As a self-professed typical Irishman, you would be forgiven for thinking that my palette extends to little more than meat and spuds. Don’t get me wrong, meat and spuds rock, but I like to push the culinary boat out, and that’s because food is more than just fuel. It’s something that can bring people together.
That’s something that Outerloop Games has always understood, as alongside other games like Venba, their previous game, Thirsty Suitors, showcased the importance of food and family.
However, Dosa Divas aims to tell a more futuristic story, with more refined RPG mechanics, mech traversal, and more. I can say right off the bat, if you loved Thirsty Suitors, you’ll love this game just as much. However, if you’re wondering if this game is a superior experience, you might want to stick around.
You Can’t Pick Your Family
Much like Thirsty Suitors, Dosa Divas is a game centered on food and family dynamics, omitting the cringe-inducing dating-sim slant that Thirsty boasted about. So, if you’re jumping into this one for the narrative experience on offer, you’re not likely to be disappointed.
The writing boils down to a perfect blend of heartfelt sentiments and serious themes, with an overarching anti-corporate stance that makes for an entertaining runtime.
Dosa Divas tells the tale of three sisters, Amani, Samara, and Lina, who inherited the family restaurant. Which, to put it succinctly, hasn’t been a smooth transition, and ten years later, you need to navigate these tricky family dynamics to try and make sense of this situation, find out what caused the rift, and potentially repair the relationships.
However, that might be a touch difficult, as your sister Lina has become a tyrannical overlord, controlling the food reserves of all the different regions in this world, and is one step away from total and utter control.
But, through the power of food and nostalgia, you just might be able to get them back onside. You just need to take it one dish at a time.
The writing boils down to a perfect blend of heartfelt sentiments and serious themes, with an overarching anti-corporate stance that makes for an entertaining runtime. However, it’s often delivered in a goofy way that makes it much more palatable and cozy. Basically, heavy themes in a game that doesn’t take itself too seriously.
The narrative, at least in my opinion, is the highlight of Dosa Divas, as the game excellently represents various cuisines and cultures, all the while offering a vibrant and distinct art style and world design that make for eye candy as you explore this unique dystopian world.
There’s something so relatable about a story centered around the unifying power of food. But above all, it’s an entertaining story that knows when to offer levity and when to deliver those emotional gut punches. Making for a Dosa-fueled rollercoaster ride.
Food, Glorious Food
Seeing as we have already spoken about the unifying power of food, let’s dive into the cooking mechanics of this game. Because they are much more involved than those you may have encountered in Thirsty Suitors.
What I will concede right away is that the mini-games that you complete while cooking remain largely unaltered, and offer little to the overall experience, as fail states don’t matter that much, and the overall mini-game selection feels a little dull and repetitive even as little as an hour into proceedings.
However, they are a means to an end, as the real star of the show here is the addition of foraging. As players will need to traverse various contained, rather vertical maps to find raw ingredients to combine. Which, in turn, allows you to complete orders, improve your reputation in town, complete quests, and even have a few spare morsels set aside to help you in battle.
It’s a fun novelty, and one that means there will be something to pick up or drill at pretty much every turn throughout your run, or an order you can complete on the fly. Meaning those that crave instant and consistent gratification will really vibe with these mechanics.
However, I would be lying if I didn’t think these foraging mechanics ended up feeling as much of a chore as the mini-games by the end. Mainly because even if the ingredients change from one town to the next, the core experience does not.
It leads to a lot of backtracking to find specific items, running back and forth to a specific merchant, and doing busywork repeatedly just to advance the story. The issue here is that there isn’t any real difficulty or challenge to foraging.
It feels more like a routine task to bulk out the overall experience. It’s not quite as annoying as foraging alongside Donald Duck in Kingdom Hearts 3, but it will grate on you all the same.
Mech It Make Sense
With this foraging focus being such a large part of the Dosa Divas experience, an overall feeling of satisfaction when getting around is a must. Something that Dosa Divas only partly gets right.
What has to be commended is that the game swaps out the more open spaces of Thirsty Suitors, where long runbacks were commonplace, for tighter, more interconnected maps. Complete with shortcuts, secrets to uncover, and distinct regional feels.
Map design is pretty good here, as you really do get an inherent understanding of where all the key landmarks are early, and I never once felt a need for a physical map, which adds to immersion. Plus, the aforementioned verticality of the maps adds a sense of scale to these relatively small areas.
However, while the areas you inhabit are quite satisfying to explore, the way you get around is much less so. For a game that boasts mech travel, it’s surprising how clunky and primitive the platforming and movement mechanics feel. As players are often hindered by invisible walls or forced to fight tooth and nail to make a double jump stretch as far as it needs to.
As much as I felt that the skating mechanics in Thirsty Suitors were half-baked and clunky, I still appreciated the attempt. They added a lot of arcade-like flair to the action and, in most cases, made getting around an event easier. That cannot be said for Dosa Divas, as it feels like a rudimentary platformer in more ways than one.
I can’t help but feel there could have been a lot more done to make getting around feel more unique and cathartic. Especially with the game’s focus on exploration. But unfortunately, it all ends up feeling, again, rather like a chore.
More Traditional, More Intentional
While some aspects of Dosa feel like steps in the wrong direction in comparison to previous projects, we have to give credit where it’s due. This outing’s combat system feels much more like the traditional RPG battle setup that Outerloop was shooting for last time out.
Unlike in Thirsty Suitors where every encounter boiled down to a glorified QTE, the combat feels much more involved in Dosa. As players are able to make use of a typical, traditional attack, skills, items and ultimates menu to get the job done in battle.
combat system feels much more like the traditional RPG battle setup that Outerloop was shooting for last time out.
But beyond that, the systems under the hood feel akin to popular turn-based RPGs of recent memory. Defending feels akin to parrying attacks in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, in many ways. Then, on the attacking front, using specific attack types to break opponents’ defense will feel very familiar for Sea of Stars fans.
But the additional depth doesn’t stop there, as those meals that you forage for and cook aren’t just for show. As you can use these as traditional buffs and healing items to add more HP, SP, and heal status ailments.
Look, I’m not going to try to convince anyone that this is a complex and intriguing battle system that can rival even the simplest or turn-based AAA titles. But what I will say is that in comparison to Thirsty Suitors, this is a real step up and a much more robust, rewarding system to work with.
The game could absolutely benefit from a more challenging difficulty setting, as I never felt the need to use items throughout the majority of battles. Not to mention, boss battles were very routine and uneventful in all honesty. But I couldn’t help but enjoy each battle in the same way I enjoyed easy but engaging fights in RPGs like Paper Mario.
"Dosa Divas is yet another game from Outerloop Games that has a lot of charm, and a lot of heart. The narrative is goofy yet sincere, the map design, setting and art style is eye-catching and new additions to turn-based combat and exploration add a lot to the experience. But sadly, everything feels a little repetitive, clunky and half-baked in execution. It, much like it's predecessor Thirsty Suitors, is a flawed gem. So mileage may vary, but it could just be a tasty morsel worth nibbling on."
The Good
- A heartfelt story
- Tight, vertical map design
- More robust turn-based combat
The Bad
- Repetitive, shallow systems
- Lackluster traversal mechanics
- Minor UI and Tech issues
