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- NIS America
Monster Menu: The Scavenger's Cookbook
Released On: May 23, 2023
62
User Score
Available after 4 ratings
tbd
Where to Buy
Where to Buy
All Platforms
Metascore
Mixed or Average
Based on 9 Critic Reviews
62
22% Positive
2 Reviews
2 Reviews
56% Mixed
5 Reviews
5 Reviews
22% Negative
2 Reviews
2 Reviews
Metascore
Mixed or Average
Based on 9 Critic Reviews
62
22% Positive
2 Reviews
2 Reviews
56% Mixed
5 Reviews
5 Reviews
22% Negative
2 Reviews
2 Reviews
Monster Menu: The Scavenger's Cookbook combines cooking and tactics combat to create a rather tasty RPG experience.
Monster Menu: The Scavenger’s Cookbook mixes survival, rogue-lite, and strategy RPG in an experimental product that’s just the sort of thing we come to expect from NIS. Unfortunately, the repetitive nature of the level design, the limited crafting systems, and the slow character evolution hinder the experience a little and keep it from shining as the unique, innovative rogue-lite it should have been.
As a (mostly) classical roguelike, Monster Menu is a good time. It’s well-balanced in its efforts to be excruciatingly difficult. It also has an entertaining loot and character development system. Most importantly of all, the core cooking mechanic is engaging. It will force you to approach everything from exploration to battle in a different way than most roguelikes. But I really can’t help but wish the developers made better use of the strong concept. Monster Menu really could have had a compelling, if nightmarish take on humanity’s sheer will for survival.
There are certain NIS America games that sometimes end up a bit forgotten compared to other titles, like Cladun or The Guided Fate Paradox, and I really hope Monster Menu: The Scavenger’s Cookbook isn’t one of them. There are some elements that feel like they aren’t quite there yet, like pacing or effect application, but what’s here feels really different and innovative. I enjoyed my time with it way more than I expected to, and I would really love to see what could be done in a sequel.
A crossroad of different genres, Monster Menu is a curious take on S-JRPG by NIS, surely second to no one in this approach. Fun for some hours, not in the medium run.
Monster Menu: The Scavenger’s Cookbook is frustrating because I feel like there could be a good game in here. In fact, if NIS decided to put out a sequel, I might be inclined to check it out because they have made a number of excellent RPGs in the past. It just feels like they threw in so many systems, meters, and mechanics that they forgot to put in something to compel you to keep playing. There are many better games out there in all of the genres that this one borrows from that despite interesting ideas, Monster Menu can’t come together to provide a satisfying meal.
What’s left is a game with a weird amount of dodgy fan service, an almost nonexistent story, a SRPG battle system that feels largely hollow, and a dicey frame rate on Switch. I’m sure, somewhere, there’s somebody for whom this is the perfect game, but that somebody is certainly not me.
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Summary Adventurers who have been distressed in a dungeon when they heard that it was for new adventurers. In extreme conditions of hunger and dryness, adventurers discover the dead body of a huge monster ... Adventurers who have escaped from the danger of starvation decide to look for the exit of the dungeon. Let's eat delicious and strange t...
Rated T
for Teen
Platforms:
- Nintendo Switch
- PlayStation 4
- PlayStation 5
Initial Release Date: May 23, 2023
Developer:
- Nippon Ichi Software
Publisher: NIS America
Genres:
