Most E3s go by without any games about soup. There might be a cooking simulator featuring soup as a possible dish, but a game about soup itself? Zero, year after year--a tragic slight against the world’s most vers🔯atile cuisine. But this year’s E3 had not just one, but TWO soup-centric games, which begs the question: is a new genre of soup-based video games about to be born?
Soup has always played a central role in cuisine, often being the first course of an evening’s meal, but only in recent years 🔯has soup received the recognition it so ri🙈chly deserves from video games. No longer is soup the forgotten appetizer of games like Skyrim and Zelda: Breath of the Wild--now soup takes center stage in two grand new titles from these enlightened developers.
The first is Soup Pot, from Manila-based developer Chikon Club. Soup Pot was first revealed during Microsoft's ID@Xbox indie smorgasbord last march and was once again showcased during 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:E3's Wholesome Direct, because what's more wholesome than soup?
Soup Pot is a casual, single-player cooking simulator with a focus on creativity. Although Soup Pot's 100 Filipino recipes include more than just soup, many of the ingredients you prepare eventually wind up in a pot.
Most regional cuisine tops out at three, six soups max (probably--I’m not an expert in culinary history, I just really like soup). According to , the Philippines have a grand total of 10 regional soups, all with their own distinct character. From the sour tang of sinigang to the savory beef broth of bulalô, there's perhaps more variety to Filipino soup than anywhere else in the world.
And that variety shows up in Soup Pot’s gameplay. Although there are 100 recipes to eventually dis﷽cover, Soup Pot encourages players to get creative. All you need to do is throw ingredients into a pot and see what you get! Just remember that soup is all about timing, so it’s important to have your ingredients prepared and to know when you should throw them in.
Chikon Club plans to add Japanese and Korean cuisine later on as future DLC, which should bring a cauldron-full ꦕof possible soup recipes like ramen, misoshiru, yukgaejang, and miyeok guk.
If Soup Pot is a relaxing cooking simulator that encourages experimentation in soup creation, then Hot Pot For O⛄ne forgoes creativity in favor of the familiar comfort of a set menu. You can only make one thing in Hot Pot For One, and although your choice of ingredients can vary slig🌟htly, you will always wind up with a quintessential Chinese soup.
From indie duo Rachel Li and Qin Yin, Hot Pot For One tells a story about loneliness and finding solace in a home-cooked meal. "You are alone on a cold, Christmas night, stuck at home, in a foreign country," reads Hot Pot For One's description on . "You get through it by cooking a hot dish intended for six people."
An unmatched comfort food intended for social gathering♍s, hot pot comes in a variety of flavors and local variations. The sort you find in a North American metropolis almost always comes with a selection of familiar ingredients such as shrimp, beef meatballs, ham slices, sausage, tofu, napa cabbage, and enoki mushrooms. The player goes through the ritual of assembling a hot pot, taking ingredients from cupboards and the refrigerator, and eventually winding up with a stockpot that could easily feed a small family.
During the soup-making process and while you eat your virtual meal, the player is shown various hand-drawn scenes of childhood togetherness with friends and family. Moments of wholesome nostalgia all come to a terrible end, however, as the player eventually has to dump the vast majority of their creation down the sink after saving a few choice pieces for tomorrow's breakfast.
Soup Pot comes out later this yea🔥r, but you can get Hot Pot For O𓆉ne on Steam now.
Unconvinced of soup's rising supremacy? Perhaps you should take a look at the evolution of Monster Hunter's meals, which started out as a monstrous charcuterie board in Monster Hunter World but became a hearty stew with the arrival of Iceborne. Resident Evil 7 had not a single soup, but Resident Evil Village to whet the player's appetite.
Capcom is well aw♔are that soup is the future of gaming and has already made its preparations. These f🐟irst delicate sips of the coming soup genre presage a soup bonanza that will shower our taste buds in delicious stock and our eyes in the infinite possibilities of soup. Unlike Guitar Hero or Assassin’s Creed, soup’s timeless appeal will become the standard by which all future game genres are measured.
Soup is all. Soup is life.