Management games are usually difficult to pull off successfully. Such games commonly become a slog to even check on. Hungry Hearts though, is absolutely not one of those games. It's a kitchen management game with a very emotional twist. Read on to see what it's all about.
In a Nutshell
Overall Score: 4.2 out of 5
Pros:
- great characterization
- homely, charming visualization
Cons:
- limited gameplay
- short game time of two to three hours
Overview
In Hungry Hearts, you take on the role of the elderly wife of a restaurant owner in a relatively rural Japanese town. You cook, serve, and upgrade the restaurant while learning about your customers. As your business expands, the story of the people surrounding the restaurant gets revealed.
Gameplay
The gameplay is not much to talk about, really. It's a management through and through, and you don't even have to gather ingredients. You start with a handful of recipes that the elderly lady can make. She can only make one dish at a time, but you can queue up the food to make as long as there is room on your serving counter.
You can upgrade the seating and counters so that you can have more food available for consumption and more customers waiting in the restaurant. The more you make the food, the higher the grandmother's experience making the food goes. Once a certain level of experience is attained with a particular dish, it can unlock another dish to make. The unlockable dishes are usually shown as silhouettes in the cooking menu with the unlock requirements displayed.
The act of serving customers is very straightforward. Simply tap on the seated diner's speech bubble and the indicated food will be served to them. Most of the diners have a schedule of what days they come to the restaurant and favourite foods. If they are served those, your relationship with them goes up. On building enough of a relationship with customers, you can learn a little bit of their story, and by extension, a little bit of the elderly lady and her husband.
Aesthetics
The game has a very simplistic charm about it. None of the graphics are pixelated, and all of the characters are drawn with a humble anime flavour. Their designs are plain and practical for the setting of rural Japan.
There is really only one setting, so there is only one background for most of the game. The background is also simple, with very little in the way of distractions. Upgrades to the restaurant are permanent, and they give the establishment more flavour in terms of visuals. The upgrades themselves are coloured in such a way that it matches the sombre, faded feel of the setting.
The combination of the character and set designs work out and are very helpful in setting the tone. They definitely augment the already powerful storyline.
Story
The storyline is the big appeal of this game. I have only ever cried once thanks to a game, and Hungry Hearts came really close to making me stream out. The writing in this game is very human and the way the bits of story is revealed really builds your attachment to the characters.
Without spoiling anything, we are introduced to characters that have made mistakes in their past and characters that have been affected by others' mistakes. Still others are simply there, learning about themselves. Most, however, seem lost in their life when we meet them. In any case, each patron has their own set of problems, and each one are treated on the same level.
At the end of a character's story, they leave behind a small note, in keeping with the tradition of Tanabata. The Japanese write a note with intentions of wishing a good future and thanks to the earth. Some of these notes are very touching, and even though they are translated, perfectly tug at the player's heartstrings.
Some Gripes
No game is perfect, and Hungry Hearts is no exception. As mentioned earlier, the gameplay mechanics are very simplistic. They are so simplistic that it can be argued that the title could be considered a visual novel or interactive story rather than a game. Keeping this in mind, the length of the game is quite short. I managed to get through the entire storyline in a few hours. Of course, it isn't that expected that a mobile game would have a full-blown Illiad written into it, but it wouldn't hurt for the game to have more depth.
There isn't much in the way of replayability in this title as well. Sure, there is an unlimited mode with a large number of unlockable dishes to make that aren't vital in story progression, but after the storylines finish, there is little motivation to keep going. Only players that aim for a true 100% completion rate would be interested in continuing.
Another minor thing is the text in some areas. While the aesthetics and design is a wonder to the eye, some areas write their text vertically, with the lettering oriented such that the reader would have to tilt the device to read it easier. This orientation makes a lot of sense in Japanese, but in the English version it makes it a hassle to read.
Final Thoughts
All in all, Hungry Hearts gets a 4.2 out of 5 from me.
The writing and overall atmosphere of the game overshadows any negatives that the game presents. So, while there is little in the way of gameplay and replayability, the story of each character is so emotionally engaging that the player would genuinely enjoy themselves if plot was their cup of tea. That said, this game would not be ideal for anyone looking for an active time-killer that would stay installed on the device for a length of time.
That's it for Hungry Hearts. Thanks for reading!
टिप्पणियां