Mintrocket has revealed Bancho the Chef, a brand-new PlayStation 5 title that puts one of Dave the Diver’s most popular characters in the spotlight. Announced during Sony’s State of Play presentation, the standalone adventure serves as a prequel to Dave the Diver and follows Bancho long before he became the legendary sushi master players know today.
Set in 2004, 19 years before the events of Dave the Diver, Bancho the Chef tells the story of Bancho’s rise through the culinary world as he travels across Japan, Korea, China, and other parts of Asia to learn from master chefs and develop his skills.
A Culinary Journey Across Asia
While Dave the Diver focused on gathering ingredients and managing a sushi restaurant, Bancho the Chef shifts the spotlight directly onto cooking. Players will prepare meals, serve customers against the clock, and build the reputation of restaurants across multiple regions.
As Bancho gains experience and learns new techniques from local culinary masters, he’ll continue growing into the chef fans eventually meet at the Blue Hole.
The game blends cooking simulation, RPG progression, and adventure elements. Alongside restaurant management, players will take on requests from local residents, helping them through food-related challenges while unlocking new opportunities and recipes.
More Than Just Cooking
Much like Dave the Diver, Bancho the Chef expands beyond a single genre. Mintrocket confirmed the game will feature a variety of side activities and mini-games, including fishing and petting cats, alongside its core cooking mechanics.
The studio says its goal is to deliver a wide range of gameplay experiences rather than focusing exclusively on restaurant management.
Moving From Pixel Art to 3D
One of the biggest changes from Dave the Diver is the shift to fully 3D visuals. According to director Jaeho Hwang, the development team wanted to better capture the details of food preparation and presentation.
From the shine of freshly sliced fish to sizzling oil and smoke rising from a grill, the move to 3D allows the team to emphasize the visual side of cooking in ways that weren’t possible with pixel art.
Built Around DualSense Features
Mintrocket is also heavily integrating the PlayStation 5’s DualSense controller into the cooking experience.
Haptic feedback, adaptive triggers, the touchpad, gyro controls, and the controller speaker will all be used to recreate cooking actions. Slicing fish, cracking eggs, and washing dishes are designed to provide distinct tactile feedback that mirrors the sensation of performing those tasks by hand.
The studio says these features are central to its vision of making players feel directly connected to the cooking process rather than simply watching it unfold on screen.
More Details Coming Later
Bancho the Chef is currently in development for PlayStation 5. Mintrocket has not announced a release date, but the studio says additional information will be revealed later this year.
Fans can wishlist the game now and follow future updates as Bancho’s culinary adventure continues to take shape.
