Cuphead: The Delicious Last Course Review
Despite what the title suggests cuphead
the delicious last course is much more
than just a fancy flan or fruit tart to
top off the gourmet meal that was the
original game this is an expansion that
certainly favors quality over quantity
consisting primarily of only six
mainline boss fights but there's six
incredible boss fights that each stand
tall as some of the most fun challenging
and visually jaw dropping ones yet
sweetening the pot are several new
weapons new charms that each add subtle
new approaches to fighting bosses some
tantalizing secrets with worthwhile
rewards and a brand new character in
miss chalice who comes with several
skills that take some of the edge off of
cuphead's intense difficulty without
outright feeling like an easy mode my
first playthrough was over in just a few
hours but they were hours i would deem
essential for any cuphead fan
[Music]
the delicious last course is all about
making miss chalice a character who
appeared in the main game only as a
super move granting spirit a real living
and breathing cup person to that end
cuphead and his pal mugman head towards
a brand new isle where they're told that
shelf salt baker the greatest chef in
the land is able to create a wonder tart
that can permanently grant miss chalice
a body the catch of course is that they
must collect ingredients by defeating
the powerful foes that are guarding them
the story obviously isn't the reason
anyone's here but it's nonetheless
charmingly told with quick cut scenes
and more of the outstanding art that
fans have come to expect thus the stage
is set for yet another round of the most
spectacular 2d action platformer bosses
i've ever faced the content of the
delicious last course is accessible
nearly right from the start of a new
game just after you clear the first
mausoleum and meet miss chalice for the
first time but if you're new or rusty
you'll definitely want to get your feet
wet with some other foes first as the
six bosses in this dlc do not pull their
punches the very first one has you
contending with projectiles in the air
spikes on the ground that force you to
keep moving shifting platforms that put
you in danger if they raise you up at
the wrong time little gnomes that emerge
from the floor to shoot more projectiles
at you and more gnomes that appear on
the platforms and will hammer you if you
stay on for too long and that's just the
first phase while the mechanical
difficulty of the bosses in the
delicious last course are cranked up
studio mdhr is not without mercy there's
of course an easier difficulty but there
are also a number of new charms and
weapons that help tip the scales back in
your favor including the one that lets
you play as miss chalice herself
when you play as miss chalice you're
unable to equip any other charms but she
comes naturally equipped with a double
jump a dodge that she can use while on
the ground to roll through obstacles a
dashing parry that makes it much easier
to parry objects coming straight at you
and most crucially 4 hp instead of the
standard 3. some may look at that and
think oh so it's essentially an extra
easy mode but that's not quite right
miss chalice also has a much worse
single jump than cuphead so she has to
use her double jump in order to get over
certain obstacles that cuphead would
easily be able to clear her dashberry is
great for objects coming straight
towards her but is harder to use than
the traditional double jump parry in
some situations and as mentioned before
she's unable to equip any of the new
powerful charms that are available like
my new personal favorite the heart ring
which rewards you with hp on your first
third and sixth parries essentially
giving you the ability to double your hp
if you can successfully period boss's
attacks
as for the new weapons my personal
favorite is a homing weapon called the
crack shot which can be fired without
worrying too much about aiming and has a
special ex move that drops a turret
which can be then parried and launched
into an enemy for big damage to get the
coins needed to afford these new weapons
and charms the delicious last course
introduces a replacement for the run gun
levels of the main game in the form of a
series of mini bosses led by the king of
games early on in the dlc you're able to
climb a ladder to reach the king of
games castle which is a totally awesome
hand sculpted stop motion model by the
way and from there you're free to
challenge his champions the catch is
that each of these chess piece themed
mini boss fights aren't one with your
weapons or charms they're won entirely
with your parry technique they're all
clever fights and tackling each of them
is a fun change of pace and a unique
challenge especially when you try the
gauntlet mode and attempt to beat them
all in a single life more than anything
though it's certainly a step up over the
run and gun levels when it comes to
earning the currency needed to purchase
new equipment everything else in the
delicious last course is what you would
expect from cuphead but taken to an even
greater degree studio mdhr's maja
moldenhauer has stated that the
animation frame count in this dlc alone
is comparable to the entire core game
which sounded crazy to even think about
before playing but now that i have it's
not a hard thing to believe
every phase of every boss in the
delicious last course totally transforms
the battle you'll go from fighting an
ice magician to a diabolical
refrigerator to a deranged snowflake all
over the course of one fight with each
phase having anywhere from three to like
seven unique attacks and each attack
being so absurdly packed with detail
that i didn't even notice most of the
smaller bits until i recorded and
watched back my footage that includes
things like the way these gnomes climb
up the side of the mountain and scooch
under the fur the way the background
suddenly changes with every phase of the
fight against sheriff winchester or the
way the aforementioned deranged
snowflake literally rings its own body
to pop out its eye for one of its
attacks the magic of cuphead's boss
design and something that all the bosses
in this dlc exemplify is that while it
throws a ton of stuff at you everything
is generally pretty easy to avoid if you
know it's coming every attack is
exceptionally well telegraphed patterns
are easily recognizable and the visual
language is always simple and clear the
delicious last course skillfully nails
that hard to hit balance of being tough
but fair and saves a truly difficult
stuff for expert mode which provides a
very worthwhile challenge for hardcore
fans once the main campaign is completed
and for those that want even more of a
challenge well there's something for you
too but i wouldn't want to spoil what it
is or how to get it
[Music]
cuphead the delicious last course is the
perfect send-off for a game that
embodies the phrase one of a kind
experienced players will likely muscle
their way through the six bosses and
optional king of games mini bosses in
just a handful of hours but the quality
of those hours far outweighs their
quality all of the bosses including the
king of games mini bosses are among the
best in the whole game and that's saying
a lot when you consider how high the bar
was already set i'm not normally one for
dessert but if you dine on cuphead you
don't want to miss the delicious last
course
for more cuphead delicious last course
make sure to check out the first minutes
of the game and for everything else keep
it here with us.