{"id":43846,"date":"2018-08-30T17:00:00","date_gmt":"2018-08-30T17:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/reviews\/nintendo-switch\/little_dragons_cafe"},"modified":"2018-08-30T17:00:00","modified_gmt":"2018-08-30T17:00:00","slug":"review-little-dragons-cafe-switch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/2018\/08\/30\/review-little-dragons-cafe-switch\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: Little Dragons Caf\u00e9 (Switch)"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"media_block\"><a href=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/reviews\/nintendo-switch\/little_dragons_cafe\/large.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/reviews\/nintendo-switch\/little_dragons_cafe\/small.jpg\" class=\"media_thumbnail\"><\/a><\/div>\n<div id=\"\">\n<aside class=\"picture embed\"><a title=\"Little Dragons Caf\u00e9 Review - Screenshot 1 of 3\" href=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/screenshots\/92049\/large.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/screenshots\/92049\/900x.jpg\" alt=\"Little Dragons Caf\u00e9 Review - Screenshot 1 of 3\" \/><\/a><\/aside>\n<p>For some time now, the Nintendo Switch has been sorely lacking in the life simulation game department. Of course, there\u2019s <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/games\/switch-eshop\/stardew_valley\">Stardew Valley<\/a><\/strong> \u2013 easily one of the greatest titles to grace the console \u2013 but the obvious absence of instalments in the \u201crelaxation\u201d genre has left many fans feeling disenchanted.<\/p>\n<p>Yasuhiro Wada, the original creator of <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/games\/snes\/harvest_moon\">Harvest Moon<\/a><\/strong>, appeared to have previously abandoned the farming simulation world in favour of sandbox-style games such as <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/games\/nintendo-switch\/happy_birthdays\">Happy Birthdays<\/a><\/strong>. Luckily, he\u2019s thrown his hat back into the ring (or, at least close to it) with <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/games\/nintendo-switch\/little_dragons_cafe\"><strong>Little Dragons Caf\u00e9<\/strong><\/a> \u2013 an adorable new addition to the genre on Nintendo Switch.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"picture embed\"><a title=\"Little Dragons Caf\u00e9 Review - Screenshot 2 of 3\" href=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/screenshots\/92053\/large.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/screenshots\/92053\/900x.jpg\" alt=\"Little Dragons Caf\u00e9 Review - Screenshot 2 of 3\" \/><\/a><\/aside>\n<p>In this game, you and your twin sibling are responsible for managing your mother\u2019s caf\u00e9 after she falls deathly ill \u2013 and, on top of this, caring for and raising a baby dragon bestowed upon you by a mysterious old man. This will involve cooking recipes, serving guests, and foraging for ingredients, among other tasks. The game is a unique blend of genres \u2013 including elements of management simulation, rhythm-based gameplay, and role-playing. Although farming is surprisingly absent from the game, a large focus is placed upon gathering ingredients and cooking recipes \u2013 something many Harvest Moon fans will remember and enjoy.<\/p>\n<p>The art style is just as unique and charming as the gameplay, featuring storybook-like graphics that make you feel as if you\u2019ve fallen into a hand-illustrated dream world. Fittingly, the game is even divided into chapters, like a novel. However, the actual performance can feel a bit nightmarish at times. Load times are a drag on the game\u2019s pace, and can significantly interrupt and slow down the flow of the story. Each time your character steps into, or out of, the caf\u00e9 (which is necessary at least every few minutes), you\u2019ll wait anywhere from ten seconds to over a minute for loading.<\/p>\n<p>Other issues occur when you begin venturing outdoors, and notice that frame rates can slow to a snail\u2019s pace. Sometimes, this is also accompanied by haywire camera controls, spinning the screen in circles (expect some mild nausea). Frequent hitching can also occur while you explore the outside world \u2013 which isn\u2019t ideal, considering the time mechanics in these types of games that require an increased pace of play.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"picture embed\"><a title=\"Little Dragons Caf\u00e9 Review - Screenshot 3 of 3\" href=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/screenshots\/92045\/large.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/screenshots\/92045\/900x.jpg\" alt=\"Little Dragons Caf\u00e9 Review - Screenshot 3 of 3\" \/><\/a><\/aside>\n<p>Fortunately, you\u2019ll find it difficult to stay frustrated for long with an adorable, colour-changing dragon at your side throughout the game (fair warning: the dragon is <em>not<\/em> house trained). Along with your new companion, there is a unique depth to the characters in the game\u2019s storyline that can only be found in a title created by a master storyteller like Wada.\u00a0The gameplay also gets better with time, as the story and pace pick up with each new chapter \u2013 and the world you\u2019re able to explore expands along with it. New characters and details on their backstories will continue to be introduced throughout the game as well, something that fans of Harvest Moon games will be very familiar with. If these are things you value in a game, you won\u2019t be disappointed.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"conclusion\">\n<h2 class=\"heading\">Conclusion<\/h2>\n<p>Little Dragons Caf\u00e9\u00a0is an endearing feast for the eyes \u2013 and extremely unique in its concept \u2013 but can lose some of its charm after too much time spent waiting on technical issues like load times. Hopefully, some of these problems can be fixed with a future patch or update. Still, Yasuhiro Wada is the master of turning a simple game into a living, breathing story \u2013 and you can expect to experience that same level of care and detail in his latest adventure. It feels as if he is inventing a brand new genre of game all over again \u2013 just as he did with\u00a0Harvest Moon. For those who seek a laid-back experience on the Nintendo Switch, this game will lovingly fill the void, even if it&#8217;s a little rough around the edges.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>For some time now, the Nintendo Switch has been sorely lacking in the life simulation game department. Of course, there\u2019s Stardew Valley \u2013 easily one of the greatest titles to grace the console \u2013 but the obvious absence of instalments in the \u201crelaxation\u201d genre has left many fans feeling disenchanted. Yasuhiro Wada, the original creator [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-43846","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-nintendo-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43846","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=43846"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43846\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43846"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43846"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43846"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}