This game, a small mobile game within the swathes of AAA FPS titles and remasters, is in my opinion the pinnacle of the ‘less is more’ approach in Video Game Design. It provides all the elements a good RPG, if not game, should have: Core Mechanics, Main hook, reward system, story, graphics, characters, so on and so forth. It is by no means the next Final Fantasy or Fire Emblem: Heroes, but that’s because it doesn’t have to be. Bistro Heroes is a game of two girls, in need of a meal, find a food stall in the middle of the forest managed by a silent master chef. In exchange for food and a place to stay, they bring the chef ingredients to cook from their travels to get back to the royal palace. There is a little more than I left out for briefness’ sake, but that is the main synopsis. A simple premise, a simple mechanic, a simple world. And the devs blend it all together to make it a truly wonderful experience. There is no true P2W aspect that I am aware of as of yet, though purchases are still available if desired. Devs, keep up the great work, cause you’ve really have something going here!

I picked up this game thinking it was going to be choc full of copyright free music and bland as sawdust story. I got everything but that! The game’s story is based around a ragtag party of heroes investigating an incident, and while that’s all fine and dandy, the real soul of the game is the mood that arises after a good meal. I’m sure you’ve been there after a good buffet, the table is merry with bubbly joy and raucous laughter. Bistro Heroes captures this feeling so simply and perfectly. Sure, there’s no elegant and detailed animations or award winning portraits (except for the food) but cute and cartoony movement tells you exactly what’s going on. Everything is concise in just the right places (unlike this review); no long dragged out stories, battles, or timers. I especially like the little sound effects and background, not every achievement has to signal a huge fanfare, and there’s no overbearing music to force a mood. It’s just you, your heroes, and a pile of meat skewers.

This game is really basic but extremely fun. I usually get aggravated with the auto fight most phone games have but this is enjoyable. You have a few abilities and you choose to focus a target. You decorate your little side of the road bistro with some really fun decorations. The story makes you laugh and holds my interest. I love that I can play for 5 minutes or 45 and take a break and come back later. I don’t rate many phone games but this one deserves it and I hope to see more games like this. Update: im a week in and I still love this game more and more I’m constantly unlocking stuff still and the map is huge! I love that I can have fun fishing or leave the fishing to do it automatically to collect ingredients. I’m hoping for a cross over one day maybe food wars??? One can only hope!

This game surprised me. I didn’t have any expectations going into it, but the amount of polish and depth built around such uncomplicated battle and progression systems quickly won me over. I’ve found it very hard to describe; it is something that needs to be experienced to understand.This game is best played as a casual, meandering journey, and not a sprint. After the initial couple of hours of gameplay to establish how all the systems work, I now simply sign in for a couple of minutes a few times a day. That has been sufficient to feel a good sense of continuous progression. It’s a game of a million tiny micro-upgrades over time, and it is amazingly satisfying inching towards that next win in story mode, or that next level down in the mines.