"Abyss Ring" is an action RPG in which monsters are cooked and eaten, and the tag of reason is removed. I wonder what it tastes like if you pour soy sauce on slime.

 

I've never wanted to "eat" an RPG monster, but I understand the feeling of people who feel the urge to do so.

This desire has been around for a long time in the gaming community, such as Dungeon Master, which was released on PC in 1987. Diving into the dungeon and exploring, you get hungry. Ingredients are limited. So kill the monsters and eat them.

I was in elementary school at the time. "It's okay to do that," I remember being thrilled with a sense of immorality, admiring the way reality was expressed. Looking back on it now, it may have been an excitement. I didn't want that door to open.

What about others? Did you just casually recognize monster meat as a kind of healing item? Didn't you have a desire to eat monsters?

There was. It seems that many people have hidden this desire, and it was manifested by the hit of "Dungeon Rice". The idea of eating monster flesh in order to live was accepted as a fairly common idea. Why, everyone wanted to eat.

Now, back to the game.

At Tokyo Game Dungeon 7 in February 2025.

The action RPG Abyss Ring, which was announced in December 2024, features a system that cooks and eats monsters. When I went to see the exhibit at Tokyo Game Dungeon 7 in February 2025, many gamers lined up after hearing about the topic.

We talk to the developers who are busy handling the queues through the gaps. It wasn't particularly inspired by "Dungeon Food", but it seems that he originally liked the experience of "Dungeon Master" and started making it. As we were developing it, the popularity of "Dungeon Food" grew, and everyone wanted to eat monsters. The times are a tailwind.

At this time, there were a lot of people in line, so I hesitated, but as time went on, I also wanted to eat monsters. At a later date, I asked him to let me play the demo version under development. Thank you.

Abyss Ring is a randomly generated dungeon that takes you through a 100-story underground dungeon. When you explore for a long time, you are worried about hunger. Defeat monsters and procure meat locally, but in order to eat it, you need to add seasonings and cook it according to the recipe.

Maybe it's because of the setting: "If you don't get rid of the bite, you won't be able to eat it." Or maybe for the main character, monster eating is a pastime that eases the pain of exploration. If you have an obsession to "eat everything deliciously," that's interesting. The wings of imagination spread.

It is a form of shuttling between the city and the dungeon, consisting of a menu consisting of shops, storage (warehouse), inventory (bags), and skills.

When I looked into the shops in the city where I was based, I saw that soy sauce was being sold. I want to bring it to the dungeon, but there is a limit to the bag capacity. Do you give up...... No, what if you can't procure locally? Soy sauce is necessary. Japan person's DNA is screaming. I'm screaming to pour soy sauce on the slime.

He was appalled to learn that he couldn't eat slime with soy sauce. The implementation of slime sashimi is awaited.

The game is tied to the gameplay and settings to manage resources, such as bag capacity and the number of consumables.

In addition to various items and equipment, you can also get recipes in the dungeon. Collecting items is one of the pleasures.

There are six types of weapons: one-handed sword, two-handed sword, one-handed spear, halberd, bow, and staff. In addition to attack power, rarity and attributes are also set. Once I found the spear, the battle became much easier.

When you dive into the dungeon and open the door, a room spreads out in front of you. I could hear a squeaky sound coming from the headphones. I'm sure there's a slime nearby. At first, you will notice that you are naturally listening because you judge the presence or absence of foreign enemies by sound. This "concentration" is the first step of immersion.

Exploration and combat are 3D action, and the development is not very fast. Proceed with caution and clear blind spots (safety check) as if it were an FPS. Okay, no surprise attack. After looking around the dimly lit room, I went to the next room.

Was. It's a slime. At this time, my mind was dominated by a certain thought.

"I wonder if I can eat this one," he

said when he saw other monsters. I wonder if I can eat this guy. The system of monster food removes the tag of reason and expects it to be an ingredient.

No matter how many times you defeat the purple slime, it won't drop the food. I wonder if I can't eat it.

Green slime seems to be edible. I did it.

When you defeat a monster, you'll be disappointed if you don't get a piece of meat that you can eat. It may be the first emotion you have while playing the game.

You can enjoy the unique texture of slime. What about orcs and goblins? I feel like eating humanoid monsters is not ethically good. There was such a depiction in "Dungeon Rice". But in Abyss Ring, maybe...... Quite a bit. The hand that grips the mouse is strong (you can play with mouse + keyboard or gamepad).

The aforementioned "Dungeon Master" is a real-time RPG. While feeling tension in your spine, it is important to look at the whole picture from a bird's-eye view and act efficiently. Abyss Ring, on the other hand, is a 3D action game that makes it more intuitive. We hunt for food the moment we think we need to eat it. This is wild. It's instinct. I don't have time to do calculations.

Are you inedible, or are you just unlucky enough not to be meat? Which one is it?

