Review of Cuphead: The Delectable Final Course - à bientôt
Our Verdict
A brilliant addition to the base game that condenses the highlights of the original into a handful of fantastic boss fights, The Delicious Last Course is a constant delight from start to finish. About 4-5 hours of great new bosses, new ways to play, and a new character to get to grips with, Cuphead fans will be delighted to return to this world with so many new foes and new tools to kill them with.
The cultural influence that Cuphead has had since its first release is difficult to dispute. Apart from the captivating Fleischer-styled animation, it has outstanding character design, boss battles that are sophisticated yet deviously challenging, and a grandiose soundtrack that solidify its position in the gaming pantheon. For a game that is just five years old, Cuphead has achieved quite an accomplishment—it even has an animated series on Netflix.
After its first release in 2018, we are now playing Cuphead: The Delicious Last Course DLC. Sadly, the pandemic caused problems for many games' development, not to mention Cuphead's laborious hand-animation, which requires that every single frame be drawn, animated, and coded into the game. It's an incredible accomplishment, but it pays off.
In case you were unaware, The Delicious Last Course has a new island to explore and around six new bosses, but the most significant addition is the addition of Ms. Chalice as a playable character. Even seasoned Cupheads may learn something new from this most recent DLC, as she offers a wonderful bit of variation and changes up the formula, even if she isn't playable in the manner you would anticipate.
It's easy to start playing the new DLC, and finishing the Cuphead core game is also not a concern. When the DLC is unlocked, a boat appears, ready to take you to the new island. There, you meet the Saltbaker, who is tasked with obtaining supplies from the local bosses in order to create a unique cookie. In addition, one of these cookies is necessary for Chalice Girl to be playable. Rather than letting you select to play as her, Cuphead or Mugman must equip the cookie in order to begin a level as Ms. Chalice, thereby using an item slot.
The drawback is that Ms. Chalice's moveset is much different, including a double leap, a dash that doubles as a parry, and a dodge roll with a brief window of invincibility. That may seem like it would make things simpler, but there are new adversaries that are specifically made with these traits in mind. One such example is a new set of levels that are exclusive to Ms. Chalice. These are a sequence of severe bouts that you can only win by using very accurate parrying. I promise that you need Ms. Chalice's dash-parry and leaping skills in this situation.
But now for the big show, where the new rulers really shine. The majority of them include a lot more vertical platforming, so the double jump comes in extremely helpful. It seems that the goal is to concentrate on platforming and make use of Ms. Chalice's talents. There are no run-and-gun levels in this game, and there is only one shmup level in which players pilot a biplane. The developers, in my opinion, have identified the most successful aspects of Cuphead, and they have leveraged those elements to create a condensed and targeted DLC that captures the essence of the original game.
Although one of the first bosses to appear is Glumstone the Giant, the new quirks introduced to the various stages are just as shocking and amusing as before. I find this one really hilarious, and the third face is so goofy that it's quite something to watch on your TV screen. The ice-themed boss, Mortimer Freeze, is another standout. He's a really tough battle with a ton of missiles and a massive snow monster that takes up half of the screen. The double leap and dash-parry are really necessary to destroy the main monster and get past the strange pink flying adversary that you can parry, which makes this battle seem the most suited for Ms. Chalice.In other words,Don't let your guard down since there are some amazing hijinks in the latter rounds of the bouts (as you may have seen from Twitter). Every fight has something unique and fascinating to give, but my favorite is the penultimate one because of its incredible character animation and excellent pace. Although I'm sure the crew is tired of hand-animating content for years on end, Studio MDHR is at the top of its game, and I really hope that Cuphead 2 is released right away after this DLC.
This is also a rather well-paced DLC for the price. Although it took me a little longer, true Cuphead gurus may finish their first session in as little as three to four hours. However, if you learn the trick, like you did with prior foes, you might finish in less than an hour. But the pleasure is right there! the need to learn the beat, the pattern, the several stages, and to gradually commit everything to memory so that you don't even take damage until the boss's second or third phase. I get everything I wanted from this new group of employers, but they also keep me on my toes.
A few lovely small extras are also scattered throughout. There are a few new weapons available that will give your standard assaults more variation and allow you to interact with Ms. Chalice and the previous characters, Cuphead and Mugman, in more ways. There are a few more objects that are yet undiscovered, however utilizing Ms. Chalice comes at a price. To be honest, there are a few encounters when switching between the playable characters seems advantageous, particularly when using an item that periodically restores life if you can successfully parry.
Although the most of these employers seem to be set up to work nicely with Ms. Chalice, your attitude will determine how things turn out, and both of the mug guys are still very much in play. Experimentation is abundant with the new weapons, items, and Ms Chalice. Even more enigmatic things in the store might hold the key to solving some of the mysteries surrounding the recently released DLC island. Thus, be sure to explore all of the businesses and all of the small nooks.
Cuphead: The Delectable Final Course is an improvement on the previous cup, which does almost everything perfectly. Though it's difficult to find fault with the Delectable Last Course DLC, in the end, I wish there had been a little bit more. It's been four years, and I am well aware that both the difficult process of animating everything and the pandemic caused delays. But it will blow your mind if you look at this as a nice little bonus. You're absolutely not being taken advantage of for the price. It incorporates all of Cuphead's greatest elements, adds some interesting new twists, and even allows you play in some entertaining new ways. It's not as big as Cuphead 2 or the DLC expansion.