a blast playing this game and I feel I will be playing for quite some time yet. Somebody make an anime out of it already!! Well, whether or not that will ever happen the game is pretty dang sweet, and I highly recommend giving it a try for yourself! Just like your Mom always said…Eat it or go to bed hungry!! No wait that’s not it…It’s always good to try new things because maybe it’ll be your new favorite!
Originally posed by my wife on The Backlog Odyssey
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