Platform: PC
Genre: Visual Novel, Simulation, Cooking, Indie

Indie visual novels are a dime a dozen, but what about one with a fully thought-out-yet-cozy cooking simulator? That’s KuloNiku: Bowl Up in a nutshell – part narrative with colourful talking heads, a gameplay nod to all the Cooking Mama titles sans touchscreen nonsense, an Iron Chef main course that’s basically a boss fight but with food, and a Southeast Asian aesthetic uniquely presented like as if it were on a 32-bit console (but higher than 60 frames per second).

Cook Out

KuloNiku puts you in the shoes of a chef who is the grandkid of a famous Bakso noodle/mie bakso maker (like pho, but Indonesian and meatballs). It’s up to you to keep up that legacy and make people know about your restaurant Bakuso and its awesome noodles. This means you have to build a reputation by being the best restaurant and getting extra tips for good service, while also buying new equipment and tools for better food-making and serving. Heck, you can even customize your order counter, interior, and work station, as well as invent new food items to cater to every customer’s whims. Even if they’re on a timer, these cooking portions are relaxing as you take a bowl, cook the meatballs and noodles in a hotpot, cut up spices and veggies if needed, and touching it up with condiments. Once you get through the initial tutorial, doing all these with the keyboard and mouse is a breeze; it’s just a matter if you’re careful with pressing the condiments-squirting button, or when you’re chopping up chilis to fine slices for that master chef’s touch.

There’s a narrative going on, where you buddy up with your manager Cassie, your rival Stella, your shy equipment seller Ume, and all sorts of other cute and handsome/pretty characters as you rise to the top while also revealing more about why your main character chose this profession. You’ll have to advance the plot and next ranking by beating the chef just above you in the Meatball Brawl “Iron Chef” tournament. These cooking sim segments are similar, but with added minigames as you’re adding the ingredients to the bowl, and with extra additions needed to impress the judges and placate the crowd. Your Classic Bowl isn’t going to cut it as it isn’t spicy enough for the chosen judges and doesn’t have that special tofu and beansprouts needed to wow the crowd; you have to add them in while also keeping in check the taste requirements.

Thankfully, the cooking portions aren’t too restrictive and precise, at least until the later parts of the game. Even if you get a food’s spice level a tad lower than requested, your customer will still eat the food but leave a lesser tip. And god forbid if you mess up in this incredibly cozy and relaxing cooking game that doesn’t figuratively put a burner close to your face, you can still press on but just earn less money with no tips, and no ranking boost. Just try and try again. At the very least, the visuals and music are cheery and chill enough to keep you going and vibing towards the title. All the characters and the backdrops just remind me a lost 4K 60fps version of a Mega Man Legends game, and that’s a helluva compliment from me as I dig that series’ art style.

That said, the game does get picky with similar ingredients. Who knew that tendon meatballs and regular meatballs are completely different ingredients even though they’re similar in shape and form? I got a demerit from a customer who wanted regular meatballs, unappreciative of the fact that they’re getting better meatballs that lower their spice intake. These are few and far between; the instructions are usually clear, and additional ingredients to suit their taste buds do not really bother them.

Bug-Eyed For Bakso

KuloNiku: Bowl Up is as quaint and standard as you can get for a cooking game, though it clearly stands out with its anime-esque presentation that reminds me of a better-looking Mega Man Legends PS1 era art style. It’s cutesy, low stakes, chillax, and is a breeze to play through if you’ve played a few of these visual novels. Still, you cannot help but be enamoured by its narrative which does lead to some interesting places, and the fact that its dishes and food are proudly Southeast Asian.

Foreign to all outside of Asia, but still presented in a unique light that can change up your viewpoint. What isn’t unique is its wholesome feel, but that can be its strength in welcoming all to its open diner doors in its pristine PS1 polygon-esque architecture.

Final Score: 80/100

Review copy provided by publisher.