Magical Delicacy

“Closing Thoughts: While Magical Delicacy can deliver cozy vibes, it drops the magic ball on almost everything else. The platforming isn't fun, cooking doesn't feel satisfying, and the main gameplay loop boils down to doing fetch quests for NPCs just to get a few extra bits of story and a generic upgrade. Both the cooking and platforming sides work against each other, and everything lacks polish, especially the animations. It's a fundamentally flawed experience with a clashing visual identity, with a great soundtrack and pleasant story being the main saving graces.”

“Like an experimental recipe that combines different flavors, Magical Delicacy can cause different impressions depending on the player's taste. The good management system and great art direction are positive points, but the lack of guidance to navigate the map and an initially confusing system of combining ingredients may require a few pinches of patience.”

“There are a lot of little points of frustration which at times made me want to stop playing, but then another piece of the world or another crafting puzzle would bring me back. These pain points are most easily felt early on in the game, which is a shame because I think it will stop a lot of people from playing before they can experience all the delights that Magical Delicacy has to offer. Perhaps this makes Magical Delicacy a particularly apt title - this game is a bit of an acquired taste, but there's nothing quite like it.”

“An interesting Metroidvania-ish cooking sim that comes up a little short on both ends of its design”

“A nice game about cooking, magic and managing your store. Gameplay-wise it has some issues, but almost all of them are fixable with updates.”

“Magical Delicacy is a cute and enjoyable game that will keep a smile on your face as you explore, gather, and cook up delicious treats.”

“Magical Delicacy is a charming cosy crafting game, and despite a lack of guidance this cooking adventure will tantalise your gaming tastebuds.”

“Magical Delicacy carves itself a niche place in the cozy game market. It stands out from the crowd by its mix of Metroidvania platforming and cooking mechanics. The title is a delightful offering of cozy exploration, resource gathering, and hands-on cooking. Magical Delicacy impresses through its pixel art style, town exploration, hands-on crafting mechanics, soundtrack, and accessibility. Nonetheless, the sluggish platformer mechanics, a slow and often confusing story progression, and cumbersome cooking and delivery UI slightly affect this enjoyment.”

“Magical Delicacy stands out as a unique gem. Its gorgeous visuals and Ghibli-esque characters make you want to take each new acquaintance out for a special dinner that they have been longing for. There are a few little things like the movement and platforming seem a bit sluggish which can be fixed in an update.”

“Magical Delicacy is almost too successful in how it captures the good and bad of the cooking process. It's more involved than you'd expect, with its processes a bit fiddly and particular, and when you're still learning it all, it's more frustrating than you might like. But the satisfaction of its end product is undeniable, and once you're on the other end, it's easy to appreciate every part of the process that much more. Skaule shows incredible talent in crafting this game as a solo developer, along with the help of the talented contractors who collaborated with him on this project, and we can't wait to see what comes next in their career.”

“Take a few jumping puzzles from a 2D platformer, a pinch of progression from a Metroidvania, the story of a gorgeous indie title, lashings of pixel art, a dollop of relaxing tunes, mix well, and bake until you can see the personality rising out of it. If that sounds tempting, that’s Magical Delicacy for you.”

“Magical Delicacy is a game that requires patience, but once you find that, the story, art, and overall vibe are more than worth its price tag.”

“There is a lot to love about Magical Delicacy. It is super duper charming and wholesome, with platforming and side-scrolling mechanics that are mostly on the "cozy" side of gameplay. Exploring the very tops and the very bottoms of this world is fun, especially when you manage to uncover new areas of the map. However, the lack of information about some of the cooking methods and navigational hints may leave you a bit adrift in the world of Grat.”

“If you like being guided from one objective to the next while playing a game, Magical Delicacy is not for you. But if figuring things out for yourself, exploring a wonderfully designed pixelated world and cooking up some unique delicacies in the kitchen all sound good to you, there's so much to love here. It's a unique blend of crafting and metroidvania, and it works incredibly well.”

“Magical Delicacy is a cooking metroidvania which you can easily lose yourself in. Like any good fantasy, it encourages exploration and it doesn't punish you for your mistakes. With an intriguing story, you can really put yourself in Flora's shoes as you learn about the Kingdom of Grat with her.”

“Magical Delicacy tries to be extremely accessible for anyone: with gameplay that is already very easy to get used to even with standard options, the hardest part will be avoiding a few dangers. But the game still has accessibility options to turn off all these types of difficulties that the player may have, thus making the game have just one objective: to be a cozy game. The simplicity of the game in its presentation is offset by the complex, but satisfying main mechanics. The game will certainly not please anyone looking for a challenge that will make your heart race with action from start to finish. Nor is it the objective here, since, with its extremely colorful 2D graphics and a simple and effective soundtrack, the game is made for those who want to relax and gradually master the magical — and slightly confusing — kitchen of the little witch Flora.”

“Magical Delicacy provides a tranquil and cozy cooking-themed Metroidvania experience but will not set any watermark for the genre.”