RS2 News (Oct 2015)

We're deep into October and the last month has been stuffed full of things to do in Restaurant Story 2.

We'll get to some of the Halloween treats shortly, but the first development since my last review was the addition of the Deep Fryer. Following the increase of the level cap to 55, the Deep Fryer is unlocked at level 50, making it the last appliance unearthed. On board are six recipes which stand out from the crowd for two reasons.

Deep Fryer with recipe list

Firstly, the ingredient requirements are tough. The quantities needed are excessively high, including a shocking 10 Cream for the Fried Ice Cream. Plus there's a new ingredient has been added to the Fish Seafood Shop - the Fresh Cod cost 200 coins each and has a three hour refresh time. Ouch. But it's the pair of new recipes on the Mixer which feed into the Deep Fryer that really make things tricky. The Breading and Batter will eat into your stores of Flour very quickly and slow down the process of mastering the Deep Fryer offerings.

The second abnormality with regards to the Deep Fryer dishes are the statistics on the foods. They may take a lot of resources and time to prepare, but they really payout in style. The portion numbers ensure that you'll be able to keep your counters stocked significantly longer, and since each recipe provides 7 or 8 coins per plate there's massive profit to be made too. These are definitely dishes worth getting to level 50 for!

To accompany the debut of the Deep Fryer there is an untimed set of goals called the Lord of the Fries. These certainly give a nice and smooth introduction to the appliance, and make for a very pleasant experience overall. It's so refreshing to get a new appliance outside of quests - this is something that doesn't happen often!

And to aid your progress in those goals, there was a short opportunity to grab a second Mixer at a serious discount.

Notification for Mixer sale

Added for a standard fee of 250 gems, for a limited time this was reduced by 70% to 75 gems. I didn't hesitate to capitalise on this deal - having two Mixers definitely gives more flexibility.

That's enough mixing and frying for now though. It's time to turn our attention to the ghostly goings-on in recent weeks. There was a Halloween edition of the game released for iOS players on 24th September, with an all-new skin and design just for the occasion.

Download window for Restaurant Story: Halloween

It's really cool to get a Halloween themed surrounding for your restaurant along with a special interface. This really helps add to the spooky atmosphere and probably encourages me to get involved in the Halloween celebrations. If only we still got such app releases for the original game...

Despite the Halloween release, the big launch within the game that day was the British Cruise Catering Event. As usual it was a 10 day showpiece, with Alfie the Guard being the guest delivering the special ingredient - Steak Sauce - upon completion.

Alfie the Guard in British Cruise Catering Event

There were also a number of enticing items to be won in the earlier days, including a cute Royal Corgi and a British Phone Booth (we call it a telephone box!)

My progress was relatively swift and nondescript until it came to day nine when things looked somewhat hairy. Some unappealing orders left me able to complete the day, but with a distinctly average set-up going into the climactic day. This edged me towards the threshold of having to use up some quick serves to get over the line, but ultimately I was able to finish up on time without them.

The big problem I encountered in this cruise event was the recurring appearances of Deep Fryer recipes. The high demands on Deep Fryer ingredients means that its recipes are not conducive to a successful cruise event, as the Pantry is packed to the gunnels before considering space for the Breading and Batter. Plus I shifted up to level 54 as the event began, leaving the unlearned Fried Chicken free to bombard me several times throughout the 10 days.

And having made it to the end, the long wait to cook the Beef Wellington began. Found on the Celebration Stove (which seems to now be the home of event prizes), the wellington is not the easiest of dishes to cook. It requires 12 Steak Sauces from Alfie, which can take some time to accumulate as he often only drops one at a time. But I won't complain too much - my gem production is very healthy right now thanks to the various cruise prizes, so things are looking good!

Hot on the heels of the cruise was the start of the Halloween feast. A goal set entitled The Magical Candy Cauldron consisted of 12 steps and included a whole raft of features.

Notification for Magical Candy Cauldron goals

At the centre of it all was Mina's Cauldron, containing a trio of recipes which relied upon ingredients from a variety of sources. There were three new ingredients across the market as well as bottles of Mina's Magic which was delivered by Mina herself upon visits to your diner.

But the two most difficult components for the Mina's Cauldron dishes were undoubtedly the Candy Corn and Jack-o-Lanterns. The first of these was needed in abundance, but was only attainable by serving water to thirsty customers. Essentially a lengthy session of sitting in the game and tapping every so often was necessary to build up the inventory. The Jack-o-Lanterns were more complicated to earn, with three further new recipes needing to be brewed to get hold of them. These were across the Commercial Range and Diner Oven, meaning that there was plenty to think about during these goals!

There was a plethora of Halloween décor added alongside this quest, allowing everyone to really go to town with designing a spooky interior if they so wished. Until now I've really been a gem hoarder and haven't been too active with decorating, but the range of stuff available here meant I just had to go mad for Halloween at The Onion Bush.

The Onion Bush at Halloween

I must have spent a good 150 gems in all, with Mina's Cat being a particularly satisfying buy. I love the inclusion of animation on some of the items, even if it's just something subtle like the cat bobbing up and down on the broom!

And just to add to my glee, while the main goal set was ongoing there was a secondary goal popped up requiring the three basic appliance recipes to be mastered in exchange for three really nifty decorations. Two of these dishes had a rather high number of batches needed to achieve level 3 mastery, but it was certainly worth it. Sir Spookalot, Mister Robutter and Dean the Dino (along with his roar!) are all currently causing mayhem in my place! These guys all have a market value of 120 gems so are an excellent capture if you were able to obtain them.

 RS2 News

 19/09/15 September 2015
 22/08/15 August 2015
 18/07/15 July 2015
 20/06/15 June 2015
 02/05/15 May 2015

At the time of writing the Halloween season is continuing to delight in Restaurant Story 2, with another cruise docking at the port. This one is a pirate ship, with the Ghost Pirate Cruise Event getting into full swing. It appears that there's a change to the prize on offer this time, with a new appliance being the end goal, complete with six additional recipes. I won't be embarking on the event until Monday, but am really looking forward to discovering those dishes and gaining even more Halloween decorations.

When you take a step back and consider how impressive the Halloween period has been in the game, it leaves me all the more disappointed by how things have developed in the original. When you compare the two you definitely get a feel for where Storm8's priorities lie these days which is clearly a shame for RS1. Nevertheless I'm enjoying RS2 as much as ever, and can't wait to see what's coming for Thanksgiving, Black Friday and Christmas!