Ravenous Devils is a dark atmospheric cooking sim with a very similar story to cult classic Sweeney Todd.
Ravenous Devils is a simulation game based around two characters who are husband and wife. Percival operating a tailor and Hildred running a pub that sells meat products. The difference between the two businesses and most businesses? Is simply murder. The meat used in the items produced in the pub is that of human meat. This meat is acquired from the tailor killing their customers. They comment at the start of the game that it was used previously by a famous barber… Bad Vices Games have brought us a dark fantasy horror cooking simulator. Ravenous Devils is not for the faint of heart so beware if you decide to join us here at VIBE as we review.
Murder, Meat and Mystery
Hildred and Percival own a tavern and a tailor shop. They are definitely a couple fit for one another. One kills and the other hides the bodies. The story is intriguing, set in a fictional town in Victorian London the couple must cope with all the challenges that being a set of serial killers has. The story tells us that the couple have fled several towns after murdering a good chunk of each towns population. It’s not long before they are in this town that a mysterious man named Mr. J consistently sends them letters, blackmailing them into providing a feast of human flesh for him.
Mr. J asks the couple to kill three specific targets and serve them to him on a specific evening. The story centers around this and there are ten letters in total from Mr. J before he arrives for the final part of the story. Each character Mr. J asks them to kill has an intriguing personality and visits the tailor or tavern before meeting their demise. This made every kill a tad more personal.
Despite some in-depth characterization from the main characters and their victims, there were a few that could have been developed more. An orphan named Peter visits the shop sporadically. Peter reports that his mum is missing and he is left to fend for himself. As a result of this, Hildred begins to show a more nurturing approach to Peter and cares for him when he shows up at the shop. Their story is cut short with the last interaction between them is Hildred reading a story to Peter.
Bloody Gameplay
This game is outrageously gory but this is where it excels. The dark atmosphere that Ravenous Devils provides is enough for players to feel like they are a serial killer duo in Victorian London. Ravenous Devils plays like most cooking simulators where you have to run a restaurant and keep customers happy. However, the big catch is that the meat comes from humans. The game starts off with a tutorial which shows sweet Hildred throwing a grown man’s corpse into a meat grinder to make mince. This is then cooked in an oven and served to customers above in the tavern. Prior to this the equally insane Percival her dearly beloved, is stabbing these bodies to death after inviting them in to get their measurements done. Truly reminiscent of cult classic Sweeney Todd minus the barbery.
Beautiful Barmaid
Hildred’s gameplay presents her as a very charming and beautiful barmaid. Hildred spends her time in the kitchen underneath her tavern stuffing bodies into either a steak slicer, sausage maker or meat grinder. The player must choose what the fate of the body will be. The player starts off with just the meat grinder but can upgrade to any of the others through selling the various recipes. After a couple of levels, tables are introduced and Hildred becomes a waitress who takes orders and then heads to her kitchen to make them. It does become tedious and repetitive but there’s something dark and unique about heading to that kitchen to prepare bodies instead of the stereotypical restaurant sims.
Dutiful Husband
Percival is the dutiful other half of Hildred. Working in the tailor above the tavern, Percival directly kills the bodies to send to Hildred for meat. Percival then strips them off their clothes and patches them up with his sewing machine before reselling them to the public. The gameplay offered by Percival is also much of a repetitive cycle but it forces time management between the tavern and the tailor. The player must keep an eye on both businesses to ensure they are running smoothly.
Gardening & Recipes
Once unlocked Percival also helps Hildred by provided her with home grown resources such as tomatoes and potatoes. Percival does this by sending one of his victims to the bath upstairs to decompose and become fertilizer. This was intriguing as it added new recipes which in turn added extra income to the sales in the tavern.
The recipes are extremely easy to follow. For each different meat there are several add on vegetables. The most intriguing recipe was that of the mouse. Hildred acquires a pet cat who fetches her a mouse which she then cooks and serves. In the recipe book Hildred has given this three stars.
Non Existent difficulty
The game does not present as fairly difficult. The aim is to carry out as many good orders and keep the customers happy. At the end of each day the profits can be used to buy unlockables. These can be used to buy skins for the characters or upgrades such as an extra oven or faster sewing machine action.
In my personal opinion, it felt like there should have been more of a difficulty spike in later levels. There seemed to be little or no challenges. In most cooking simulators like Diner Dash for example, sometimes you would be tearing your hair out trying to get past a level. Ravenous Devils does not pose that challenge. Progression is easy and even completion of the game is acquired with little to no starting over.
VIBES SCORE
7.5/10
THANK YOU
As always thank you for joining us here at VIBE. As we had a look at Ravenous Devils an indie horror cooking simulator. Don’t forget to check out Ravenous Devils on steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1615290/Ravenous_Devils/ Ravenous Devils also available on other platforms such as PS5. If you are still on the fence why not check out the trailer below.
25, Scottish, Gaming, writing and cooking 🧑🍳 🎮
