Disney Villains Cursed Café review: The Modern AU of my dreams

I did one thing horrible. I informed Jafar, the scheming vizier villain in Disney’s Aladdin, about cryptocurrency, and now he’s decided to get WyshCoin off the bottom by promoting the luxurious way of life related to the model. The drawback is he’s really broke, so I must brew him teleportation potion after teleportation potion so he can sneak into more and more extravagant venues so as to promote the phantasm of the WyshCoin way of life.

That’s only a day within the life of a potionista (a portmanteau of potion maker and barista) on the Cursed Café, the espresso store on the heart of Disney Villains Cursed Café. The sport is a partnership between Disney Studios and indie crew Bloom Digital Media. In Disney Villains Cursed Café, I spend time brewing potions, speaking to my villainous clientele and serving to them obtain their targets (or typically, very particularly not serving to them). It’s a contemporary setting, which suggests the villains all have enjoyable, modern designs — and modern issues.

Sure, Jafar’s establishing a cryptocurrency, and Snow White’s Evil Queen is working her personal pyramid scheme. In the meantime, Gaston is attempting to impress his new golf bros on the nation membership he simply joined. It’s hilarious to see what types of villainous shenanigans these iconic characters rise up to in a contemporary, low-stakes setting. They’re taking up the world… in their very own methods. And hey, within the 12 months 2025, that does imply having enormous social media followings!

The writing is sharp and humorous, with some notably pointed dialogue choices (you possibly can inform the villains that on this fashionable world, the rulers are the 1%, as an example). Seeing the characters work together can be a spotlight. Cruella and the Evil Queen roll their eyes at Gaston’s makes an attempt at courting on “the apps.” Maleficent and Ursula reluctantly crew up for a social media collaboration. And all through all of it, the artwork fashion is extremely charming, an elevated rendering of the characters’ Disney film counterparts with some painterly accents.

With every in-game day, I’ve three possibilities to serve clients. Most of the time, this implies choosing between two villains to serve. However don’t fear — if it’s Cruella and Jafar on the counter and I decide Jafar, the remaining of Cruella’s storyline will nonetheless unfold. The brewing mechanic is fairly easy; I simply take a look at the recipe record to seek out the requested potion after which choose the elements in my cabinets.

Sometimes, the villains can have greater requests, and taking these on will proceed the subsequent massive chapters of their plots. They’ll current me with their desired potion, typically one thing malevolent and extra sophisticated. My helpful potion guide will counsel a “good” possibility as nicely: It’ll have the identical consequence, however in all probability end in much less property injury. If you wish to strive a special possibility — or in the event you unintentionally add the flawed elements — you’ll have the selection on the finish of the day to purchase a re-do from Yzma. The branching is straightforward, however pleasurable.

There may be additionally an overarching thriller concerning the earlier proprietor of the café that continues to perplex me — and is surprisingly sophisticated to determine. One time, after I had tousled a day and meant to redo it, Yzma handed me a key that unlocked a secret room that held clues about this mysterious proprietor. However since I had fumbled the Evil Queen’s storyline, I erased the recollections of that day to strive once more. The second time, although, I didn’t get the important thing — and some in-game days later, I nonetheless haven’t! I’m undecided what situations set off extra details about this storyline, however I’m decided to maintain promoting potions to seek out out.

However even when I’m nonetheless struggling at determining the grander thriller of the Cursed Café, I’m invested within the storylines of my clients. Even when I’m not really investing in WyshCoin, each time I see Jafar on the counter, I eagerly choose him to serve as a result of I simply need to know what the heck he’s scheming subsequent. Perhaps I’m tapping into my personal internal villain by enabling him, however hey, you don’t grow to be the favourite potion brewer of some of the very best Disney villains by taking part in hero.

Disney Villains Cursed Café was launched March 27 on Nintendo Change, PlayStation 5, Xbox Collection X, and Home windows PC. The sport was reviewed on Nintendo Change utilizing a obtain code supplied by Disney Video games. Vox Media has affiliate partnerships. These don’t affect editorial content material, although Vox Media might earn commissions for merchandise bought by way of affiliate hyperlinks. You could find additional information about Polygon’s ethics policy here.