Cuphead: The Delicious Last Course Review
Cuphead: The Delicious Last Course Review
First, it’s important to get some important information out of the way.
You do need to own Cuphead to play The Delicious Last Course, which is only around 8-10 dollars depending on your region and it will take you about five hours or so to complete the expansion. You can boot up a old save, which I did and it will put you back at the last spot you played the game. For me that was at the casino in 2017. From there head out to the docks on isle 3 and hitch a ride with the boatman and you’ll be playing some new Cuphead.
Having finished Cuphead back in 2017, there was definitely some rust to shake off and controls to put back into muscle memory when booting up The Delicious Last Course. However, it doesn’t take long for everything to coming rushing back as Cuphead controls precisely and restarting levels are almost instant.
Even though The Delicious Last Course is just more Cuphead, I am still constantly amazed by the visuals, the imaginative levels and how you never know what the next phase will be.
The big change for The Delicious Last Course is a new playable character called Ms. Chalice, who starts with an extra HP, a double jump and an invincibility roll. Playing as Ms. Chalice isn’t easy mode though because using her requires you to use a charm that allows her to swap places with you, which could normally be used for something that suits your play style. Playing as Chalice isn’t all benefits as she doesn’t jump as high as Cuphead, meaning her double jump is more for control and less for height. She has to dash to parry, whereas Cuphead uses the jump button.
Ultimately, it comes down to preference but its nice to have the options. There were some levels that I preferred using her for her double jump abilities and there were some levels that I preferred some of Cupheads charms.
The Delicious Last Course continues the series tradition of being extremely hard on regular mode, but there is something about it because the frustration never gets unbearable. Sometimes there are unfair patterns in the enemy but most of the time it comes down to knowing that the mistake was my own.
The Delicious Last course keeps things fresh with innovative ideas that make it feel more like a new game and less like more of the same. It was a blast to experience some of these new mechanics on the tried and tested formula and half the fun is the discovery.
Cuphead: The Delicious Last Course is a masterclass in game expansion and DLC, the only missed opportunity is that it took about five years but with every little thing being drawn by hand, it’s understandable.
If you already own Cuphead, spending what is essentially pocket change nowadays for about 5 hours for more of one of the best games of the past decade, is a simple decision. If you’re new to the party the addition of Ms. Chalice makes the game more accessible without breaking the fundamentals of the game.
There are few games that provide the feeling of satisfaction that defeating every single level gives you. Every single boss defeated, was met with a huge fist pump and a vocal celebration. Just like Rogue Legacy 2 earlier in the year, its ok to offer more of the same thing when the formula is excellent. Where Studio MDHR goes from here is anyones guess as the well is bound to run dry eventually, but for now Cuphead remains one of the best experiences of the year.