It's these kinds of design choices that really make me question whether all of the complexity Divinity - Original Sin 2 touts is really that worth it.
#Cooking academy 2 gameplay how to
In the process of doing this, I finally discovered how to identify items, which-in typical arcane PC game fashion-requires you to give unidentified items and an identifying glass to a specific kind of character in your party before you can do it. In these play sessions I had to spend a significant amount of time (not while recording), re-arranging my gear and setting up quick save points because I found myself running up against some really challenging fights. This also seems to be where Divinity - Original Sin 2 takes its training wheels off. There is also the main quest to follow, though that just seems to be "go find so-and-so so they can tell me where to go next." Fascinating stuff. There isn't anything particularly visually distinct about Driftwood, though I guess I'm ok with new NPCs to interact with and quests to take on. If I didn't know any better, I'd assume I was back at Fort Joy and the Hollow Marshes. As highly anticipated as this new region was, I have to say I'm a little disappointed by it. I left Fort Joy, ventured through the Hollow Marshes, finished my harrowing boat journey aboard the Lady Vengeance, and am just now disembarking to explore Driftwood. That said, it still provides some of the vicarious thrills a wanna-be Iron Chef like me desires.I have finally reached a new landmass in Divinity - Original Sin 2. There isn't a unifying design dominating the game, and that really could help the overall appeal of playing Cooking Academy.Ĭooking Academy is a basic, light little game that has some great ideas and controls but a weak graphical style. Instead you get a mish-mash of cultural foods with a very white bread graphical style and the highly unusual inclusion of banjo music in the background for some odd reason. A unique artistic style would have been nice to see, as would a menu that focused on a particular nationality's cuisine. The graphics and sounds are simple and straightforward and don't really do much to help Cooking Academy stand out from other similar games. Tired yet? You will be eventually, as this is one of the simplest "recipes." Speed and accuracy are of the essence, so the game nicely provides a practice mode to help you build up your chef skills. For instance, Gyoza requires you to tap on the dough to roll it out, tap ingredients to cook them, slide your finger to drag ingredients to the dough, slide your finger to roll up the dough and tap repeatedly to "dimple" the dough into the familiar gyoza shape. The game's controls should be familiar to anyone who has played a game like this (even, say, Fruit Ninja) or a more complicated rhythm-style game. Assuming you just peruse one or two challenges each time you play, it should take you quite a while to finally reach the end of everything the game has to offer. One of the real strong points of Cooking Academy is the sheer number of dishes you have to work your way through.
#Cooking academy 2 gameplay series
In order to move up the ranks, you have to learn to cook a series of dishes, ranging from appetizers like gyoza to full-fledged main courses. So when the opportunity arose to review Cooking Academy for the iPhone, I jumped at it - not because I thought it was going to teach me something about cooking, but because I just can't resist cooking - even when it's just a theme for a fairly benign game.Ĭooking Academy places you in a generic school for aspiring chefs.
Show me how to cook something, and I'm transfixed. I'll tell you a little secret: I'm a Food Network junkie.