I’m watching a cutscene that looks straight out of a Dragon Ball Z episode and I’m exactly where Studio Pixanoh wants me to be. The narrative-building intervals in what can sometimes be quite intense gameplay makes Town of Zoz a multifaceted experience. As does the action-adventure RPGs somewhat unexpected blend of both combat and cookery. When I needed a moment away from the hack-and-slash, the 90s-inspired anime provided moments of reprieve from a complicated game of maña, mysteries, and… measuring cups.
Part warrior, part chef, you play as Ito, summoned home by his parents to help out with the family’s farm and restaurant. Oh, and assuage a horde of different enemies without your mum and dad really knowing about it. It’s a game where you’re a shaman chef adventurer equipped with an array of knives, both for chopping ingredients and chopping up naughty adversaries.
I won’t try to explain the history behind Ito’s powers and his Evil Eye-esque companion, Zee, because, well, you should find out for yourself through Studio Pixanoh’s manga moments. But know this, Ito’s town is under siege by a terrible mystery that you need to unfold and hopefully banish.
A manga mystery
Weirdly, you can start the game from whatever chapter you want, of which there are 9. I started my journey with Town of Zoz from the beginning for obvious reasons. After a brief training session, you’ve got a fight on your hands with the evil Pixanoh. I’m puzzled as to where they came up with the name… One minute I’m fighting like my life depends on it (and it most certainly does) and the next my father, Conki, is insisting I pick up some Pineapple Semita from the bodega. And this most certainly represents how Town of Zoz plays out, blending combat with cooking in an intrinsic fashion.
It’s also a great moment to tell you that Town of Zoz is hugely inspired by Latin America, apparent in a number of ways from the names of the people and shops to the vibrant market and indigenous folklore. You even get to eat Latin cuisine at the dining table with your whole family in the evening (until things go awry). It’s lovely, but you’re also skirting around a tumultuous relationship with your rather angry father who has a history of his own. Why not throw familial troubles in with evil enemies and big boss fights?
Armed with my floating eye companion, I’m given a series of quests to complete, from fetching simple ingredients to battling foes in the wild forests. I travel on foot or, between areas, on a quirky bus that I summon at various kiosks dotted around the map. And I’m actually in control of my companion, moving both Ito and Zee around separately, though a little confusingly. Fortunately, they’ll follow each other, sort of. Sometimes my companion will disappear entirely, only to reappear somewhere a little closer after they’ve found themselves stuck on a ledge or too far behind.
While Zee is your counterpart, you meet friends along the way from the energetic Boomi to the troubled Osana, all so World of Buxom in appearance that I almost didn’t know where to look. While they feed you information that helps you unravel the town’s mysteries, you also bond and form relationships through feeding them your nutritious and delicious meals.
Chop, chop
Now, I love a cooking element in a game. My initial problem with the way it appears in Town of Zoz is that it’s mentioned as kind of a big deal, but it took a little while before the concept was even introduced. It almost reached a point where I wondered if it would appear at all.
Its importance in the game is a slow burner. You cook up a few things to begin with, but you’re mainly refuelled at your nightly family dinners. Then, it becomes more of an integrated part of the game, serving mainly as a hand in certain quest goals or as an important part of your refuelling. That said, it’s definitely more about what the food represents that reflects its importance in Town of Zoz.
You cook to impress family members, to win over strangers, and to fuel your body on long adventures into the wild. The way you cook it isn’t necessarily what’s important, though if you’re a quick cook, the meal offers better buffs. It’s more the tale it’s telling, which I have to say is a big reason why I love to cook in real life. Old family recipes and bringing people together. Unfortunately, I spent a lot less time in the kitchen than I would’ve hoped and a lot more time button smashing my way through the different enemies.
Fun and frustration
While you battle your way through levels, you rely on the ingredients you’ve collected or meals you’ve cooked up to keep you going. For this, there’s a fun mechanic of Ito’s lunchbox which you fill up for easy access to your snacks. Though in combat, there’s definitely an art to getting the right snack lined up while also trying to control yourself and your companion whilst hoping for a moment of reprieve to gobble up the goods.
There are a lot of enemies to fight, and there are also a lot of bosses. Here’s where your cooking is important. If you’ve not cooked up enough meals, you’re probably not going to have a good time. I scrapped by on eating scraps for the most part until it became more of a thing. And while I’d initially been unshakably annoyed that when I died in a boss fight the game took me back so far that I had to traverse areas I’d already been through, as well as watch cutscenes and skip through painstaking narratives again. Then, I realized its purpose, an opportunity to go and cook and come back before I tried again. If I could be bothered, that is, which I could not. Instead, I persevered to make a point, but it wasn’t without its frustrations.
Another frustrating part of Town of Zoz is that you can’t save it yourself. There’s only auto-save, symbolised by a rotating symbol in the bottom right corner, which I found hard to spot. There were times where I didn’t know when it was last saved, only to quit and find it hadn’t been saved for quite a while. For boss fights and long adventures into the wilds, it made me clench my jaw.
If you’re willing to persevere through these moments, like any good boss battle, you’ll feel a real sense of accomplishment once you’re through. But always make sure you complete a few more steps before quitting, unless you want to end up like me.
A lot on its plate
Frustrations aside, there are so many fun elements to Town of Zoz that I haven’t even mentioned yet, like trading. It’s a pretty big deal in Zoz, allowing you to trade your ingredients for others that you need or some extra Sols, the game’s currency, if you’re running short. With the market sellers and Bozoga at his bodega, you can barter, though it turns out only to the exact amount. It’s not like a marketplace where you can try and cut yourself a deal, no cheeky haggles in sight, or at least I wasn’t so lucky.
There’s also a town-wide interest in Boonbola, a sort of rock football smashing game where you fight off players while trying to score. It loops into the narrative to add in a little extra flavour alongside your time in the kitchen, though Boonbola definitely felt like more of a mini-game. Ito also operates under a curfew. You’re a kid after all. Though, like any kid, if your parents are away, the rules become a little grey.
If you fancy dressing up, Ito also has access to buying costumes and pins, though I found my Sols currency was much better used up in Bozoga’s bodega or out in the market bartering for ingredients. Oh, and a heads up, it’s always worth checking the stinky bins dotted around for extra goodies. But you can also farm your ingredients in a lovely reprieve from the battles and brawls, which my sim-loving self took a liking to.
Town of Zoz has a lovely, if a little complicated, story behind it. You’re getting to the bottom of a mystery and there’s a lot to take on board whilst crashing between the bodega and the battlefield. Much like Town of Zoz’s mixed inspiration of both manga and Latin America trying to coexist in one place, it feels a little jarring. Similarly echoed in the mix of a cooking mechanic with hack-and-slash adventure. I’m a huge fan of how brave and bold it is though. Studio Pixanoh invites you to fight with flavour and that’s mostly what they deliver.
