Bandai Namco has released ONE PIECE: Grand Gourmet, a restaurant simulator developed by the Japanese studio Kairosoft. In it, the player takes charge of the second location of the floating restaurant "Baratie" alongside the chef Sanji and other heroes of the One Piece manga. The game came out on October 23 for computers, Nintendo Switch consoles, and mobile devices.
Shortly after the release, users on Steam began complaining about the interface and the building mechanics. One player compared the menus and dialogue windows to a "cheap PowerPoint 2010 presentation." In his words, they look out of place against the game's pixel art.
Another player, who has spent nearly 15 hours in Grand Gourmet, listed the inconveniences of the building mode. To select an item, you have to move the entire map until it lands in the center of the screen. Only a few objects can be rotated. If you remove a purchased piece of furniture, it disappears, and the money spent on it is not refunded. Even furniture that has already been unlocked has to be bought again each time it is placed.
The furniture and object placement system is practically broken in every respect.
— MossWoods, Steam user
On the day of release, the developers issued an update that fixed one of the problems: the automatic advancing of dialogue was too fast. It can now be turned off. However, according to players, the inconveniences in building and the design of the menus have remained the same.
The game does have its defenders, though. Fans of Kairosoft note that this kind of interface is the studio's signature style, one that can be gotten used to. Despite the criticism, about 70% of reviews on Steam are positive. Players praise the graphics, the variety of dishes, and the large number of familiar characters, of which there are more than four hundred in the game. After the update, the game's rating changed from "mixed" to "mostly positive."
Ahead of the release, a message from One Piece manga author Eiichiro Oda was also posted on the game's Steam page. In the Russian branch of the store, the game costs 1,429 rubles. There is no official Russian translation.
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