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You play the game as a young former Royal Food Advisor who has an unorthodox style and is trying to revive a struggling market under the shade of the World Tree. Starting out you’ll work with a cheery baker by the name of Anise, the first in a line of 6 different spice-themed chefs you’ll work with on your journey. Gameplay is surprisingly basic, almost to the point I’d say it’s limited. For each chef and their respective shop you’ll work to create new and exciting recipes for them to feature. Once you’ve added new foods to their menus you’ll need to regularly go to the market, though that’s actually more of an odd routine where you’ll encounter Punyions who’ll bring them to you, with some bonus goods if you bring them food you like. In order to make progress you’ll need to keep your food selling, which will build currency which you can use to buy balloons to give your shops some stat boosts as well as points which you’ll need to concoct new recipes. As you do all of this periodically you’ll then get an opportunity to chat with each of the chefs and get to know more about them. As you do this you’ll slowly improve your relationship with them and that will slowly give you access to new ingredients and classes of recipes they’ll be able to handle from you. For the most part all of this is nice, mild, and generally relaxing fun but it’s hard not to miss how “on rails” the entire experience feels. In the end there’s little to no real player agency of note, you’re just going to move through the story at a measured pace while upgrading as you go. There’s no doubt you won’t necessarily do things in the same precise order as someone else but your destination very much feels locked on a path. Since it’s all charming, full of quirky dialogue and unusual culinary creations, this complaint may not be a big deal to folks but it’s a fact that’s hard not to notice and at times it then almost feels more like an interactive novel in a way than a proper game. All things considered, if you’re looking for something a bit odd with a relatively simply gameplay loop, strange dishes, and light fun without a great deal of challenge you may find World Tree Marché to be for you. While I suppose most narratively-driven games are essentially following a pre-determined path in this case that fact may just be more apparent than normal. If you enjoy baking, some quirky Japanese humor, and the comfort of repetition you may find it suits your tastes.
Justin Nation, Score:Fair [6.5]