The provided text appears to be a script from a video game analysis podcast, specifically from the "Game Theory" series. The host discusses the game "Cooking Companions" in depth, revealing its complex narrative and lore.
The game begins as a classic dating Sim visual novel and ends with an anime knife fight set in a basement. The protagonist plays as the old hag Baba Yaga, a character from Slavic folklore who asks a question and then eats the player if they answer wrong. The game's story reveals that the companions are refugees escaping from Ukraine during a famine known as "halodemore".
The game's characters, referred to as "chompets", are all over the artwork for the game. They include cabbage, the leader of the group, onion the comedian, bread the lover of puns, raspberry the vaguely threatening character, and the grumpy non-participatory potato. There's also frequent references to a missing sixth chop, cornbread, who is not around anymore throughout the game.
The host of the podcast discusses the ambiguity of the chompets' existence, suggesting they might be figments of the player's imagination. However, they are integral to the game's narrative and are key to understanding the game's deeper lore.
The host also reveals that the game's rules are different for those who die in the cabin. The spirits of the dead companions and the chompets make mention of this, suggesting that the lucky ones are those who are dead when cooked.
The host also discusses the character of potato, who was the Butcher of Zakopane in the game. Potato was an outsider in the game and was the one who killed the other characters in the basement room. The host suggests that potato was meant to be the Baba Yaga, and that the protagonist killed the Butcher of Zakopane with his own knife, becoming the Baba Yaga.
The host concludes by discussing the character of cornbread, who is the missing sixth chop. Cornbread's real name was Razael, and they were related to onion. The host suggests that cornbread was killed in the cabin and that the protagonist consumed their body. However, unlike all the other chompets, cornbread was allowed to move on.
The host ends the discussion by tagging the game's developer in a tweet, suggesting that the game's lore might be incomplete and that the developer might have more information. The podcast host then signs off, thanking the audience for watching.
Here are the key facts extracted from the text:
1. The text is a transcript of a video from the YouTube channel Game Theory, about the game Cooking Companions.
2. The game is a horror visual novel that involves cannibalism, starvation, and a folklore character named Baba Yaga.
3. The player character is possessed by the spirit of Baba Yaga, who has killed and eaten many people in the past.
4. The chompets are talking vegetables that are the souls of the previous victims of Baba Yaga, who died in the cabin.
5. Potato was the original Baba Yaga, also known as the Butcher of Zakopane, who trained the player character to become his successor.
6. Cornbread was a child who was killed and eaten by the player character, and was the only chompet who was allowed to move on.
7. The developer of the game teased a sequel or a prequel with a hidden image on Twitter.