Chef RPG

I've really enjoyed playing this game in early access, and I can't wait for the finished game to come out,
Pros
--Mining, farming, cooking, brewing
--Quite a bit of customization options for just being EA
--Responsive dev team that puts out updates almost daily to fix bugs and issues. I've had other games just get abandoned after being hyped up, so it's nice to know they are still working on the game
--HUGE range of cooking options for being EA
--Can get 2 restaurants in EA currently
--CAN GET DOGS AND CATS
--Lots of different recipes. You can learn 200+ in EA. To do so, you NEED to get the research labs (each of them), as certain recipes are only accessed through them. They can be purchased from stores, learned from recipes, or learned from cooking/interacting with the world.
--I really like the art, now. I was hesitant at first, but it has really grown on me. I think at least one of the characters is missing a portrait, though (Hugo), as he shows up as a friend (well, stranger) but not with a portrait when I talk to him.
--Characters are super cool (although somewhat surface level in EA). You need to befriend characters to get more items sold at their stores.
Cons
--Because it is early access, there are a lot of bugs. It doesn't bother me because I know that it's early access--but if you are expecting a fully polished game, you should wait
--The romance (currently) is pretty bare bones, and it is not fully clear who can and cannot be romanced. For example, I thought Bea would be romanceable, but it turns out Bea is married and has children already with another character (that I can't remember the name of). It should be a bit clearer, like with a symbol or heart color, to determine who can and cannot be romanced. I defaulted to romancing Aloys because Aloys loved hats and I just...bought a hat from their store and gave them one every day. I did want to romance Aylin, but I couldn't tell if she was romanceable.
--Figuring out my friend status with anyone beyond the little names like "stranger" and "friend" is difficult. I know that there are stages because I get hearts that indicate we've leveled up as friends, but I have no idea how friendly I am with someone.
--The hair of my staff keeps disappearing.
--I don't love the skill leveling, and as some of the negative reviews have mentioned, if you don't do certain skills, you lock yourself out of the game. I think it would make more sense for certain skills, such as the Greenhouse skill, to not be a skill but something you unlock through a quest.
--Combat is a bit tricky, and spears seem almost useless at this point, as I'm just getting beat up constantly by the deer I'm hitting, and the damage is WAY lower than bows.
--I STRONGLY dislike the steaming minigame. I can't stand it. If the bars are at the top, 99.9% of the time it will be a fail or bad result.
--The spelling errors/grammar errors are pretty significant
Neutral/Hopes for the future (which are likely already planned)
--More decor/decorations
--More in-depth romance and clearer options
--More recipes that use the other types of alcohol (maybe I just haven't found them yet)
--More high value recipes (all or most of my expensive recipes are wagyu-based)
--The ability to have the restaurant open without needing to be there all the time. Like, late game, I would love to be able to hire a manager or something that lets me leave and runs the restaurant (obviously not as well as when I'm there). I also think I should be able to be a waiter and not just a chef--I know chef rpg is the name, but we are restaurant owners, and as a restaurant owner, we would wear many hats
Overall, I'm excited to see the finished game. I'll update my review once more content comes out :)

I work in a kitchen to come home and work in a kitchen!

Great game.

Got my GF to play it, she spent eight hours trying to make it pretty. It doesn't get pretty.

i do enjoy this game and this game has so much potential but i do believe there are some things that need to be fixed. the system with decor value is way too difficult- even after buying full legendary chairs, tables, decorations etc i still have a negative decor value. there is no way to get a positive decor value without placing random items all over the store. after paying $20 for the game i would like to decorate my restaurant how i want.

