I’ve always been obsessed with animated food – cartoons, anime, video games – why and how does it look so good? As I watched Howl cook breakfast in his castle or the Ninja Turtles chowing down some pizza, the scenes always evoked the same sensation in me – hunger.
This only got worse as I loved playing games about food, starting from Diner Dash way back when, to Cooking Mama, and of course, Overcooked. I also loved games that incorporated food in them somehow, such as being a Culinarian in FFXIV or cooking dishes to Remy’s liking in Kingdom Hearts 3.
READ MORE: The food and delicacies of Starfield
As graphics have evolved, food in video games doesn’t just look tasty anymore, but downright edible. And even if not realistic, they do create a veritable feast for the eyes graphically. We’ve put together a showcase of how far we’ve come in video game food realism. It begs the question: which tickles your taste buds and looks good enough to eat?
Final Fantasy XV (FFXV)
So we can’t have this list without FFXV. If a developer goes through the trouble of hiring a team of outdoor chefs to make the food, and 3D render the finished dishes for the art team who also handled the physical dishes, the food will look good. From oysters to onigiri, you can’t argue that hiring those chefs definitely paid off.
Kingdom Hearts 3
Even trying to get Excellent on the recipes is as finicky as real-life cooking for some of these recipes which include cracking eggs with your thumb sticks. But it’s worth it to see the beautiful food presented which look more like paintings. Players can enjoy these when they play the cooking mini-games with Remy at his Bistro.
READ MORE: Hello Kitty Island Adventure coming to Nintendo Switch in 2025
Deathloop
The food in Deathloop was so realistic that it had players blaming it for the game’s poor performance on PC. But enjoy these burgers which I’m sure people might mistake for an actual photo, designed by Arkane Studios Principal Environment & Material Artist Yannick Gombart for the game.
Dragon’s Dogma 2
I mean, they used actual cooking footage for the campfire cooking cutscenes in the game, so you would hope it looks realistic!
Director Hideaki Itsuno confirmed in an interview that they preferred to spend the money on good meat instead of expensive computer graphics… Which I totally support. And each meat has its own image when cooked. Variety!
Monster Hunter World (MHW)
Look at that bao. (Monster Hunter/Facebook)
The food in MHW almost rivals FFXV with its computer-generated steam and sauce drippings. Considering they didn’t do 3D modelling for this, it looks pretty dang good and almost photorealistic to my eyes. I think it’s especially stomach-growling given you are trying to fight and bring down some big baddies in the game, but that could just be me.
READ MORE: Preview | Cozy Caravan (PC)
MHW’s food even inspired YouTube chef, Binging with Babish, to create one of the game’s most popular dishes – the Chef’s Choice Platter. You can watch the creation below:
Red Dead Redemption 2 (RDR2)
Binging with Babish didn’t stop at MHW and recreated Arthur Morgan’s Bear Stew too from RDR2.
With record-breaking cold temperatures at the moment, RDR2 seems like the perfect game to play with its menu of seasonally appropriate Beef Stew, Lobster Bisque, and Roast Beef – all of which look deliciously warming even though I just had an all-you-can-eat wagyu dinner.
Pikmin 4
While cooking isn’t actually a playable feature, Pikmin 4 nevertheless has some of the tastiest looking pixel pastries I’ve seen. As part of the Treasure Catalog, players can collect a variety of food items as part of different Treasure Series such as the Extravagant Breakfast Series or the Summer Fruits Series. It’s sadly just a feast for the eyes…
Starfield
Of course, we’re including Starfield here since our Editor Julian Price did a piece on the game’s cuisine a while back. And can you blame us? Just look at this Patty Melt with the convincing swirl of tomato sauce on the side – look at those grains in the meat and the crisping of the fries! I can taste the crunch.
Special shout out to the Full Beech Breakfast made in Dreams, the Yakisoba Pan in 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim and Kirby’s Dream Buffet!
Super Mario Party Jamboree
Super Mario Party Jamboree has also just entered this discussion with this mouthwatering sizzling steak. It’s cooked just the way I like it – rare. Although I don’t know how the sides are still so red when the top is so nicely seared. Who am I to judge? The game isn’t out yet (out on October 17th) but this has definitely spruiked my interest for it.
What do you think looks the best? Which is making you drool? The general consensus here at QD says Final Fantasy XV takes the cake, but there’s some strong contenders!
