Magical Delicacy Is a Cozy Platformer That Doesn’t Quite Work [Review]

I’m a mark for any game that lets me be a pixel art character engaging in the capitalist enterprise of running a small shop while moonlighting as an adventurer, so I thought Magical Delicacy would be the perfect game for me. However, after sitting down and playing the game, it wasn’t quite the experience I was looking for.

Magical Delicacy Has Great Characters and a Good Plot

Developed by Skaule and published by Whitethorn Games, Magical Delicacy is a gorgeous pixel art platformer that sees players taking on the role of Flora, a young witch who moves to the city of Grat to open a shop. After arriving, she finds herself befriend and selling her goods to the eclectic, interesting weirdos living in the city. She also encounters a witch named Cassia and a magus named Tauno, who help her further her training.

I really like Magical Delicacy‘s diverse cast of characters. I was pretty quickly able to understand who pretty much everyone was generally, but as the game progressed, they became more complex and well-rounded. I do wish in a lot of cases they were a bit more active and there were more opportunities to interact with them outside of the events that are there, but overall, Magical Delicacy does a good job of its NPCs.

Outside of the characters, there’s also an overarching story that focuses on some of the more mysterious aspects of Grat. Overall, the plot was a nice little addition to the game. However, I’m always a bit mixed when it comes to story in cozy games. It’s absolutely something that should be there, but at the same time, I found that the impetus caused by the narrative resulted in me not spending as much time just enjoying the world as I might have otherwise.

Related: Cozy Caravan Emits Pure Vibes & Fun Gameplay (Review)

Magical Delicacy Is a Feast for the Eyes

I love pixel art as an aesthetic, and Magical Delicacy is an absolute feast for the eyes. There’s a lot of attention to detail in pretty much every object in the game, and it really gives both Flora’s shop and the world of Grat a ton of life. There’s also a fair amount of diversity when it comes to the environments. All-in-all, the art in Magical Delicacy feels like a labor of love.

I also really like the character models. Skaule did a great job of making each NPC feel identifiable and unique. The way they’re rendered is interesting, and it’s a big part of why they work.

Magical Delicacy’s Gameplay Is a Mixed (Spice) Bag

While the characters and art are excellent, Magical Delicacy‘s gameplay doesn’t feel quite like it used the right ingredients.

Magical Delicacy is a mash up of cozy shop simulator and platformer. The former tends to work pretty well on its own. There’s a lot of depth to what players can do with the various recipes that they’re creating, and I really had to think about how to mix and match ingredients to get my desired result. That sort of challenge is definitely welcome, as the shop part of so many cozy games can fall really flat as time wears on, which causes them to become a slog sooner rather than later.

The problem with Magical Delicacy‘s shop simulator portion actually comes in how it interacts with the platforming, which is, even in its best moments, not very good.

In Magical Delicacy, Flora must traverse the world of Grat to find different merchants, ingredients, and clients. While you do unlock some fast travel options, a lot of the game is spent platforming between two different locations on the map. The first time you go to a place, that’s entirely fine. It’s neat to learn how to navigate the levels. However, the fifteenth time you do it, it becomes boring, especially when you’re just looking for one ingredient.

The platforming sections themselves aren’t particularly well designed. There are a lot of places where the things you’re supposed to jump on disappear, resulting in some pretty annoying waits for them to respawn.

The unenjoyable platforming in Magical Delicacy ends up making it difficult to get ingredients, which then causes some problems with the resource management element of the game. Having to get certain things to make recipes means you spend a ton of time just not in your shop going to get those ingredients. If you mistakenly used an ingredient you needed for something else in a recipe and don’t have anymore, you may very well have to run across the map to get it again.

Once you do complete recipe, you’ve got to deliver your goods to the right person, which again requires platforming and traversing Grat. Pretty much every aspect of the game is affected and harmed by the focus on platforming. This problem is especially prominent in the early game, before you unlock more fast travel options.

Due to those problems, I never really settled into the rhythm that can make cozy games so enjoyable. I started to get frustrated with the way it felt like Magical Delicacy was wasting my time, when mostly, I wanted to keep engaging with the cooking mechanic and talking to the various citizens of Grat. The weakest part of most cozy games is the traversal, so having most of the gameplay focused on that mechanic feels like a bad choice.

Verdict: Recommended (for Cozy Games Fans)

I’m a bit on the fence with my verdict here for Magical Delicacy. I think if you can get past the platforming, it’s genuinely pretty enjoyable. I wasn’t able to, though. As such, I’d recommend Magical Delicacy for fans of cozy games that think they’ll be fine with the boring platforming and its knock-on effects. However, if that’s something you’re not fine with, I can’t recommend the game.

A PC review code was provided by the publisher for the purposes of this review. The game is available now on Steam.