IGMC 2015 Submission: Corinne Cross's Dead & Breakfast
Cloud Rating:
This is a little gem right here. Little did I know that this was an RPG Maker made game until I opened up my downloads folder and noticed that little blue cube (all you VXA developers will know what I'm talking about). The submission description was just like my 7 year old daughter when she's asleep, short and sweet.
I love how the author used multiple references throughout the entire game to their studio name, Bad Chalk, including the title screen and the HUD:
The original, hand drawn (at least this is what I'm hoping) graphics are amazing! I'm trying to review these games based NOT on graphics, however, so I'll do my best not to let the prettiness of Corrine Cross's D&B stupify my senses.
I have to say, I loved so much about this game. From the way it makes you really want to grow flowers (which I hate IRL, btw) to being able to cook an amazing breakfast (which, again, I hate IRL) to talking to random ghosts (which I've never done IRL). The storyline was very concise, yet compelling. I almost cried man-tears of sorrow/joy when the spirits were telling me they were done. Luckily, I realized my wife was just chopping onions for dinner... so yeah, wasn't crying.
A couple of times I thought I was lost and didn't know what I was supposed to do next, only to say "screw it" and just went to bed only to realize that was exactly what I was supposed to do. There were more than a couple twists and I'm still not sure in my 1 hour of gameplay if I made the right decisions or if there even ARE any right decisions, but I know I couldn't find that damned, elusive scrambled eggs recipe. I mean, c'mon. Scrambled eggs? Seriously? The ingredients and exactly how you make them are IN THE NAME! You take eggs, you scramble them, and voila! Scrambled eggs!
Joking aside, I actually felt that I HAD to make sure I got that fat ghost guy all the food he was supposed to have even though I'd only known him for a day. The author did a great job of creating a bond between the player and all the (not-so)spooky denizens of the old house.
The arrow system showing what all objects you could interact with proved invaluable. There is so much stuff everywhere, I'd not have known where to look for anything if it weren't for the help.
Now, while this game took originality to a whole new level (I've never imagined I'd be cooking bacon for a ghost to eat for breakfast at night in order to progress in a game) and the author's creativity needs no explanation and this game was one of the funnest games I've played for quite some time; for me it fails to make me want to run through the whole game again just to change a couple choices I made in order to see a new ending. While the idea is not a bad one, I already know the entire storyline and going through the motions of the entire game just to see what happens if I do...
SPOILER ALERT
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bring Gale "back to life" isn't really worth it to me. It is an AMAZING first time play through, however, and because of that I'm giving Corrine Cross's Dead & Breakfast 3 clouds!
