When I received a copy of Sorcery Saga: Curse of the Great Curry God , the upcoming PS Vita-exclusive JRPG from Hyperdimension Neptunia developer Compile Heart, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. It has a strange – albeit humorous – subtitle, and the quote atop the back of the box doesn’t exactly belie its silly slant: “All hail the Great Curry God! The most delectable curry-licious roux-galicious rogue-like dungeon crawler is here!”

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Pupuru and Kuu.

Dungeon crawling.

Indeed, silliness is what you get in spades from the moment you turn on Sorcery Saga, a roguelike RPG that revolves around saving a failing curry dive from the wrath of an owner of a big, popular chain of restaurants. You read that right. Sorcery Saga isn’t about saving the world, it isn’t about saving the princess, it isn’t about saving the kingdom. It’s about saving main character Pupuru’s favorite eatery from imminent financial ruin by chasing the ingredients necessary to make an incredibly, never-before-seen variety of curry.Somehow, some way, Pupuru finds herself in a magical tower as the game’s intro unfolds, taking her final exam for school while proving her worth as a dungeon-crawling adventurer. Atop the tower, she finds a book of out-of-this-world curry recipes, as well as Kuu, a Pikachu-like creature that speaks in adorable noises. Kuu eats the item Pupuru was tasked with bringing back to her instructor in order to conclude the examination, however, and she’s suspended from school indefinitely as a result.If you’re picking Sorcery Saga up for its plot – or the coherence of said plot -- you can certainly find better JRPGs that want to tell you a serious story, because this isn’t it. Rather, everything revolves around its dungeon-crawling mechanics. In the couple of hours I’ve spent with the game so far, I’ve traversed several towers that all show off Sorcery Saga’s simple mechanics. Movement is grid-based – which will always remind me of the PlayStation classic Azure Dreams – and the enemies you encounter can be ruthless if you’re ill-prepared. Get through the tower you’re traversing in one piece, from beginning to end, and you can keep what you’ve found. Bail out early because you’re getting walloped, and you’ll have very little to show for your hard work.When it comes to how it plays, Sorcery Saga has inherent limitations worth noting, some more frustrating than others. What I find most annoying so far is that Pupuru’s level resets whenever you leave a dungeon, even if you didn’t escape while wounded. Finding precious items, weapons, and shields is half of the fun in Sorcery Saga – and you can only carry a limited amount of goods in your inventory – but equipping gear on Pupuru is a tad bit cumbersome. And keeping your creature companion Kuu fed and healed is a bit stymying, especially when it attacks monsters unannounced, thus putting itself in danger.Still, it seems Sorcery Saga is chock-full of a whole lot of content that will keep dedicated gamers busy. There are tons of items to find, gear to collect, skills to learn, costumes to acquire, and precious curry recipes to discover. The game’s hub town allows you to head out to the world map at will, giving the game a non-linear feel, as you can go forth with the main quest or follow a litany of side quests. And yes, for all of you purists out there, while Sorcery Saga’s text is fully translated into English, the voice acting is entirely in Japanese.Sorcery Saga launches exclusively on PlayStation Vita in North America on December 10th, and in Europe in early 2014. Keep an eye out for our full review on IGN in the coming weeks.

Colin Moriarty is IGN’s Senior Editor. You can follow him on Twitter.