Born of Bread Review (PC)

Two green dragoon creatures are standing in my way, eager to fight after bursting from a set of barrels that my character destroyed using his all-powerful ladle. He might be made of flour, but he has quite a bit of upper body strength. And Loaf is currently using it to swing a mysterious druid sickle around, dealing around 3 damage to one of our opponents.

To actually deliver the attack, I have to quickly alternately press two keys to reach the green zone before a timer runs out. It’s easy to get the critical strike but not very satisfying. Once Loaf is done attacking, it’s time for Lint to act. Our party reserve of will is low and I decided to defend. The green launch bile attacks from afar. Easily parried, they allow me to get enough will for another sickle attack.

The two groups trade blows for a few other rounds. There’s an audience watching a streaming version of the battle. They are encouraging me to use a delicious item, but I don’t want to waste resources when they might be better used in more difficult fights. I top up my will points and, finally, the two enemies drop dead, dropping some clover and allowing my party to explore these golden wheat fields.

Born of Bread is developed by WildArts Studio Inc and published by Dear Villagers. I played it on the PC using Steam. It is also offered on the Nintendo Switch, the PlayStation 5, and the Xbox Series X and S. The title mixes turn-based action combat, exploration, and light role-playing elements.

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The action takes place in a fantasy world where a cook manages to create life by baking a special recipe. He names the result Loaf and they quickly become involved in palace drama, as a group of time-traveling villains jumps in and tries to find and steal special crystals. Loaf, his baker father, and a cast of companions will explore the fantasy kingdom trying to stop them.

Born of Bread gives players short sequences where they actually control one of the bad guys, delivering extra lore and making them a little sympathetic. The story isn’t too original, but it has decent characters and some jokes that actually made me smile. The writing is modern, with all caps shouting, fourth wall-breaking allusions, and plenty of silliness.

To succeed in his quest, Loaf needs to explore a variety of environments, ranging from forests to fields to sewers to one big castle city. There’s some light platforming, using mushroom jumping platforms and hidden areas (make sure to avoid water at all costs, falling in results in the loss of 1 HP) but the focus is on moving toward an objective while all dealing with enemies. They can be outrun but aren’t shy about chasing Loaf’s group and if they catch up, a battle ensues.

Born of Bread is turn-based but there is no tactical movement during combat (characters will swap positions). Gamers can attack, defend, use an item, use a special ability, or flee if the situation is dire. Each member of the group has a pool of hit points, as well as access to shared WP and RP.

The first is used to power different attack types that deal more damage than the normal one. Once the player chooses one, it’s time for a quick Quick Time Event. Succeed to deliver critical damage, fail badly and the strike will miss. There’s some variety to the QTEs but, given how much combat there is, they become repetitive and annoying relatively easily. An option to disable or at least limit them would have been welcome. Maybe eliminate them for all normal attacks.

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To recover points, players can use certain food from their limited inventory, or they need to execute perfect parries when choosing the Defend option. For longer fights, this means players will alternate between attacking, using the character that has the attack best suited for the situation, while defending with the other to gain WP. Battles are streamed to an audience by companion Dub and there are opportunities to gain bonuses by pleasing them, which adds some variety.

There are bosses in Born of Bread, all with their unique special abilities, that require even lengthier engagements to defeat. Of course, Loaf does get more companions and weapons to play around with, but the WP system remains central to the experience. Of course, all enemies drop experience, used to improve stats. It’s familiar territory with limited depth.

I was disappointed to never quite click with the combat because it limited my enjoyment of the lighthearted narrative. I was actively trying to run away from roaming enemies but there’s rarely enough space to dodge them. The lighthearted narrative and the exploration are interesting, but the game is best enjoyed in short sessions.

Born of Bread adopts a cartoon look that is a decent fit for its universe and combat system. All the characters are basically cutouts while the environments exist in 3D, leading to some nice perspective tricks. During battle, the world shits to a pre-arranged arena. Character and monster designs are pretty basic, and the world often looks like it's made of plastic. It can also sometimes be hard to find info about quests and combat moves.

There’s no voice acting for the many characters, which is a good choice given how much their voice actors would have to scream. The music is jaunty, designed to emphasize the title’s fun romp elements, while the battle sound effects are mediocre.

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The Good

The Bad

Conclusion