Magical Delicacy review – A delightful metroidvania-like culinary adventure

It’s rare a game stumps me so much in its first few hours yet captivates me enough to keep playing. There were moments in Magical Delicacy where I was running around as aimless as a headless chicken, either trying to find a hidden pathway I’d missed or hoping to somehow stumble across an item I desperately needed. Perseverance pays off, though, because Magical Delicacy is incredibly compelling, combining metroidvania-style adventuring and culinary crafting in a way that will keep you coming back.

Let’s get one thing out of the way first, though: Magical Delicacy does not hold your hand. Perhaps, at times, to a fault. In other games where you require a specific ingredient, for example, you might have some sort of encyclopedia that will give you a rough idea on how to find it. Not here. You’re on your own, and only your own sheer willpower will get you through. You’ll learn by doing, experimenting and exploring, but if you’re the type of person who needs guidance and a waypoint, this probably isn’t the game for you.

You’ll be missing out, though. While some of those earlier moments in Magical Delicacy had me wishing for some guidance, once I’d managed to get through the blockage, opening up a new area or finally managing to complete an order I’d been sat on for a while, there was a huge feeling of satisfaction. Particularly in exploring this game’s wonderful world. Being a metroidvania-like, you’ll need to acquire new abilities in order to access new areas, and they’re doled out piecemeal as you play. First comes a double-jump, then a super high jump, and eventually the ability to turn into a cat and then to fly on a broomstick. When nowhere in this magical kingdom is off-limits, it feels wonderful — and there’s so much to uncover.

The denizens of Magical Delicacy’s world often have missions for you to complete in the form of orders. You see, your character is a witch — but her main domain is in the kitchen, creating delicious food and mystical potions. The orders you receive from people often require the use of certain ingredients or ask for a particular property to be imbued into the recipe. And so, you’ll need to have a wide variety of ingredients on hand: you can find plenty growing wildly around the world, but others you’ll need to buy from vendors. You can even grow your own in your small garden.

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Cooking in itself can be challenging. As you progress through Magical Delicacy, you’ll amass new kitchen equipment, from an oven to a cutting board and eventually a cauldron and a magical altar. Ingredients can be changed by roasting, juicing, drying or enchanting them, and depending how you cook them, you’ll get something completely different. Roasting vegetables in an oven might give you some sort of baked produce, for example, but cooking them in a pan is likely to yield a soup or stew.

You’ll spend a lot of time experimenting — and there’s a good chance you’ll end up wasting some ingredients along the way. But that’s part of the fun. Coming up with a successful recipe is a real cause for celebration and, thankfully, any recipes you’ve discovered, collected or learned will be stored in your inventory, making it a bit easier the next time you need to make it.

Magical Delicacy almost feels like two separate games. The cooking and crafting element feels very different to the exploration and platforming on offer, but somehow they go together very well. I particularly like how some of the platforming challenges of Magical Delicacy — for example, platforms that crumble after you’ve stood on them and various obstacles — can be disabled in the options, making getting around much easier. I’d probably recommend you do so, if you’d rather concentrate on completing orders and cooking. You can’t die, thankfully, but those extra obstacles can make getting around a bit more frustrating than it needs to be.

With the patience to uncover Magical Delicacy’s secrets by nosing around and experimenting, there’s an absolutely fantastic adventure waiting to be had here. Sure, some players are going to be put off by the absolute lack of hand-holding, but for others, that’s going to be its selling point. Figuring something out feels oh-so-sweet when you’ve managed to do it all by yourself. And with an enchanting world to explore, some very neat skills to unlock and an intriguing story involving a dragon and two warring factions to become embroiled in, there’s so much to love.

This review of Magical Delicacy is based on the PC version of the game, with a code provided by the publisher. It’s available on Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Switch and PC.