Maybe it's because I've only played in the early stages, so the monsters I encounter aren't that strong. Since it is equipped with a shield, you can block attacks with a right-click guard, and then wield a weapon with a left-click. The damage you do is quite large, so don't let your guard down, but if you calm down and deal with them one by one, you'll be fine.

However, it doesn't work that way when the bug in the stomach starts squealing, "Gu~". When hunger level reaches zero, physical strength decreases quite quickly. If you don't have the ingredients, it's the worst. Even if you survive the battle, you can starve to death.

Your instincts warn you to avoid starvation. Drop the meat, drop the meat, drop the meat, drop the meat, ...... it! Forget yourself and attack the monsters. This is the moment when Mr. Mochizuki, the author of "Doka Shokuri Daisuki!" who sleeps in me, wakes up.

It's a first-person perspective, so you can't see your own face, but it's probably a desperate look. Because if you don't find your prey, you'll die.

"I don't want [you] to be there," the bizarre words run through my head.

The oak turned into a chunky steak. I can't look at you like that anymore. Eating humanoid monsters seems to be a bit of an ethical stretch.

Cooking can only be done in the rest area with a descending staircase. If you can do it anywhere, it will be less stressful for the player, but at the same time, it will be less tense. Relief when I rushed in at the last minute. This is good. The direction of game design appears in the balance between tension and release.

If you examine the campfire worktop, you'll see a list of recipes you've learned, and if you have enough ingredients, you'll be ready to feast. There are 15 recipes by default. Roasted cockatrice, grilled mimics, slime bavarois......。 Sounds good.

After eating, it's time to sleep. If you don't have enough ingredients, you can sleep as much as you can to recover your strength, and you can make up for your hunger with the bread you brought with you, but I still want to eat hot rice. It feels good, and it's also for character development reasons.

Gaining experience points in battle is not enough to become stronger. It continues to accumulate all the time, and when you go to bed, you accumulate as much as you want! and a mechanism to level up. There is no point in overdoing it, and human beings cannot grow unless they rest properly.

At this time, the content of the meal is important. If you eat nutritious food, you can grow more than the experience you gain. After bullying the body, eat and sleep properly. It is the same as the mindset of bodybuilders. When you eat nutritious food, your muscles are pleased.

"If you exercise, eat a lot, and sleep, you'll get stronger," it sounds like we're talking about early childhood education, but we're eating monsters to survive.

Accumulate experience points, accumulate them, eat rice, sleep, and level up at once. Catharsis fills the heart. Feeling good.

In terms of game design, the cooking is decided by weighing the efficiency of cultivation and the resources of the ingredients. But I can't help but eat what I want to eat. It's exciting to be able to pick up new ingredients and choose dishes you've never tried before. He is the type of adventurer whose inquisitive mind is oriented toward food.

I also want to eat skeletons. I'm sure you're rich in calcium. If you simmer the bones slowly, they will become hollow.

In the rest area, you can choose to go to the lower level or return to the city, and when you return, the level resets. It has a so-called roguelike design, and the acquired items are sold to the shop, stored in a warehouse, and brought back to the dungeon by repeating actions such as gradually preparing supplies.

You can get skill points as much as you level up, so you can allocate them to strengthen your character. You can swing it in the combat direction, such as increasing attack power or learning healing magic, but increasing the weight limit of the items you have will make exploration easier.

When he returned to the city, the monster's flesh was immediately exchanged for cash. The message displayed at that time is sober, but it does a good job.

"Raw food was sold before it spoiled" If

you can stock up on a large amount of ingredients, it will be easier to capture at once, so in terms of difficulty design, it is better to have people look for it each time. It was enough to be sold with a bland system message, but the words "raw food before it spoils" made me imagine the lives of the main characters. The elaborate creation of the world setting is evident in these small points.

On the desk is a healing potion. Who's putting this down? The little things bother me.

When hunger is satisfied, there is more room to look around. If you look closely, the furnishings are clean. Some rooms were surrounded by bookshelves. You can also feel the faint smell of life, such as a writing desk, tableware, and torches.

I wonder if the goblins have this kind of intelligence. Or is it a forgotten keepsake of a civilization that flourished long ago? The world setting of Abyss Ring has not been revealed, so we can only speculate.

Someone's boudoir-style room. Although not shown in this image, there was also a bed.

There are shelves like bookshelves and warehouses.

The lighting system is clean. On the other hand, the set of cups, candlesticks, and skulls has a magical intention.

White skeleton corpses were left in prison or displayed like objects. Is it the end of an adventurer who has been captured by the goblins? It is also possible that the people who built this civilization had a custom of burying them like mummies.

From a game-wise point of view, each level of the dungeon is a stage to be cleared. The unique human act of "cooking" brought here leads the imagination to the appearance of the dungeon in the past.

I'm sure there must have been people here who cooked food for a living in the same way. Where have they disappeared? For some reason, the scene I looked at while thinking about such things seemed more mysterious.