Cooking in video games is nothing new, from the simple recipe books of Minecraft to the gourmet meals of Final Fantasy XV, adding cooking as a game mechanic has become a staple of many video game genres.The anticipation for Kingdom Hearts 3 brought with it a lot of excitement and the promise of new features. One of the most intriguing new elements teased by Square Enix was the ability to cook meals to help combat the Heartless and to provide stat boosts to Sora and company.Unfortunately, the reality of cooking in Kingdom Hearts 3 did not live up to the hype, leaving many fans disappointed and frustrated with the lackluster implementation of the cooking feature. In this blog post, we’ll delve into the reasons why cooking in Kingdom Hearts 3 falls short and discuss what could be done to improve the cooking experience.
Whether you’re a fan of the franchise or just love a good RPG, Kingdom Hearts 3 was a long-awaited release that had much to live up to. With the inclusion of cooking, many were excited to see how this feature would be implemented in the game. However, after spending some time with the feature, it’s clear that the cooking system is at best frustrating and at worst, detrimental to a player’s overall gameplay experience. Through exploring each aspect of the cooking feature in Kingdom Hearts 3, we’ll explain why it fails and what could be done to improve it.
The Cooking System
The cooking system implemented in Kingdom Hearts 3 is undoubtedly the main reason why the cooking element of the game fails so spectacularly. Designed to be able to appeal to cooking game enthusiasts as well as fans of the Kingdom Hearts franchise, the end result is a confusing mess that is likely to alienate both of these groups. The issue is that the cooking system is too in-depth but also extremely vague, something which causes confusion and irritation. If the system had been simplified or if better tutorials on cooking had been provided, the system could have been a fun and rewarding experience.
Compounding the frustrating nature of the cooking system is the mini-game that players are forced to play in order to cook their meals. The mini-game involves pressing buttons in a series of patterns, akin to games such as Dance Dance Revolution. While this may be a fun idea in theory, it ultimately falls flat in practice. The mini-game is difficult to complete successfully, adding even more time to the already lengthy cooking process. It’s not only frustratingly difficult but also completely unnecessary, making it almost impossible to enjoy the cooking experience.In addition to the disappointing cooking system and frustrating mini-game, the presentation of the cooking feature leaves much to be desired. Players are forced to sit through unskippable cutscenes every time they cook a meal, and the interface itself is dull and uninspired. The interface is straightforward and easy to understand, but it doesn’t add any sense of excitement or reward to the cooking experience. Overall, the lack of presentation is a missed opportunity to make cooking an interesting and compelling part of the game.
The Cost-Benefit Analysis
When evaluating the cost-benefit analysis of cooking in Kingdom Hearts 3, it’s clear that the drawbacks outweigh the benefits. While some meals do offer boosts to certain parameters such as increased health or faster magic regeneration, these benefits are often temporary and not significant enough to justify the time and effort it takes to gather ingredients and complete the cooking mini-game. Additionally, the stat boosts can be obtained through more convenient means, such as eating food at a restaurant or using an equipment upgrade.Another significant cost of cooking in Kingdom Hearts 3 is the time it takes to gather ingredients and cook meals. This time could be better spent exploring the game’s worlds, leveling up, or battling enemies. The inconvenience of rummaging through multiple worlds for ingredients can quickly become tedious. This can lead players to avoid cooking altogether, even if it might be a useful strategy. The benefits of cooking in Kingdom Hearts 3, such as temporary stat boosts, aren’t worth the time and effort required to obtain them.
In fact, the amount of time spent on cooking in Kingdom Hearts 3 is so significant that it can even impede the game’s pacing. Cooking cutscenes are unskippable, and the process of obtaining ingredients and cooking a meal can take several minutes. This results in a loss of momentum in the game’s narrative, and can even make certain parts of the game feel like a chore.
Overall, the cooking system in Kingdom Hearts 3 is not worth the hassle. The benefits are minimal, and the costs of time and effort are significant. If the cooking system were overhauled to be more user-friendly and rewarding, it could add an exciting new dimension to the game. However, as it stands now, cooking feels like more trouble than it’s worth.
The Presentation
The presentation of the cooking system is lackluster. Despite the fact that the meals you create look appetizing in real life, the presentation of the cooking process in Kingdom Hearts 3 falls short. You are not rewarded with any real sense of accomplishment for successfully cooking a meal. Once you’ve cooked the meal, it’s simply added to your inventory and you can move on to the next one. The cooking interface is bare-bones and doesn’t offer any additional excitement for players looking for a more immersive experience.Furthermore, the inability to skip certain cutscenes, such as when Ignis cooks a meal in Final Fantasy XV, makes the cooking process in Kingdom Hearts 3 even less appealing. Gameplay is interrupted by long, drawn-out cutscenes that add no value to the overall gaming experience. The cooking system could benefit from a more streamlined presentation, including more visually-appealing cooking sequences and the option to skip certain cutscenes.
The lackluster presentation of the cooking system is disappointing given that the game’s designers had the opportunity to create something special. It would be more gratifying if the meals that were created not only helped improve the character’s stats, but also had more visual appeal. Cooking is a significant part of many games, including games like Final Fantasy, where it is significantly more detailed, and it’s surprising that Kingdom Hearts 3 falls short in this regard. Players could find more value in the cooking mechanic if there were cutscenes for each meal, which would make them feel more accomplished when creating these meals.
Conclusion
Moreover, the cooking experience could be enhanced by incorporating more feedback during the cooking mini-game. As it stands, you’re not given enough information about whether you’re succeeding or failing during the cooking process. Offering more real-time feedback would benefit the player, making the experience overall more engaging. Additionally, players could benefit from a more extensive tutorial on how to navigate the cooking system. As it stands, players are left to figure out the cooking mini-game on their own, which can be difficult if you’re not familiar with the mechanics. This lack of instruction can also hinder the user experience, causing players to give up on the cooking mechanic altogether.
Overall, the lackluster presentation of the cooking system in Kingdom Hearts 3 is a disappointment. From insufficient feedback and limited instruction to the inability to skip cutscenes, the cooking mechanic could benefit from a complete overhaul. By streamlining the cooking interface and adding more features, such as cutscenes and real-time feedback, the cooking mini-game could become a more immersive and rewarding experience. Kingdom Hearts 3 would benefit from improving the cooking feature, which currently doesn’t provide significant benefits to the player and can feel like a distraction from the main game. By addressing these issues, the cooking mini-game could be a positive addition to the game, rather than one that detracts from the overall user experience.
Hello there! My name is Tristram Ortega and I am a professional chef with a passion for cooking. I work at a top-rated restaurant where I create delicious dishes every day, and I’m excited to share my tips and techniques with you. Through this blog, I share my favorite recipes, cooking hacks, and insights into the world of professional cooking. So let’s get cooking together!
