Cuphead’s mix of iconic animation and tough-as-nails gameplay made it an prompt 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, useful 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 Change 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 technique to return to her bodily kind (she is a ghost). This endeavor would require gathering legendary elements, every of which is guarded by a formidable boss, and baking the magical Wondertart, with assistance from new NPC Chef Saltbaker.
And so the journey begins. You possibly can 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 overwhelmed a mausoleum stage. 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 talents which are all her personal. She will be able to double leap, for one factor, and her projectiles take a separate kind for an additional. Her design is, in fact, effortlessly charming and as soon as unlocked, you possibly can play as Ms. Chalice all through the entire base sport. These adjustments add some further incentive for gamers seeking to expertise Cuphead yet again.
Cuphead has all the time 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 looking for a problem is certain to seek out it right here.
Boss arenas will now remodel accordingly all through the totally different phases of every encounter, growing the complexity of every combat drastically.
Throughout the preview, an early boss encounter in a coliseum towards Mortimer Freeze was proven. Freeze begins the combat within the type of a flying ice wizard, showering the world in projectiles. Within the subsequent section, he cloaks himself within the falling snow to develop into a monstrous beast able to large slam assaults, or rolling straight on the participant.
This beast can, on a dime, remodel 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 need to stand with an icy breath assault.
It’s wild stuff, and it ought to nearly go together with saying, nevertheless it all seems to be completely unimaginable. The Golden Age artwork model, impressed by cartoons from the Thirties and ’40s, is so eye-catching that my greatest challenge when taking part in Cuphead is that I’m so mesmerized by the animations on show that I might often neglect 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 be stellar. Greater than 110 musicians labored on it, which was a nightmare for the staff to handle, as improvement came about through the top of the COVID-19 pandemic.
One thing that will disappoint gamers is that the builders confirmed that there are not any sidescrolling or platforming phases 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 mean playthrough would take, which is a difficult query for builders to reply (contemplating variables like participant talent ranges and completion share) however was advised that skilled gamers might 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 growth to one of the vital distinctive platformers of the fashionable period. Its excessive stage of problem could also be offputting for newcomers, however for veterans of the unique launch, this can be a must-have piece of DLC.
Picture supply: Studio MDHR
