Note: so far, I have completed only two chapters in Steam, but I finished the game on my mobile yesterday – had to switch devices because I am ill and was not able to use my laptop.

I still remember the time when about 10 years ago I started playing the first Delicious game (which, as I have recently found out, was the fourth installment and not the first as I thought). I immediately fell in love with charming Emily, her bright personality and love for cooking.

Delicious - Emily's Hopes and Fears is the twelfth game in the series, and to my mind, it is the most dramatic one story-wise. We will meet Emily, Patrick and their daughter Paige once again, as well as some other beloved characters like Francois and the Napoli couple.


It is an extremely hot summer season, and the O'Malleys are enjoying their time outdoors. Patrick is more keen on repairing his motorbike than going anywhere, and Emily practically has to drag him out to the lake. All days are beautiful and relaxing, and in the evening, Patrick reads Paige stories from his grandfather’s diary. The man was a brave adventurer and never shied away from danger.

One day the O'Malley family goes back to the lake, where Evelyn Napoli and Francois have set up a little restaurant. After swimming, Paige all of a sudden faints in front of her parents. Later she develops high fever and strange blue spots on her skin appear. No one knows what is going on, even the doctors. Seeing the blue spots, Patrick remembers that he read about the same symptoms in his grandfather’s diary. Emily does not really believe in these stories, but her husband is adamant – if there is even the slightest hope to save Paige, he will go to the end of the world and find the mysterious Golden Lily.

Emily stays by her ill daughter’s side, and Patrick starts his adventure in search for the cure for this mysterious disease. On his way he will visit many interesting places, meet a lot of lovely (and not really) people, and test his own skills. Will he be able to survive and bring the flower to his daughter in time?

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1657641660


Delicious is always true to its traditions, so if you have ever played one, you already know what to expect and how to play.

As always, you have to serve customers by bringing them the right things, preferably as fast as possible, and then checking them out at the cash register. All customers have five hearts, which show us how much their like the services and what amount of money they will pay in the end. There are no gold hearts like in the later parts of the series, so I do not recommend making people wait – they will start losing hearts even if you have already completed their order and left them waiting at the cash register. There is only one way to return hearts: each chapter has specific entertainment, Eduardo with his guitar in the first one, a cute raccoon in the second, etc. There will also be a person to help you with cleaning most of the time.

You get extra points if you bring a full order, do it fast or complete several similar actions in a row. Also, each level has its own challenge and a cute mice that you should definitely catch (there is a relevant achievement).

There are sixty-five story levels and thirty-two extra stages that help you earn gems to buy special presents for Paige. At some point, you will also have the chance to take a special photo for the album – the game will show you how.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1657640111


As I have already said. I think Emily's Hopes and Fears is the most dramatic part of the series. I felt really sorry for Paige when she got ill and rooted for Patrick all the time. Each chapter is very interesting and shows how even one person can change lives of many others. The game also talks a lot about family relationships and how we should cherish our loved ones instead of reminiscing about the past or being afraid of doing something new.

Each stage is very colorful and bright, and I absolutely loved how much attention is paid to even the smallest details. There are a lot of animated parts like falling leaves in the second chapter, people playing in the lake in the first, etc. Some parts can be interacted with – just try clicking on the little bird in the Lumber Mill and see what it has to say (yes, if you bother the bird fast and often enough it will share a funny line).

The characters are good, as always. Emily and Patrick are a happy couple that sometimes has arguments but they still love each other a lot. Paige is a charming little girl and not an entitled kid – she is very lively and smart but never annoying or definitely not spoiled. Other people ae also very lovable, except for some pretty rood lumberjacks in the second chapter.
The game is very easy to learn and to master, while all necessary actions are carefully explained in the tutorial. Even if you get stuck at some point, a red arrow will appear and show you what to do.

The only thing I have to complain about is that sometimes the game just does not notice me clicking on items, and this is not the first time I have this issue in these games. For example, I select a packet of crisps and then a glass of juice, but the character will pick up only the first product. This usually happens with items that require some time to be prepared, and yes, I wait for the right time to take them, so it is not the issue of not waiting enough – the game simply does not react. This can become annoying if you are in a hurry and the product gets spoiled.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1653785991


I can recommend Delicious - Emily's Hopes and Fears to all fans of time-management games and the Delicious series. The gameplay is very entertaining, the story is both dramatic and heartwarming, the characters are interesting, all stages are very colorful with a lot of neat details, and music suits the atmosphere. I encountered only one problem, but it did not stop me from finishing the game.

All in all, Emily's Hopes and Fears is another great chapter in Emily’s story that you will definitely like.

