Born of Bread: Crispy (PC, PS5, Switch)

Founded in 2016, the Wild Arts Studios team is made up of French Canadians. The studio’s goal is very simple, it dreams of creating wonderful worlds, fun gameplay, but also amazing characters, all through the world of video games. If Born of Bread was their second game, a love letter to the RPG genre, and logically inspired by the very popular Paper Mario series, but also by Undertale, in 2016, when there were only two of them, they made Helltown, a horror game in which the game was released The following year.

Of course, today we’re talking to you about their second show: The Adventure of Tepin, a creature just born from the oven. An adventure that benefits from likable and expressive characters, plenty of humor, and puns, but it also benefits from a well-constructed world with a more developed background than it initially suggests.

We have some work to do

Young Tipin was barely born. In fact, thanks to a recipe from a mysterious book, Papa Dufourno, a royal court cook, unwittingly gave birth to these ingredients prepared from flour, water, yeast and salt.

At the same time, four scientists accidentally awaken the forces of evil, in such a way that the teenagers – led by Freebone – fall into a long sleep. The latter search for the shards of the Solar Stone, in order to bring back their master, thus abusing the world.

Quickly, Tepin, Baba Dovorno, and the infidels meet and the battle begins. Later, after a few adventures and a nice confrontation (with Lindt the Raccoon), the Queen shuts down and accuses Papa Dovorno of “treason/witchcraft.” As “the son” (and partly because it’s our duty) Tepin must re-establish the truth, but also prevent the rogue gang from doing any harm.

Old fashioned bread

As we noted, Born of Bread draws its inspiration from programs like Undertale, but the programs that most quickly come to mind are the Paper Mario compositions, with their own charm that mixes 2D/3D (Method 2, 5D), without forgetting the dynamic combat-based The role.

So we are faced with an adventure game, which is a role-playing game divided into two large and distinct phases: exploration on the one hand with side quests, research, etc., and on the other hand confrontations, all without forgetting the details of the setting leading to (j) role-playing games (the skills necessary for customization , etc.) among other things.

In terms of the exploration axis, Tepin and his allies wander through several environments/biomes (forests, cities, etc.) that are interconnected with each other, the latter consisting of several sections (or regions) that are also interconnected. With this widespread system, you can also progress quietly, discovering some fun puzzles that are easy to access and solve, searching for “Salamanders” (a duo linked to a specific character that allows you to unlock the necessary abilities for encounters), hitting with a scoop on decorative items, and especially to collect “ currency” or even finding secrets,…

But obviously that’s not all, because in addition to the available shops, many side quests, enemies visible on the ground are also included, or even blocked parts that require a new capacity; Without mentioning all the functions, Tipain can perform jumps, which are used in the level design taking advantage of the verticality and thus the platforming stages.

However, the perspective generated by the camera location will deceive you and will fall out a few times (some errors), so you have to try it a few times to get the right angle. Obviously, as is often the case, you’ll get used to it in the long run, but perhaps less so because the camera’s field of view hides all the objects in the foreground; With the game’s 2.5D sections being of a certain depth, it’s unfortunately not uncommon for you to fall into water or into a hole, causing some damage in the process.

With a stick

To be able to restore yourself, one solution is obviously to use consumables, either during encounters – but losing a turn in return – or directly via the linked menu in the consumables management section. On the other hand, we’d rather warn you that, at first, Tepin only has five slots in his bag, and when you find something on the ground while you’re walking around, it’s moved inside logically.

But once you reach the maximum number of transferable items, you must then discard one to get the next, and have no direct use for the last consumable collected, or even a “quick exchange.” Unless a future patch is planned, for now, going through the menu every time and regularly to throw and store and throw and store lacks a bit of “practicality”, even if the maximum number of transportable objects can be increased through combat (via Level Up and many “buffers”).

In addition, like the classic RPG, we have several types of offensive and defensive aids. It’s not about equipment in the strict sense – although there is a leveling up and stats function – but about skills, weapons as well as blessings. Regarding the latter, as with temporary colleges, equipping them – in limited numbers – allows you to attach certain bonuses (two additional deputies, etc.) from about fifty choices.

As for the skills/abilities that will be unlocked in combat, they are not obtained as usual in the RPG genre, well yes, you need a certain amount of skill points to obtain them, except here these points are obtained by searching for and bringing objects.” Salamander” for a custom character. You then unlock techniques in the order you choose, either to get more possibilities right away, or to change locations that have already been obtained. In other words, technologies that exist next to other technologies (on the same line) must be “rigged” to be usable, and cannot be combined, thus providing a welcome touch of thoughtfulness; Just like the Tepin Arms location. The latter would have to be neatly “arranged” in a Tetris style “board”, or even in the optics of manipulating what can be done with guns (main weapons) in a very good game of Resonance of Fate.

Beat the loaves

Once this preparation is completed, and the fight against the opponent takes place or not, the transition occurs to make room for the battles. Concretely, many things will remind you of the Paper Mario sections – from which the program was inspired as a reminder – and the Mario & Luigi RPG adaptations. However, if most people will appreciate the fact that it doesn’t get lost in terms of details, others will probably find it very close to its model.

During their turn, in teams of two, our heroes can flee, attack (and use techniques for CP), defend themselves, and use items (grasp consumables) and specials (abilities that require PR); Knowing that all actions, with the exception of consumables (i.e. items) are performed dynamically, meaning that, like the games mentioned above, it is necessary to perform different commands to enhance the effects: well-timed presses, key knocks, etc…. It may be The concept has already been seen but it still works as well.

In addition, not to mention everything, we find a system of weaknesses linked to the effects of elements (flame, ice, etc.) and types of weapons (edged, piercing, sharp), but also derived from the “spectators” that give bonuses/penalties seen in Paper Mario e.g. Example. Here, they are replaced by “Live Broadcast”, understand that the more “Viewers” ​​you have, and the more you respect their requests (as in Atelier Ryza for example), the more rewards you can get.

Beautiful as good bread

For its visual presentation, Born of Bread uses a combination of 2D for the characters and 2.5D for the settings. As in the Paper Mario opus, the 2D characters are made of very thin and colorful paper, but they are also very expressive in terms of facial expressions, which partially compensates for the complete absence of dubbing.

The 2.5D side turns out to be more “classic” with familiar themed settings (forest, snow, etc.) being discovered but still very well designed and also colorful and pleasing to the retina with nice details and many animations. Incidentally, the title lists – which act as a “record book” – also remain consistent with the whole, at the same time accessible, full of color, and illustrated with some children’s drawings that represent Tippin’s very young mind.

Finally, since dubbing is not included, the script elements are written in French. The compositions, numbering about fifty, were created by Robert Kilpatrick. These vocal themes accompany Tipain’s adventures really well.

Tested on PS5