Concise Game Reviews: "Chef RPG"
(Scroll down for the longer version)
Game Value:
✅ Highly recommended for fans of simulation and management RPGs, blending cozy slice-of-life gameplay with resource management and culinary adventure.
Game Tags:
✔RPG ✔Simulation ✔Cooking ✔Management ✔Exploration ✔Open World ✔Resource Gathering ✔Pixel Art ✔Social Simulation ✔Life Simulation
Genre Classification:
A culinary RPG that combines restaurant management, resource gathering, and relationship-building in a cozy seaside town.
Game Length:
Approximately 50~70 hours, with extended playtime through in-depth side activities and skill development.
Challenge Level:
Moderate; balance of cooking mini-games, foraging, combat, and management tasks, adaptable to various playstyles.
Graphics:
Charming pixel art with detailed environments and dish artwork that enhances the cozy and nostalgic atmosphere.
Technical Stability:
Generally stable with frequent updates; some minor bugs are present but addressed by a responsive development team.
Replay Value:
High; offers varied paths through character relationships, recipe collection, and multiple management styles for running a restaurant.
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Detailed review:
What It Is:
🌟 Culinary and Management Depth: Experience a unique RPG where you manage a restaurant, collect rare ingredients, and craft diverse recipes.
🔥 Rich Social and Environmental Interaction: Form relationships with townsfolk and make the restaurant the heart of a revived community.
🎯 Comprehensive Resource Management: From gathering and foraging to upgrading and managing restaurant facilities, every choice impacts your business success.
🎨 Charming Pixel Art and Atmospheric Design: The cozy visuals and detailed food art immerse players in a serene coastal town life.
⚙️ Dynamic Sandbox Gameplay: Play at your own pace, focusing on culinary mastery, community building, or exploration and hunting adventures.
🌟Overview:
"Chef RPG" offers an engaging life simulation experience where you step into the role of a young chef aiming to revive "Le Sequoia," a restaurant in a quaint seaside town. This immersive game combines resource gathering, management, and RPG elements, challenging players to forage, hunt, and build a culinary legacy. With options for diverse playstyles, it provides a cozy yet dynamic mix of culinary creativity, community bonding, and environmental exploration.
🎮Gameplay:
Take on the role of a chef as you balance the responsibilities of cooking, restaurant management, and resource gathering in an open-world environment. Each of the four seasons brings unique visuals and ingredients, offering new opportunities and challenges throughout the year. During the warmer months, you'll forage for fresh produce, while winter presents more difficult conditions and limited options.
🌍 Seasonal Exploration and Foraging: Venture into nature to gather seasonal ingredients and hunt rare animals, with different resources available depending on the season.
🔧 Restaurant Customization and Upgrades: Upgrade and decorate your restaurant with seasonal items to attract more customers and reflect the changing environment.
🤝 Social and Romance Options: Befriend the townsfolk, with some NPCs offering potential romance paths, each influenced by the choices you make throughout the year.
🎮 Skill-Based Cooking Mini-Games: Engage in cooking mini-games that test precision and timing to create high-quality dishes and keep customers returning.
With its relaxing pace, seasonal visuals, and varied gameplay options, "Chef RPG" offers an immersive and fulfilling culinary journey for all types of players.
📖Story and Depth:
In Chef RPG, players embark on a mission to breathe new life into "Le Sequoia", a once-famous restaurant in White Ash Harbor, aiming to turn the town into a bustling tourist hotspot. The story unfolds through interactions with the town’s distinctive residents, each contributing their own personality and backstory. Players’ choices shape relationships, unlocking rare ingredients, exclusive recipes, and hidden secrets.
The game’s narrative is steeped in the town’s history, the backgrounds of its NPCs, and seasonal events that deepen the culinary adventure. From forming friendships to crafting a lasting legacy, Chef RPG provides a cozy, layered storytelling experience that draws players in at every turn.
🏆Verdict:
"Chef RPG" revitalizes the life simulation genre, blending restaurant management, culinary creativity, and social storytelling within the bustling, charming town of White Ash Harbor. Beautiful pixel art captures each season, turning the town into a vibrant, immersive world. The town itself is filled with NPCs who walk the streets, dine at the restaurant, and bring the setting to life. Among them, over 20 key characters stand out with unique avatars and deeper roles—players can build friendships or even romantic connections with these NPCs, enhancing both gameplay depth and player immersion.
This game is a personal favorite, especially as a fan of life sims that emphasize restaurant management. I love the freedom to explore the town, gathering fresh ingredients, hunting for rare items, or purchasing unique goods from local vendors. With hundreds of recipes to discover and perfect, "Chef RPG" delivers a culinary experience that feels rewarding and diverse, allowing players to surprise customers and grow the restaurant’s reputation.
Despite being in Early Access, "Chef RPG" already offers a rich experience. From battling monsters and collecting rare items to buying a home and upgrading the restaurant, the game stays dynamic and engaging. With frequent updates and a highly responsive development team, "Chef RPG" feels like a gem poised to shine even brighter with time.
✅Good:
👍 Engaging restaurant and cooking mechanics: Deep culinary management with a wide variety of recipes.
👍 Charming pixel art and vibrant world: Immersive visuals that capture the cozy feel of coastal life.
👍 Detailed NPC interactions: Meaningful relationships with local characters that unlock new content.
👍 Resource gathering variety: Mix of foraging, hunting, and shopping for a comprehensive ingredient list.
👍 Player freedom: Allows for multiple playstyles, from culinary artistry to social networking.
🛠️Ways of Improvement:
👎 Inventory and storage limitations: Lack of an effective storage system for ingredients and decor items.
👎 Romance and social depth improvement: More clarity on romanceable characters and expanded dialogue options.
👎 Mini-game difficulty balance: Certain cooking mini-games require adjustments for smoother gameplay.
👎 NPC dialogue repetition: Additional unique dialogues for NPCs to enhance immersion over time.