I fell in love with the series while playing Emily's Message in a Bottle, and bought the entire bundle during a sale. At first, I thought I made a mistake, as none of the games I tried quite captured MiaB's charm. This one was too hot buggy, this one was too cold underdeveloped, and that one had the wrong sort of gameplay altogether.

Hopes and Fears finally recaptures the charm that drew me to the series in the first place. Really addictive, varied, challenging just to the right degree gameplay. Variance between the levels so that one restaurant isn't just a palette-swap. A new optional challenge on pretty much every level, so that you're never too bored and the levels don't feel too samey.

The plot is about the family's daughter falling ill, and the father trekking to the north pole to get a cure. I wasn't exactly worried that the Delicious series is going to end with a toddler dying, but it's nice to have some stakes. The different locations and sense of urgency also improved the writing (sitcom cliche though it continued to be). I could do without the Eskimos moving to the big city after trying some chocolate (by no means the most ludicrous thing that happens in the game) but overall - I laughed, I "awwww"ed, I thought the whole thing was pretty good.

Really recommended, if you can stand casual gameplay, bright colors and sitcoms with a laugh track.

Edit - As always, make sure to delete the "branding" folder in the game's directory to make it launch quickly.

I really enjoyed the game, the characters are interesting, the story reasonably compelling (and surprisingly nuanced) and the gameplay itself is hard enough to be challenging but easy enough to be enjoyable. Despite my nagging feeling that virtually every character would benefit from extensive counselling I definitely warmed to the characters, and I enjoyed their story. It was a remarkably deep story for this sort of game which was nice to see. If you enjoy this style of time-management game, then I can very much recommend 'Hopes and Fears'.

In this installement of Emily O'Malleys' life, her little girl gets incredibly sick. Patrick must embark on an epic quest to save his little girl's life!! Once again, Gamehouse delivers a very enjoyable time management game, as you help the O'Malleys save their daughter from a horrible fate. The characters are cute, and I especially enjoyed the visit to the monastery. The monks were quite humorous. Decent challenges and doable achievements for those wanting to get that 100%. Well done, Gamehouse.

If you're looking for an adventure game then you found it, with a rich story, amazing locations and having some tough challenges to complete makes the game more fun. Taking each step with a dedicated father to save his little girl in search of a golden flower only in a story book makes the game so much more than just passing time, your emotions will be part of every inch Patrick will take. I'm recommending this one for sure, saving that beautiful little girl is worth fighting for.

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I like that this one focuses on Patrick more so we get to know him more.

- Comments on this game:
Less interesting story than previous titles, but still enjoyable. Takes 20 hours to get all the achievements.

- Comments on the franchise Delicious Emily
This franchise is part of my wife's childhood gameplay memory. I bought it to play with her, and I enjoyed the whole franchise thoroughly. Almost every game from this franchise is a great time management game with a superb story and appealing graphics. The mechanism varies slightly from game to game, so it does not feel too repetitive. The progression of the coherent story, the different restaurants, and the new items to serve are compelling enough to make you play title after title. If you are interested in time management games, I strongly recommend getting the Delicious 8-in-1 Bundle, and playing them in release order.

It is a pity that early titles from this franchise are not available on Steam. So the franchise on Steam starts from Emily's New Beginning. However, three previous titles before New Beginning (True Love, Wonder Wedding, Honeymoon Cruise) are free to play on Apple Store, so don't miss them! They should be played before the 8 titles on Steam, since their stories set the premise of the 8 following titles.

- Comments on the developers:
The developers, GameHouse, do not seem to care too much about their games. They just release their game and then disappear. Bugs are seldom fixed (well, you can see on SteamDB that the depots of some titles are last updated even before the release). The worst of all is that traditional Delicious Emily games are somewhat abandoned, probably because GameHouse cannot milk much money from them. Instead, they have now switched their attention to developing a mobile game Delicious World with tasteless stories, boring and repetitive gameplay, and microtransactions. Shame!

As always, Gamehouse never dissapointing us. Another great continuation of the Delicious's Emily series! Not only does it have a great gameplay that suitable for all ages alike, the graphic and animations including its soundtracks are beautiful and perfectly done.

Best part of all? Of course, the stories! A lot of great life lessons. All the characters have their own uniqueness. And I gotta say, I really love Tapeesa here the most from this time series hehe.

If you haven't try the game, you definitely should try it out. Extremely worth it!

Another part of Emily's story. This time we had double point of view, hers and Patrick's. Unique locations and game as good as other.

The only minus I would say, was a music. Not everywhere but in drama parts. I mean... your kid is dying and in the bg we have cheerful music :/ out of mood totally. Also sometimes game was crashing, usually after levels or when I wanted to change diamonds for presents, but thankfully after restarting the game, everything was ok.

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