Marenian Tavern Story: Patty and the Hungry God Review

December is the month of baking, cooking, decorating, gifting and gaming! Its the time of year when games seem to be released everyday. Marenian Tavern Story: Patty and the Hungry God published by KEMCO is a game perfect for the coziest time of the year. It’s a game where the player is presented with a very JRPG experience with a huge twist. Most JRPGS have elements of fighting to gain EX points to level up.

In Marenian Tavern Story, the only way to level up your characters is to feed them. Food and cooking are the primary goals of this game to progress in the story. Patty and her brother lose their family home and business unexpectedly due to the god of poverty. This adorable fuzzy creature who calls himself Coco is anything but cute. His sole purpose in life is to steal happiness, although it doesn’t seem as if he really means it.

The only way to rid the siblings of this troublesome god is to feed him lots of food which weakens his power. Patty teams up with a few new friends and explores various forests and towns for ingredients to make delicious meals. This slice of life game feels like a mix of a cooking simulator mixed with a RPG. Your party can visit a gathering area/ dungeon or city once a day to obtain free ingredients. The run-down tavern that Patty and Gino move into is close to their original home. Instead of being sad about their father’s disappearance and lose of their family mansion, these brother and sister duo decide to make the best of their situation.

The entire plot of Marenian Tavern Story takes place through chapters based on the tavern’s rank. There are a set of goals that must be met for the tavern to obtain the next rank. It makes playing through the game extremely enjoyable. Players are welcome to play through at their own pace and explore the dungeons as much or as little as they wish. There are tons of dishes to make and recipes to find and discover which makes playing it on the Switch amazing. It’s a game enjoyable as both a console and handheld. In fact, playing it in handheld mode gives it a GameBoy/ DS nostalgic feel to it.

The peppy music fits the slice-of-life aura well as does the saturated color scheme. The combo of the music, color and graphics make Marenian Tavern Story feel both nostalgic and new. I find myself loosing track of time while trying to find every ingredient to make the more expensive dishes. The transitions between areas and the loading times are so smooth that there is little interruptions in gameplay. Even though I have an extensive Switch library, I find myself coming back to KEMCO’s Marenian Tavern Story. The only improvement needed is the length of the story. The storyline could have used a bit more content to expand the overall plot. It’s the perfect game for JRPG fans who are looking for a relaxing game to enjoy over Christmas break.

A digital copy of this game was provided for this review.