Game Review: ‘Dosa Divas’ Delivers Delicious Dishes But Misses the Mark
Before playing Dosa Divas, I had not yet heard of developer Outerloop Games. This makes me a bit sad because, after experiencing what they’re capable of, I feel like I’ve missed out on so much regarding their previous titles. The style and design of Dosa Divas, and even by looking at their older titles, is a sight to behold.
While I enjoyed many aspects of this newest game by these talented developers, there are some shortcomings. I’m not saying that this is a bad game, but there are a few things that are going to hold me back from recommending it, especially to more seasoned players. If you’re looking for something that is mostly stress-free with a ton of accessibility options, all while having fantastic voice acting and a decently written story, then this game might be for you.
As the title of my review says, there are some things I feel missed the mark. Co-published by Outersloth, this title offers some unique gameplay mechanics between combat and non-combat sections. I think the game is OK, but the flaws shouldn’t be ignored. The developers rightfully call this a narrative RPG, focusing more on story than gameplay, and I believe there is a pretty decent game here.
Dosa Divas is available to play on Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch 2, Playstation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC via Steam.
The narrative and storytelling shortcomings of Dosa Divas
In Dosa Divas, you follow the adventure of the three primary characters, featuring sisters Samara and Amani, with their spirit-mech (Diva) named Goddess. Throughout the game, you come to understand their relationships with lost friends, estranged family members, and themselves.
It has been a decade since the oldest of three sisters, Amani, has been away. Now, Samara and Amani must travel to different villages to reconnect with their youngest sister Lina, who now owns a corporate processed food distributor. It is through this journey of reconciliation that you find out about everyone’s past, present, and where things will go in the future.
It is during this adventure that you’ll discover motivations for your party, the fractured relationships of estranged friends, and what actions will need to be taken to heal the bonds of a family lost. It is through this narrative that the game shines most. The writing and dialogue had the greatest emotional impact on me during my time with the game, even if I felt like the conclusion for all the main characters felt a little forced and rushed.
There are genuine character moments that felt deserved. For example, Samara has the realization that she treated others poorly and wants to make amends. Flashbacks explain how she would unfairly lash out at those that once meant the most to her, and these actions lead to justifiable reactions by those who are now jaded.
The same thing happens with Amani and the main protagonists of Lina and her Diva, named Rasa. Amani feels bad for abandoning her loved ones to take time for herself. Amani travels along with Samara and Goddess in an attempt to gain closure before it’s too late. Lina despises her sisters for treating her with impatience and disrespect. Her motivations for doing so-called “evil actions” make sense in light of facts shown during the flashback sequences.
The story, however, comes to a conclusion that feels rushed. I feel that the story and dialogue could have used another chapter to better handle the reflections of both the protagonists and antagonists. Of course, your mileage will vary, but I just felt some emotional whiplash trying to connect with the final parts of this game.
Gameplay: cooking and combat
The basics of how Dosa Divas plays are that you’ll have several villages you’ll need to travel to while in the open world. You can only do one village at a time and cannot revisit immediately until after certain story beats have been completed.
There are two gameplay features that’ll take up the majority of your time playing: cooking and combat. The biggest standout concerning gameplay is fulfilling random NPCs’ hunger by cooking dosa. Dosa is basically a savory crepe, which is a food that originated in South India. Making dosa in-game made me crave this delectable-looking food. Seriously, you should look it up!
As you gather ingredients and cook up dosa to complete little quests, you’ll be treated to a minigame, and depending on how you perform during this minigame, it will determine the quality and quantity. Dosa can also be used to heal your characters and remove status effects during combat. After preparing a dosa, you’ll be treated to brief but emotional story moments between Samara and Amani.
While the game itself has a slow ramp-up to actually get to the action, the part I had the most fun with here was with the turn-based RPG battle system. In similar fashion to other turned-based RPGs, you’ll have your party members facing off against enemies, each taking a turn to deal damage, all while trying to mitigate any damage coming your way.
During battle, you’ll be able to time attacks to do more damage and time defenses that can reduce or outright prevent all incoming damage. I also thoroughly enjoy how enemies will have up to three different weaknesses depending on the type of move you choose to do. Your party will be able to execute special moves, some defensive and some offensive. Plus, there are ultimate moves that can be done if the right conditions are met.
Outside of cooking and combat, you’ll be able to destroy LinaMeals posters and billboards, each increasing your reputation per village. The reputation meter at the top will slowly fill up based on how many enemies you’ve defeated, fed NPCs, and removed LinaMeals advertisements. Each time you fill up the bar, you will be rewarded with scrap, legendary scrap for upgrades, and skins to customize your Diva.
With everything combined, Dosa Divas offers various ways to play the game, and I honestly couldn’t be more satisfied with it. I just wish that the storytelling was more on par with the actual gameplay. If you’re struggling with parts of the game, there are accessibility options to make things easier.
Final thoughts on Dosa Divas
The game has a lot going for it, especially with the phenomenal voice acting, soundtrack by Ramsey Kharroubi, fun combat, and a mostly fine narrative. I just wish the game felt more balanced between the story and gameplay. It felt to me that the writing team spent more on building up the conflict and less on the resolution, especially with how a pretty serious story beat towards the later portion of the game gets handled. It felt like it just came out of nowhere.
This may sound harsh, but for the most part, I did enjoy the writing. The real sisterly bonds that Amani, Samara, and Lina have feel raw and real, and those moments are a positive standout for me. I understand the appeal of a narrative RPG, as I’ve played many that I enjoyed and loved, but with how rushed everything gets wrapped up at the end, it left me feeling disappointed.
My rating for this game: 3/5
It’s difficult for me to recommend a game as middling as Dosa Divas. I know that players will and do like it, and I do not regret my time with it. Unfortunately, I feel like the team at Outerloop could have done better, even though there is mostly a good game here. Its incredibly unique art style is what initially sold me on it, and if the story was a bit more fleshed out, I would be raving about this title and giving it a better score.
That being said, if you are interested in an incredible world filled with fun cooking minigames, great voice acting, and engaging combat, definitely grab Dosa Divas. Although I was disappointed with a portion of this game, I’m still going to keep my eyes out for whatever else Outerloop Games does next.
Also check out: Game Review: Mina The Hollower Burrows Into Greatness