Strong recommendation for this game.
But this game does need:
- A Run or Sprint Button
- An improvement for the inventory system (Like the addition of a chest or something)
- Need more operation mode for the restaurant (Like one which give you a chance to save ingredients or something)
- Need more incentives to use the tea house over the main restaurant
- Need more skill points to unlock more abilities for end game players
Good game

Very fun business/harvesting/hunting sim, sometimes even more enjoyable than the classics like Stardew Valley for me. Gorgeous food pixel art, decent game systems, and engaging storyline. The great stuff have already been mentioned many many times in the reviews, and they are all true- its a fantastic game with a lot of talent, effort, and passion involved, so I wont spend hefty paragraphs rewriting whats already been phrased in every way possible.
HOWEVER, the one thing i simply cannot get over is how unpleasant 70 percent of the NPCs are. Yes, i understand we are strangers, and we will get warmer as we get to know each other so on and so forth, but a lot of the interactions feel borderline hateful, taken too far from banter or sass. Further on, i do know some character's appeal is their rude to nice, or melting the ice queen type arc. That's fine, and i assume that what Valentina/Bianca(who is basically the same person) is. But the issue lies where everyone at some point treats MC like shit. For example, Mae Lou, the e-sports loving farmer asks you to chuck anything you gift her that isnt coffee into the field. Her artist sister, pisses all over your takes on art (pedestrian!) and tells you to drop the word interesting from your vocabulary. And then swindles 5 quartz and a meal out of you. Thelio, my arch nemesis, makes you run around mining in caves, collecting wheat, paying Bianca, milling his flour, and saving his ass from a very angry boss. This saint of a man, so thankful for your service, gives you the only thing comparable to the hours of your life you spent milling his flour- destructive criticism, He says, wow thanks! In exchange, let me tell you a secret: your restaurant is missing something. And that's it. He tells you your restaurant sucks ass. And he doesnt even know why. That is what a fair exchange sounds like to Thelio. Then Milo basically calls your fit ugly multiple times, despite sporting the most outrageous leopard print fur coat while selling white tanks or lumpy sweaters in his store.
The guttural reactions from NPCs to your gifts are genuinely so painful. Anything that is not the one (1) category of item they deem acceptable is dragged to filth, for the audacity of presenting a fish to a fisherman who often boasts about his love for fish. It is terribly unpleasant to gift presents if you do not look up a guide, or figure out their one singular interest beforehand.
Again, i understand snarkiness can be a part of a characters charm. But there is a fine line between sassy and a shocking lack of manners. The way they treat MC is abominable, and although getting to know them better assuredly makes them nicer, I do not want to know someone who treats a stranger terribly better. Hostility is not interesting.
Here are some (unwarranted, i know) suggestions i think might improve the current situation:
-Give character more gift categories they like; Having favourites, neutral categories and a few things they truly do not like will make dialogue more varied and interesting. It also gives more depth to some characters instead of being known as 'the hat guy'.
-Scale the hearts with the main quest, or have the main quest give you some friendship points. It is very strange to have someone tell you 'thank god you are here to save White Ash Harbour, and you are such a wonderful chef!' in the main quest yesterday to 'ew you look ugly buy some real clothes' today.
-A character arc is not always necessarily 'They were mean, now they are nice'. Are they just being nice to me, now that I've gifted them presents? Does this mean they are still a deeply rude person in general? I love an enemies to lovers story as much as anyone, but having the majority of the town being against you when your background is not one of animosity is really demotivating and unhelpful to the cause of helping rebuild the town. MC can help bring out the hidden traits of the NPCs, maybe bravery in a cowardly person or the love of nature in a shut-in. It doesnt HAVE to always be you guys werent nice to each other but now you are. That is a very shallow take on relationships.
-LET ME DATE KOAAAAAAAA PLEASSEEEEEEEE

