Besides, the gameplay itself is so generic that the monetization and cosmetics are truly the parts that stand out the most about the game. I realize that was quite the long tirade against this poor game, but when the monetization is that egregious – and clearly a main focus of development – I just can’t avoid discussing it. So what makes this BR special? I’m not entirely sure Clicking on one takes you to the page to buy the bundle, which includes the items. Admittedly they are under the “Unlock or purchase” header, but when I saw it, I initially thought they actually had a few neat choices for free. The issue is with the weapons that don’t have a value on them. Here you set some default starting gear, it seems. One of the worst schemes is that of the fancy weapons in the Battle Equipment sections. There is also an item store for buying theme packs, mostly designed to add a new costume and weapon for one of the heroes, although it does also include the tried and true lockbox. The sad thing is a lot of them are really well made. And not just a few options for underwear – a hellacious number of styles! Someone really likes undies over there. You’ve got weapon cosmetics, graffiti, expressions, and yes, even underwear. In addition to the battle pass, we also have direct cosmetics for purchase. The only system I don’t see represented here is NFTs, although I probably shouldn’t say that too loudly, judging by what’s at play here, because I wouldn’t put it past this game to add them in as well.
Here, though, it is absolutely chock-full to the point it’s leaking out the seams. The level of monetization CRSED has is not just bad it borders on offensive, even to me, someone who regularly plays F2P games and doesn’t get turned off too much by the overt schemes. So even if you played enough to fully complete the Battle Pass for one season, that still wouldn’t be enough to permanently unlock a single hero.
For the free tier, the entire season pass rewards only six gems. The problem that I can see is that you gain gems from the Battle Pass.
To be fair, they are also unlockable through play however, it looks like it will take quite a bit of play to unlock, as they cost a chunk of game currency plus eight magic gems. Alternatively, you can buy any of the heroes straight up too. So this week you might have Cowboy Bebop and Faye Valentine, while next week it could be Edward Cullen and the Techno Viking. It seems that every week the freely available heroes rotate out.
By that I mean you are shown the 10 heroes available, but you are allowed to pick between only two of them.
Right off the bat, the game starts up and shows you just how little of the game is available for F2P gamers. Battle passes, character unlocks, and currencies Still, if you were a fan of the original game sit down, grab a bowl, and perhaps you’ll be able to find some semblance of what you once enjoyed in here. The issue for me is that the change overall removed any real personality the original game had. With the rebranding came a striping of much of the kitchen theme and a focus on a darker, more mystical vibe, and yes, the developers do call this an MMO, though it’s not an MMORPG.
However, in December 2020, after a couple of years of availability, the developers at Darkflow Studio decided to get a bit more serious and rebranded the game as Cuisine Royal Second Edition: Fulfillment of All Desires, or CRSED: F.O.A.D. The game was actually an April Fools’ joke called Cuisine Royale, and in fact, the executable and many of the internal files still use this name. Apparently the game was originally thought up as a sort of way of mocking games like PUBG by creating a BR where players utilized largely kitchen utensils – think of PUBG’s infamous frying pan and related litigation – in a silly way. What I got instead was a way to kill my expectations of having fun those evenings.īefore we get into that, though, let’s talk about the name and history of CRSED briefly. (henceforth referred to as simply CRSED because that’s just too many capitals and acronyms for one game) and thought that it looked like it could be a cool, fun way to kill a handful of evenings. In my ever-widening search for a game that sticks with me for longer than a few weeks I have stumbled across a battle royale I hadn’t played before: I found the free-to-play title CRSED: F.O.A.D.