Battle Chef Brigade

Genuinely an amazing game. I've had this in my library for years from humble bundle, and I regret letting it rot so long before giving it the chance it deserved. Cute story (I'd watch a show about this), fun mechanics. Its more than "just another match 3" and I really wish that more developers would explore that space. I doubt there will ever be a sequel, but if there is, I'll be the first in line for it.

Conceptually interesting, charming presentation, but lacking in content.
Gameplay
Gameplay consists of simplistic 2D platforming and combat to collect ingredients, and match-3-puzzle to cook collected ingredients, in accordance to the requested elemental specification, to highest possible quality within the time limit. Honestly you don’t do much else throughout the whole game, to which it might be a blessing that the game is very short (~9h story mode) and doesn’t overstay its welcome. Personally, I still wished the game’s story lasted longer and explored more of the setting and its characters, so long as the writing quality is sufficient, gameplay repetition be damned.
There are technically 3 playable characters with different combat moveset for the platforming section, but the story mode follows mostly only 1 of those characters, the other two being selectable for daily-cook-offs or local versus outside the story.
There are 3 cooking tools, 3 cooking items and 3 combat tools you can equip, but the game is really bad at encouraging variation and experimentation in the toolset. Once you find your preferred toolset in story mode, you basically do the same thing over and over again with no incentive to use the newly introduced tools & mechanics. In the short chapter where you switch from Mina to Thrash, you have access to all the cooking equipment that Mina uses, which seems like wasted potential to force players to play with character specific cooking equipment and differentiate characters’ playstyles further (In cooking, not just combat). Daily cook-offs with its preset equipment is the only (optional) part of the game which forces you to tackle the game in novel ways.
Daily cook-offs provides more challenging gameplay, racing against the scores of other actual players, but is divorced from the story and feels like (very) optional side-content. I feel like the other game modes can be integrated better into the narrative within story mode, Restaurant Rush and the combat-oriented challenges accessed through the relevant NPCs rather than a separate section in the main menu; daily cook-offs as a continuation to the story – the occupational duties as battle chef after the characters’ certification.
Story mode
The story mode follows Mina taking part in tournament to gain battle chef certification, meeting colorful and charming characters along the way, and repeatedly taking part in battle chef duels to progress in the tournament. The story is mostly fine, but pretty short with 6 chapters, with one of them being an awkwardly inserted Thrash chapter.
The Thrash chapter is a bit weirdly written with Thrash being unnaturally calm about his dying wife’s medicine being held hostage by thieves for no adequate reason, the urgency of his dying wife dissonant to his acquiescence to play their games for several days. Thrash’s family haven’t been plot relevant in the preceding 4 chapters, and hasn’t even been on screen like Mina’s family, so the audience’s attachment to them as characters seems contrived – they’re just cheap plot device to get Thrash to do duels. The chapter overall just seems like bad writing with contrived clichés.
I suspect there was plans to have several character stories in the story mode (probably Thrash and Ziggy, which are sort of playable as characters), but they were cut and we’re left with only Mina’s. It’s frankly a waste of its setting that we can’t explore the backstory of the various chefs Mina’s met along the way.

This is honestly one of my favourite games of all time, and I recommend it any chance I get! The story is engaging and has a fun cast of characters, but it isn't too long, and I'd call BCB more of a casual, sit-down kind of game compared to other RPGs, so whether that's a pro or a con depends on what you're looking for. There are also some side modes (ex. coop modes, daily challenges) for when you are finished with or don't want to play the story.
The gameplay is a unique and fun blend of beat-em-up and match 3 puzzles, with a small roster of characters with different fighting styles (though in the story, your character choice is locked) and the match 3 spiced up with various elements and ways to combine/match them. There's also ways to customize your playstyle, using various equipment in the form of cooking gear and accessories which you can mix and match. BCB greatly encourages experimentation, especially since the preferred elements and top ingredient of each challenge/round vary.
All in all, while I wish this game had more content and a longer story, it's worth its price point and more!

I don't remember how I found this game, but I'm so glad I did. It's a fast-pace puzzle game that challenges you on memory and skill. If you're tired of the normal "match 3 gems and clear the board" routine, this is a good change up. You're mixing different monster parts for Element Gems; better the gem level, better the score. The story is nice to be a part of and good introductory to how the game works; and it's short, so it's not a bad choice at all for streaming. I think I beat the game in 2-4 hours when I first started.

My only gripe on it is you only get 3 characters to play around with in Multiplayer or Daily Cook Off when they introduced so many creative NPCs. I'd love to play another and see their move sets; that's just me though. I know it's not vital to have those other characters because the main 3 have their own set and it's not really needed game-wise. Using any of the three is purely self-preference, I believe, so to each their own.

This is why Indie games are important. "Battle cooking with platformer combat mixed with Candy Crush style grid matching with a heavily whimsical anime aesthetic" is a pitch that would get shot down in any AAA studio for not "meeting consumer trends". This game is delightful, it tells a singular satisfying story that lets you continue to enjoy the games mechanics without butchering the ending (no i'm still not over the twist ending of Red Dead Redemption 1 how could you tell?).

The biggest praise I can give this game is it helped me realise that i'm not shit at puzzle games, I've just been playing bad puzzle games. Highly recommend at even full price.

I had a lot of fun with this title. The game ended with me wanting more, and hoping for a sequel. Every part of a match fit the theme of iron chef. Although, I wasn't the biggest fan of the rotary style of puzzle matching. And the controls were not what I expected, needing the use of both WASD and arrows keys. But overall, it was a great blend of theme and mechanics. Another banger from the Adult Swim games studio.

fun game that feels like you're playing an actual show; gameplay loop is varied enough to last you the whole campaign's runtime and there's some side modes to mess around with

there is 1 achievement that ruins what would otherwise be a fun 100%, be warned