The pressure of a demanding kitchen can be enough to make anyone sweat. But in Dead Plate by Studio Investigrave, the fear goes far beyond burnt orders and impatient customers. Can this horror 2D restaurant tycoon game, with a dash of a visual novel, satisfy the palate or does it need more time in the kitchen?
The Story within the Dish
You play as Rody, a struggling job hopper who landed a gig at the fancy French bistro, Gueule de Saturne. Despite his lackluster resume, he catches the eye of the enigmatic owner, Vince. While Vince has built a successful career within the food industry, Rody merely sees the job as a steppingstone to make some quick cash. It turns out that Rody is fixated on rekindling his relationship with his ex-girlfriend, Manon, who dumped him some time ago.
There’s a clear mystery surrounding Vince’s interest in Rody, as his airheaded nature seems to contradict his high standards. However, after some prying through the boss’s office and experiencing some interesting encounters, you’ll soon learn that the volatile chef houses a troubling secret.
Spoilers
After a few nights, you’ll be given a chance to rummage through the boss’s office while unsettling sounds can be heard in the freezer. You’ll also find some love letters in the trash, all signed by someone going by M. Eventually, you’ll be invited to serve at Vince’s dinner party at his house, giving you a chance to find the key to the freezer. Within the freezer is Manon’s locket and a clearer picture of what’s been going on.
A common complaint that Vince struggles with is that he cooks without love. After learning how dedicated Rody is to Manon, and with his sense of taste and sanity lost, he killed Manon and attempted to feed her to him. Fortunately, Rody never eats the dish and, after being captured, finds a way to escape the freezer and fight off the crazed chef. With matches in hand, Rody sets the bistro on fire, and the game ends.
Run the Bistro
Dead Plate skips the frying pan and throws you right into the fire. You’re not just a waiter, you’re a one-man team, juggling impatient patrons, overflowing orders, and the ever-glamorous trash duty. It’s easy to find yourself in the weeds if you don’t pace yourself. However, customers will leave if you take too long. This balance offered a wonderful challenge, and eventually you’ll find your groove. It feels amazing to complete a service without any errors, and if you need help, you can order item for select bonuses.
Dead Plate’s controls are simple as the two main keys you’ll be using are Shift and Z. Hit boxes are a bit wonky as it occasionally takes multiple tries to interact with a table. This can be a bit frustrating when you are mere seconds from an impatient table just up and leaving
Feast of the Eyes & Ears
Dead Plate’s art and visuals, done by the talented racheldrawsthis and ekrixart, gives each character such expressive faces that you can’t help but be drawn in. Though the actual game sprites are simple, it’s the cutscenes and promotional art that leaves a lasting impression.
Most of the music you’ll be listening to in Dead Plate is this wonderful Bossa Nova jazz that lures you into false sense of comfort. The nightmare sequences and final scene give us this disjointed eerie melody or violin-heavy tune that caused me to hold my breath. Props to the talented BellKalengar for crafting each song in this game as the unsettling emotions it was aiming to give is still felt, even a few days after finishing the story.
Complements to the Chef
Dead Plate offers a satisfying bite-sized story. With Studio Investigrave’s newest game, Married in Red, now available, I can’t wait to see what this amazing dev team can do with a wedding theme.
Download Dead Plate through itch.io and be sure to thank the chefs at Studio Investigrave for this delicious meal.
Leave a Reply