As part of its fourth anniversary, which is significant but this year not enough for me to merit a post of its own, Pokémon Café Remix had put in another event format. This format might be its most dynamic yet, for it plays off of both rivalry and collaboration. The café has always been and will always be its own entity, but another entity came to challenge that - one known for its dark looks and purple twists, which goes by the name of Team Crunch. This sets up the primary dynamic of the format, which goes by the name of Cooking Festival.
In responding to the challenge, the player along with the team band together to serve up things to please a certain judge. The serving up of those things uses the One-Minute Cooking stage framework that has additional gimmick items - the Café Like item, cleared by just making chains next to them when they appear - to be collected to support the café and earn items. In short, it's a special version of a team event with a predetermined stage framework, different from the usual incarnation of a team event with general play.
By collecting Café Likes, everyone on the team can earn certain rewards, including a new Pokémon staff member and the associated items - Cookies are certain, but other boost items could be possible in later editions - as well as the usual consumable items and whatnot. But like a usual team challenge, everyone has to contribute (optimally) to get all the rewards, and in fact they have to in order to earn the first few items. After that, it may depend on the activeness of the members of the team as a whole.
Going back to the "challenge" aspect, the Café Likes are also translated into points that counter those of Team Crunch, and this plays out in a series of cooking battles that take place in one- or two-day intervals, with the winning side being determined afterwards. Obviously, the café has to win for posterity, and in the first incarnation that ended yesterday, my team won all six battles. It is perhaps for the best that one does not find out what happens if a battle is lost... which means contributing as much as possible anyhow.
The dynamic of Cooking Festival is certainly unique, even if some of its demands are just fulfilled by regular play - and quite a bit of that, at that. Yet, it's also a team event, which means that only so much can happen if the rest of the team aren't up to the task. To keep Team Crunch at bay and still earn lots of nifty rewards may still serve as the primary incentive, and that may be just enough to keep things going, especially on the current and apropos occasion of the game's anniversary where lots of things can and do happen.
One year ago: Is Pokémon Second-Rate?
Two years ago: Quickies: Living Around Magnets
Three years ago: Poké Ball Luggage Tag
Four years ago: YouTube Pokémon Highlights - Mewmore Edition
Five years ago: The Art of Pokémon Adventures - 20th Anniversary Illustrations
Six years ago: Variegated Pokémon Patterns
Seven years ago: I Side with Pokémon
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