One of the more casual subgenres I’ve always had some love for has been cooking games. Whether they’re the more mini-game-focused types in the vein of the classic Cooking Mama series or the high-pressure Cook, Serve, Delicious series, they can be fun when you’re in the zone. The one black sheep variety I have yet to enjoy have been those that have more of a simulation style. Sadly, Tokyo Cooking has done little to change that.

Typically the issue I have with these simulator-style titles is that they can be quite dull. If I wanted to move around a kitchen and prepare foods in real-time I can go do that. When I’m playing a game I’d rather feel like I’m covering quite a bit more ground and getting something done. Instead, the amount of time burned on simply going between the cutting board, the pantry, the sink, and the spice area gets to be significant, especially when you apparently only have one working hand and can’t carry more than one thing at once.

A bigger issue with this title specifically is that aside from those more common issues, it also fails to execute in additional key areas. Most notably, it does an absolutely terrible job of getting you started and not everything about its desired order and means of food prep are intuitive. This makes for some early struggles as you often feel as if you’re supposed to guess what you’re supposed to do, how, and where. Some simple instructions or visual aids to help you get started could have gone a long way to help. Another issue is how inconsistently its mini games for various food prep steps are implemented. Some require no action at all, some are so basic as to be kind of pointless, and then others are weirdly picky and can have you fail at them. This feels like a case where the developers should have picked a lane and stuck with it, but instead it’s a bit baffling.

Whatever misgivings I may have had with its fellow simulation cooking games on Switch, I can’t say any of them have been quite as all over the place as this one. Sure, it has a great overall look, but the quality of play ends up being all that matters very quickly. Whether the issue is a lack of proper direction, some instances where it feels like you’re unable to complete a task even though you’re pointing to the right spot, or other myriad small annoyances that add up, this just doesn’t feel very satisfying.