“You will be playing something very different from farming and sandbox games, which are common in the cozy genre”
We play as Flora, a young witch who moves to the harbor town of Grat to become a “proper” witch, and opens up a shop to create meals and potions for townspeople and travelers alike. “With Flora’s journey, I wanted to tell a story about coming to a new place, finding the exciting spots it offers, making new friends, and even just getting that feeling of where to shop for your things,” Skaule explains.
“Flora comes from a rural region far away, which she is putting behind her quickly and only talks a little about. Grat was told to be a place of adventure and possibility — the possibility to make more of her witch powers than where she came from.” Grat has its own mysteries and magical undercurrents, however. There are two opposing covens in the town, led by the witch Cassia and the magus Tauno, and Flora will soon get caught up between them. On top of that, there are other mysterious travellers and the town’s own secrets and legends, which we’ll learn about as we gradually expand our exploration abilities. Speaking of…
Aside from its magical story and beautiful pixel art style, one of the main things which sets Magical Delicacy apart is its Metroidvania inspirations and its intriguing mashup of genres and elements: cooking, platforming, exploration, trading, growing plants, expanding your shop, questing, and more. “It was an organic decision for me, coming from things I liked in games, with Metroidvanias being a favorite of mine,” Skaule says. “Though, at the time, I wanted to avoid making combat encounters at all costs, so I turned towards cozy games. It truly is a lot to pack into a game, and I’ll let everyone discover on their own if and how that works.”
Skaule describes the game as a “Metroidvania-lite,” adding, “which for me means you’ll be seeing a lot of familiar elements but missing many others, such as tough encounters and boss fights, of course. The most notable part, however, is the map’s progression in general. This also means that you will be playing something very different from farming and sandbox games, which are common in the cozy genre. You will progress through the map by figuring out what to cook, sometimes hit barriers in what you can cook and where you can go, and have a similar feel to how you progress through a more traditional Metroidvania.”
That Metroidvania approach takes shape in several ways when it comes to Magical Delicacy’s platforming and exploration, and cooking plays a big part. According to Skaule, one way to reach new areas is “to create and deliver meals — so upgrading your kitchen strongly ties into the progression. There are several items, such as the cutting board and mortar and pestle… that can be used to make different items or change the characteristics of ingredients. Some recipes will require you to experiment with these upgrades to see what they do to each ingredient.”
Grat’s environments range from catacombs to cliffs, and along with helping you to reach new paths, upgrading your movement abilities will also open up shortcuts to take you back to your shop. “You’ll find many paths to take,” Skaule says. “Some are easy platforming strolls, and others are a tad more challenging.” It seems the game’s elements blend well together: exploration ties into cooking, and cooking ties into exploration. You need to create meals to progress, but in turn, “making the meals requires a lot of exploring and trading. You’ll often need to venture out to find the ingredients before you can get to it.”
Another big part of Magical Delicacy is its characters. “A good bit of the town’s gossip revolves around this group of prominent adventurers and their historic achievements, and how that plays into the actions of the witches and the town itself,” Skaule explains. “You’ll experience the story of the world and these characters as a reward for your delivered meals. From adventurers to scholars, merchants to witches, there are a lot of different personalities to meet, and some will even involve you in something more significant. I hope there are characters for many to relate to and adore, characters you want to help, see them succeed, or even just spend time with.”
Then there’s Magical Delicacy’s eye-catching, colorful pixel art style. “Before I started to get into the development of this game, I spent a few months just making pixel art for various game ideas until I came up with a style, especially for characters, that I liked and felt I could enjoy working on,” Skaule says. “There have been countless scrapped styles and ideas, but an early version of Flora, which was only slightly different, was the catalyst for the game’s style. From then on, I kept rolling with things that fit the style and world. It certainly helped to have the artistic background of an illustrator.”
Magical Delicacy launches into Xbox Game Pass on July 16. If you’re interested in reading more about the game, check out our chat with developer Skaule about how Magical Delicacy offers Xbox achievements you can earn in one playthrough and take a peek at a part-reveal of 11 of the Magical Delicacy Xbox achievements!