Ena: Dream BBQ is such a unique experience that simply calling it a unique experience doesn’t quite do it justice. There is very little to compare it to that’s going to give you an idea of what you’re getting into, and it’s the kind of game that going in knowing little beforehand can be extremely rewarding.
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Because of how utterly unique it is, it’s a game that should be played uniquely. Simply absorbing everything that chapter one presents to you is an achievement in and of itself, but if you’re playing it like you would many other games, you’re likely going to miss some important things.
Take Things Slow
Ena: Dream BBQ does not always present things to you. There are no neon signs that indicate where something important is, there is not always crystal clear direction as to where you’re supposed to go, or how you’re supposed to accomplish something.
So, take things slow. Don’t run through this game like you might something else where you know where you’re going, and know what you’re supposed to do. Because, if you do that with this game, you’re going to miss a lot.
Interact With Everything
Some things that you can interact with are going to have a symbol when you get close and look at them, but the vast majority of things will not.
Hit ‘E’ to interact with things, even if you aren’t prompted to do so.
Interacting with many of these things isn’t absolutely integral to completing the game, but this is very much a game about the vibes and the world, so missing out on interacting with everything is going to detract from the experience.
Right-clicking will zoom your view, slightly. There’s not too much practical use for this, but it’s a control that the game does not prompt you about, and does have value in certain sections.
Talk To Everybody
Every single character that you find in this game will talk to you, and almost every single one has more than one line of dialogue. (In fact, certain ones have a comical amount of dialogue, lasting nearly ten minutes.)
Talk to characters multiple times, until they repeat a couple of lines you’ve already heard.
Certain characters that you talk to are going to have jobs for you to complete. These characters don’t have the usual quest marker or anything like that on their head, and if you don’t talk to them, you’ll be missing out on jobs.
How To View Past Dialogue
Characters say a lot of things in this game. They do so in a lot of languages, with subtitles for every single one. Sometimes their meaning is clearer than others, and it’s going to depend on the character whether they say what they mean, or anything particularly important, or not.
You can view all past dialogue by hitting ‘Tab’, and navigating to the right of that menu with ‘E’. This will help you keep track of what the characters said, and let you go back to take a look anytime you want.
How To Find Clues In Dialogue
Usually, the most pertinent things a character says are going to be highlighted in yellow in the subtitles. These are oftentimes going to be directions or clues as to where you’re supposed to go, or what you’re supposed to do.
How To Understand The Maze
There are a lot of secrets in this game, and if you aren’t going slowly and inspecting your surroundings, you’re going to miss most of them. One of those secrets is a multi-level maze. Depending on the quality of your sense of direction and your luck, this maze is either going to be a place where you spend hours or just a few minutes.
We won’t give away the solution to the maze here, but some tips for how to deal with it are going to be helpful.
- There are certain sections of the maze that, at first glance, are going to look dangerous. While you aren’t always going to want to interact with things you find in the maze, know that what you interact with is never going to kill you in the maze. But, taking an incorrect path or dropping into the wrong area could set you back quite a ways.
- If possible, try to familiarize yourself with certain sections of the maze. It’s unreasonable to expect anyone to memorize the entire layout, but if you can recognize a few key areas, it will help you figure out when you’ve ended up back on a previous section, or when you’ve gone in a loop.
- Since it’s a secret, the maze is entirely optional. You don’t have to see it through to its end, though doing so does come with an achievement. But, you can always throw yourself into one of the many trash cans scattered throughout the maze to escape.
Some Achievements Are Especially Difficult
There are 14 achievements total in this chapter of Ena, and they range from being extremely easy to gain, to outrageously difficult. You’ll likely need to plan on multiple playthroughs if you’re planning on gaining every achievement available, considering certain ones require accomplishing difficult feats on the first try. Failing these will mean trying it on an entirely new save.
How To Find Different Solutions
There are multiple ways to solve certain problems in Ena: Dream BBQ. Sometimes the outcome remains the same, and sometimes it doesn’t, but it’s largely up to you how to go about accomplishing certain things.
Alternately, sometimes how you accomplish something, or whether you can accomplish something, is dictated by what you’ve done previously. This makes this game particularly worth replaying, to find and accomplish new things. Play again, try new things, do things in a different order, and sometimes you’ll find things you wouldn’t have previously.
