Kairosoft has an obvious habit of creating simulation games, that’s a no-brainer but the problem arises when the games decline in quality. It is true that most of their translated titles following the famous Game Dev Story have been solid at best but this one pretty much marks the point where repetitive gameplay mechanics begin to shadow quality. Cafeteria Nipponica opens up with a similar introduction to previous releases, changing only according to the games concept. In this case you will be the owner of your own restaurant. At the beginning you will get the options as to what style of dishes you will specialize in; these styles include Japanese, Chinese, Western and Snacks. The in-game menu in Cafeteria Nippponica isn’t vastly different from other Story games, it includes an option to prepare and discover new dishes as you progress. Other options include the ability to fire, hire, train and recruit new employees which you will probably end up doing once you sell out and start serving food that’s probably not worth the price regardless of what critics say.
You begin with a tiny place that is the base of your operations until more people visit and pay money to eat at your restaurant. At that point you can expand and make room for more internal upgrades, what you want to do is adapt while keeping a great kitchen and talented staff. Speaking of, staff attributes are important so keep your cooks well trained since what they make will reflect directly on your establishment. What anyone can appreciate is the depth this game offers a far as clientèle, managing your restaurant feels like your actually doing just that when things start to heat up and your booked until next year.
Fortunately for Kairosoft all of their games are addictive and Cafeteria Nipponica is no exception to the growing list. The game is easy to jump into for anyone who has played their previous titles and just as easy to get used to for those folks who are having their first experience with one for whatever reason. The controls are damn near too easy, you point, click and drag occasionally, repeat that and I promise you will come out with a fully furnished bistro or whatever you want to call it. The micro management isn’t too much to get worked up over and there is no real special feature besides the food based content here to get excited about. Kairosoft did succeed at making a game that is approachable to those less interested in the Culinary Arts though which saves Cafeteria Nipponica from itself. Still though, it is just another simulation game that is not innovative in ways that one would expect from these games at this point.
At $4.99 the game is barely worth it for both new and existing fans of Kairosoft titles. Cafeteria Nipponica falls much too short of the bar set by the company’s previous releases. I mean, you can’t go up to the buffet and have different colored dishes that all taste the same you know? People just won’t bother with the rest after awhile.
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