Cuphead’s mix of iconic animation and tough-as-nails gameplay made it an on the spot traditional when it was launched again in 2017. So it was a welcome shock when developer and writer Studio MDHR introduced it might be supported with DLC.
With The Scrumptious Final Course, Studio MDHR is seeking to develop the bottom sport’s breadth by including a completely new quest full of charming NPCs, worthwhile trinkets, hidden secrets and techniques, and epic boss encounters.
Twinfinite was invited to attend a digital preview occasion hosted by Studio MDHR to get a glimpse of what awaits gamers in The Scrumptious Final Course, which launches on PC, PS4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Swap on the finish of the month on June 30.
Cuphead: The Scrumptious Final Course sees titular hero Cuphead and his brother, Mugman, exploring the mysterious island of Inkwell. The narrative push right here is that Ms. Chalice (often known as Legendary Chalice within the base sport) has found a approach to return to her bodily kind (she is a ghost). This endeavor would require gathering legendary substances, every of which is guarded by a formidable boss, and baking the magical Wondertart, with the help of new NPC Chef Saltbaker.
And so the journey begins. You may entry the Scrumptious Final Course (or DLC, get it? I didn’t, for a frankly embarrassing period of time) early within the base sport; you simply must have crushed a mausoleum degree. After doing so, the ferryman can now take you to the brand new Inkwell Isle, an space bigger than any within the base sport, filled with secrets and techniques and new challenges to beat.
The star of the present right here is Ms. Chalice, who has a distinct move-set to Cuphead and Mugman, and skills which can be all her personal. She will be able to double leap, for one factor, and her projectiles take a separate kind for one more. Her design is, in fact, effortlessly charming and as soon as unlocked, you may play as Ms. Chalice all through all the base sport. These modifications add some further incentive for gamers seeking to expertise Cuphead once more.
Cuphead has at all times put a heavy give attention to its boss battles, and within the DLC, the builders have ratcheted issues up a notch. Throughout the preview occasion, they said that every new boss is designed to really feel like the ultimate boss of the bottom sport, so anybody searching for a problem is certain to search out it right here.
Boss arenas will now rework accordingly all through the completely different phases of every encounter, rising the complexity of every combat drastically.
Throughout the preview, an early boss encounter in a coliseum in opposition to Mortimer Freeze was proven. Freeze begins the combat within the type of a flying ice wizard, showering the sector in projectiles. Within the subsequent section, he cloaks himself within the falling snow to turn into a monstrous beast able to large slam assaults, or rolling immediately on the participant.
This beast can, on a dime, rework into a mixture fridge/freezer, able to launching large ice cubes at devious angles. The battle then takes to the skies, the place Freeze takes on the type of a big snowflake, blasting the platforms on which you will need to stand with an icy breath assault.
It’s wild stuff, and it ought to nearly go along with saying, but it surely all seems completely unbelievable. The Golden Age artwork type, impressed by cartoons from the Thirties and ’40s, is so eye-catching that my largest problem when enjoying Cuphead is that I’m so mesmerized by the animations on show that I might often overlook to dodge. That’s on me, in fact, however Cuphead in motion is a sight to behold.
The brand new music, impressed by the identical period, can also be stellar. Greater than 110 musicians labored on it, which was a nightmare for the group to handle, as growth happened in the course of the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic.
One thing that will disappoint gamers is that the builders confirmed that there are not any sidescrolling or platforming levels within the DLC, with the gameplay focus being directed as a substitute to Ms. Chalice herself and to the extra climactic boss encounters.
I requested how lengthy a median playthrough would take, which is a tough query for builders to reply (contemplating variables like participant talent ranges and completion share) however was instructed that skilled gamers may count on 3 to 4 hours price of content material within the DLC.
That, frankly, strikes me as overwhelmingly beneficiant, contemplating that The Scrumptious Final Course is priced at simply $7.99. Contemplating the quantity of labor that went into the artwork alone, that worth level appears extremely cheap.
Cuphead: The Scrumptious Final Course is shaping as much as be an distinctive enlargement to one of the crucial distinctive platformers of the fashionable period. Its excessive degree of problem could also be offputting for newcomers, however for veterans of the unique launch, it is a must-have piece of DLC.
Picture supply: Studio MDHR