The Delicious Last Course is a concentrated dose of new Cuphead content, adding more ruthless boss fights along with a new playable character and new items. If the game never broke your spirit then there's no reason to miss out on this meal.
The Delicious Last Course is, simply put, more Cuphead. Players should be able to judge their desires based on that statement alone.
Plenty of games possess infuriatingly challenging boss battles, ones that border on sadistic with their flurry of projectiles and screen-sweeping attacks. But I personally feel that the boss battle has fluctuated in quality and consideration over the years. In the 8-bit days, a boss was often the perfect dessert after appetizing levels and hearty platforming. As storytelling and technology began to mature, big baddies started losing their opulence, especially in the 3D space. Action games like God of War and Devil May Cry bared their fangs with tense and dramatic setpieces. Resident Evils injected their monstrosities with gruesome personality. Zelda and Mario integrated puzzles and thoughtfulness into dungeon encounters.
But it’s hard to beat a 2D boss fight. There is something so base, so raw about their execution when done right. It goes back to a primal time where players had fewer tools and fewer buttons to gain an advantage.
I am a newcomer to Cuphead despite always being entranced by the game since it was first shown off. In the time since it was released, Cuphead has remained a singularly unique game. There’s absolutely nothing like it to be honest.
Studio MDHR singularly created a title with some of the most entrancing, complex battles in the past decade. The use of the 1930s cartoon palette is unmatched and anyone who attempts to replicate it at any level will appear as copycats. The astoundingly intricate animation work transitioning into programmed attacks that gnaw at players’ reflexes aren’t entirely without compare but in this space, it’s true magic.
What can be said about Cuphead that hasn’t already been said before? How does a studio unload a freshly baked batch of fights without losing the charm, edge, and talent? The Delicious Last Course answers that question, providing a new taste of Cuphead that can also flavor what has already been sampled.
The Delicious Last Course serves as an appropriate DLC for Cuphead in part because it adds more content, content that can be used in the base game as well. Offering up seven new boss fights, a series of chess-themed challenges, three new weapons, three new charms, and a new playable character, The Delicious Last Course is a healthy dose at a reasonable price.
Ms. Chalice is granted the ability to gain a corporeal form and fight alongside Cuphead and Mugman. Ms. Chalice isn’t just a cosmetic addition, however. Her new abilities include an invincible dodge roll, a dash parry, a double jump, and an extra health point. On paper, it sounds as if Ms. Chalice can act as a kind of “easy” selection for players but it’s important to keep in mind the limits of her powers. Her single jump is significantly shorter than Cuphead and Mugman’s, meaning that some obstacles require both jumps to get over. What the double jump amounts to is actual increased air control. During the Glumstone the Giant boss fight, this meant I could jump up once to avoid tiny, spiked hat gnomes that jutted up from the ground but could jump again to mid-air correct and avoid any projectiles that were above me. Think of Chalice’s second jump as a back-up in case things go wrong.
The dash parry replaces the mid-air parry, meaning that players have to close the distance between the bright pink obstacle they wish to connect with. The invincible roll gives players limited frames to take no damage but takes a bit of time to master. In learning Ms. Chalice’s move set, players may begin to recognize that her addition to the game isn’t necessarily easier, just significantly difference. Honestly, there’s a decent amount of risk involved because players have to actually be closer to the enemy to take full advantage of the new moves.
In preparing for The Delicious Last Course, I worked through a bit of Cuphead and definitely hit the struggle bus fairly early on because I was taking time off playing Horizon: Forbidden West and was not acclimated to such an intense pace. It took a significant amount of time to figure out how to execute Cuphead’s jump-parry and I found Ms. Chalice’s to be more readable in terms of velocity and when I would hit said object. To access the new content, players must have beaten at least one Mausoleum in the base game.
As interesting as Ms. Chalice is for The Delicious Last Course, her viability across the base game is readily apparent. It isn’t that her addition makes levels drastically easier, it’s that her implementation offers a wholly different way to approach challenges that many players have already baked into their brain. There are new ways to approach parry opportunities throughout levels and her double jump may rewrite previously optimal speedrunning tactics. But yes, her additional hit point does help a lot. While Ms. Chalice does take up a charm slot, I think many players will find a great deal of satisfaction hot-swapping between two different characters at once when the situation allows.
That same variety applies to the new weapons and charms. One charm restores a hit point on the first, third, and sixth parry. My favorite weapon, the Crackshot, moves forward before breaking off and seeking out a target albeit for less damage. The Converge is a piercing, three-way spread shot while the Twist-Up shoots projectiles that arc up.
One significant joy of The Delicious Last Course is a series of battles that strip players of weapons, requiring intelligent use of the parry mechanic to best. In these fights, players will need to jump and dodge danger until the weak point is opened up. This section feels wholly unique to the Cuphead experience because it primarily requires players to act on the defense rather than actively lining up shots while dodging fire. In one fight against an armored horse, I had to constantly bait its attacks by moving in close but darting away at the right time to avoid getting swiped by its sword. Expert players will be able to constantly bounce on weak points without having to touch the ground but it took me awhile before I could even muster this consistently.
Cuphead is all about its brilliant boss fights with their bizarre, dazzling animations and scene transitions. The Delicious Last Course does not disappoint. From a dogfight with actual dog pilots, to an group of insect bootleggers, to an evil fridge, this DLC is completely on-brand for what Studio MDHR has presented. In essence, these fights only last for a couple minutes but players’ skills will be put to the test before figuring out the math behind each one.
Of course I felt completely overwhelmed during my first few forays into The Delicious Last Course. I hadn’t tackled the main game and knew that these fights would be pinnacle encounters in the Cuphead gallery of bosses. I was not wrong. But regardless of how I died, I couldn’t help but being dazzled at each segment of the fight, watching the scene break away and change how I had fought the previous few minutes or putting me on my toes with dizzying new attacks.
Cuphead is undoubtedly one of the most richly animated games of the modern era and The Delicious Last Course only amplifies this sentiment. The sheer amount of animation frames in this DLC alone is said to rival that of the base game. While that sounds shocking, play these new fights and you won’t be entirely surprised. If you’ve played Cuphead, none of this praise should come as any surprise and should only be further incentive to hop right back in.
Cuphead: The Delicious Last Course is one of the most expertly crafted pieces of DLC available to players. What is offered here is not only new, nerve-wrecking content but the opportunity to drastically change the base game and how players tackle its intense challenges. Ms. Chalice is a significant addition to the game with her additional abilities and may take the sting out for newcomers. But where The Delicious Last Course truly becomes a feast is in the truly stunning boss encounters that will challenge every available reflex and absolutely dazzle with complex, gorgeous animation. Simply put, this is a treat.