I really like this game! the mood is great the writing is great and fully recommend it after playing a little over 15 hours so far. The game's art is beautiful (especially the food) and I found many of the townsfolk to very interesting.
The flashback elements were also very compelling, it was a strong idea to allow game play in them to make the moment feel more important very very entertaining decision please give more of that!
However, I think I will stop playing and wait for some updates to come out before really diving into it. There is 5 things so far that I am really hoping will be implemented. (Yes, I know it's early access there will be much more to come in terms of deeper content these are simply mechanical and aesthetic changes I hope and wish for.)
1. Night music and placement change of the date and time tracker and item bar.
- I genuinely would get confused what in game time it is when I came back after a break at what time it was because my discord overlay was on top of the clock in the top right. Now, I know that I could have just edited my settings whenever I played this game, but I think that allowing players to have more editing freedom will be more enjoyable in the long run. This would also be helpful to apply to the item and tool bar, let the player choose if they want to have it on the bottom, top, or side.
2. Please let me cook faster as I increase my cooking skill, put ingredients back in the fridge.
- I really do love cooking in video games, and I was looking forward to how the cooking mini games would change or the food itself would evolve (I was expecting something akin to Dave the Diver or the renowned classic Cooking mama) but after tripping my cooking stat, but I couldn't tell the difference. Then I got stuck multiple times waiting to cook while my 2 other chefs where working. It would be nice to either place the ingredients back in the fridge
3. Let me make food for my quests, for eating, and to give as a gift for other people.
-I was really surprised when the only time I was able to cook in the game was only to make a profit (Bulletin quest or just opening the restaurant). I felt like for a game that is celebrating being a chef should allow much more of the spotlight to be on creating the food and the joy of that process personally or sharing with others. I would love a difficult mini game to make the perfect dish for a picky eater. I would love it even more to give that special meal to a person who would really love it. In fact, I think it would be more meaningful to make friendships, story lines, or quests harder to achieve in the game in tandem to how your cooking skill/abilities are.
IE:
"you can only meet the cyborg mermaid when you make the sweetest fish meal possible"
"make a meal to help Hasel remember her past"
etc
4. Give me more Android lore, and SCI-FY food please.
- I was instantly hooked when I saw there was the ability to be an android in the game and for high tech to be a part of the games concept. But when I wanted to learn more there wasn't much content to explore. (In fairness this very well could be from how much I had not yet played the game.) I wanted to read about the history inventors or legendary breakthroughs, find blueprints for possible high tech cooking appliances, or at the very least know why Androids exist in this world and can eat normal food. Just like we have two characters who represent drastic differences in eating (Nabitha and Pomarine) I think there could be representation of the "New" vs "Natural" even incorporating LELSH who is the biggest proponent of advanced tech can be more involved in the story.
and last but not least,
5. Please, please, please... let my hired chefs and waiters have a personality and let me manually upgrade them.
-If I am spending a lot of time in the kitchen, I want whoever is in the kitchen with me to be interesting. Even if its small details it really builds into the role playing of the world and game which is again, a Chef RPG. Hunting, gathering and socializing is fun, but I want cooking and being a chef to be why I continue to play the game. Please, as you continue to develop the cooking process, consider the people who would be apart of that and why hiring them becomes more than just a production boost. let them be gross-cranky-strange or serious, just something that builds into the role play.
Again, I really enjoy this game so far and I sincerely believe that this game's concept is unique and fun. I am very excited to see how it is going to evolve and would recommend it right now, and for the potential game that it will become. Good job to all the programmers, developers, and artists it really is a great game.
p.s. I noticed that the feminine body type has a butt animation, I think you should include this option for the masculine one and alternatively add a no booty option for the fem one.