Healthy fruit juice is the main subject of this update, with seven new items up for grabs. Here's the full list, with everything unlocked below level 10:
Wall decorations:
- Juice Sign - 8,200 coins
- Life Coach - 4 gems
- Juice Bar - 10 gems
- Produce Stand - 14,200 coins
- Carrots n Apples - 1,000 coins
- Gold Ribbon - 3,200 coins
- Resolute Stove - 2,000 coins
Before we go deep on any of these additions, a word or two on the theme. Let's face it, a juice theme at the start of January is pretty bizarre. Typically you'd expect Winter or New Year to be the centre of attention at this time, with an update like this reserved for the Summer months.
And yet I'm not that bothered. The reason for this is twofold. Firstly, as my year in review post at the weekend touched upon, I struggle to see the game making it to the end of 2016. As a result we should probably expect plenty of unorthodox updates - any content which the gamemakers have gone to the bother of designing and constructing might as well get pushed through, even if it is out of season.
Then there's the quality of the stuff on offer, both in terms of appearance and price. When you get deals like these who cares if it stands out like a sore thumb at this time of year?!
One perfect example (there are a few) of the favourable costs in this update comes with the Resolute Stove. Just take a moment to recall some of the recent prices of new appliances: 120,000 coins for Nonna's Stove, 72,000 coins for the Autumn Stove, and 45,000 coins for the Antique Oven. At 2,000 coins the Resolute Stove is one of the great bargains and will actually allow you to make some serious profit. It's actually the cheapest cooker in Restaurant Story history - it's even cheaper than the Basic Stove!
As far as construction goes, you'll need 5 Carrot Knobs, 5 Pocket Watches and 5 Golden Stakes to put the Resolute Stove together. The last of these is the latest new part and if all goes to form won't ever be asked for again.
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| Carrot Knob |
There's no Mallet in sight, although the Pocket Watch does seem to be coming back into fashion, as is the Golden Stake.
On to the recipes, and we have a very healthy breakfast ahead of us:
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| Resolute Stove recipes |
My food education continues with chia, pilaf and quinoa, all of which are rice and seed based. They are all growing in popularity around the world, although they've not reached my shores yet as far as I'm aware!
I can't help but feel that Storm8 missed a trick by not opting for a drink dispenser of some sort for this update. It would be the perfect fit for the theme, and I know that a lot of players like to see new drink based appliances. I suppose there's always the existing Drink Machine and Juice Machine for those who wish to extend their juicy theme to their cookers.
We may have a trio of very nutritious dishes here, but what of their respective ratings?
| Chia Bowl | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Profit | XP gain | Portions | Profit per plate | Availability | Rating |
| 2 | 5 | 1 | 8 | 10 | 3.7 |
| Barley Pilaf | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Profit | XP gain | Portions | Profit per plate | Availability | Rating |
| 1 | 7 | 1 | 7 | 10 | 3.9 |
| Quinoa Bake | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Profit | XP gain | Portions | Profit per plate | Availability | Rating |
| 1 | 7 | 1 | 7 | 10 | 3.9 |
These are bad. Like, really bad. Overall the Chia Bowl ties for the eighth worst 1 hour food, and that's in one of the biggest pools. Neither of the other two dishes perform so poorly overall, but they each break new ground. The Barley Pilaf nets the worst profit and portion numbers ever among 2 hour offerings, while the Quinoa Bake is bottom of the 3 hour pile with regards to portions. It's only the decent XP scores of these latter two which keep them from challenging for the dunce cap in each of their durations.
They really are atrocious recipes statistically and won't do much for making you money or keeping the counters stocked. My all means cook them for the mastery gems, but be sure to have other more fruitful appliances on the go as well. At least you won't have invested heavily in said appliances!
And with that mention of fruit it's time to turn to the other fresh stuff in this update, starting with the Juice Bar. It is one of only two gem priced decorations, and is 4x4 in size. Normally that would command a huge fee, and yet this item is only 10 gems.
That's a phenomenal deal, especially when you look at the detail the Juice Bar includes. You've got shelves full of boxes of fruit, a cabinet with two juicers on top and workspace for a girl who is seen carrying a tray of drinks. The war paint on her cheeks is disconcerting, but she does have a strawberry hairpin to link her to the surroundings. A truly brilliant deal - I can't think of a better way to spend your last 10 gems!
There's another girl has been introduced too in the form of the Life Coach. To be honest I'm a little confused here and wonder if there may be a transatlantic loss in translation at play! As far as I know, a life coach is usually someone with a psychology background whose job it is to help people achieve their life goals. Nowhere in that description is there anything about a life coach working out!
Maybe one of the Life Coach's clients aspires to get fit and she is very much a hands-on kind of girl so decides to join in! Whatever the truth is, this is still a good item (with another impressive price) which could fit into lots of scenes. For instance, any Summer setting could house a sweaty runner, while she'd also work well in a sports theme.
The last of the floor décor is the Produce Stand. Once more the price is a snip for a 2x1 item which squeezes in lots of bits and pieces. Those who have already purchased the likes of the Apple Vendor and Farmers Market Stand will find particular use for this one. Indeed there's now a raft of market themed content on the market (pun absolutely intended!) if you fancy nabbing some stuff.
Over to the walls and the Juice Sign consists of a glass, lemon, orange and apple all depicted using neon lights. It's not that eye-catching, but married up with the right wallpaper this decoration will do the business - I recommend trying Aged Brick.
What I certainly do not recommend using as the backdrop is the Carrots n Apples wallpaper. I mentioned my indifference when it comes to wallpapers that feature items stamped on a plain wall a short while back when the Acorn wallpaper was added, and the same applies here. It's just not that aesthetically pleasing, not least because of the drab and pale shade of yellow used behind it. And I'm feeling sorry for the peppers and orange slices shown - they couldn't even get a mention in the wallpaper's name!
Lastly there's the Gold Ribbon floor tile. This flooring is mostly blue but with a golden rosette with the number '1' stamped in the middle. The pattern made when you position several of the tile together is nice but I'm just not able to accept the rosette. With lots of this flooring placed around I suspect you'll be overpowered by the sheer number of them!
That does it for this week's analysis of an update which I do really like. As with most updates it has its low points, but those are massively outweighed by the highs, which are principally relating to the cost of the content. There's more than one example of daylight robbery in there, and considering some of the extortionate fees we've witnessed recently this is a real relief. A very promising start to 2016!
I still notice a lot of new players to the game. Are they advertising it still to those who play other games?
ReplyDeleteWhat would it mean if it didn't last? Would the game still work, it just wouldn't have any more updates? For the New Year I gave up all of my games except RS. They just take up too much time... But I have a need to finish all the recipes to mastery here!
For obvious reasons I can't be sure about the promotions for the game, but I assume it still comes up every now and again. I think they're all on a rotation.
DeleteThis is nothing more than speculation, but I expect there to be a good period of inactivity in the game before an announcement that it's closing down. I think it's Farm Story which is still supported but hasn't had an update in yonks, so there's definitely a chance that could happen for us too.
However when the announcement does come there could be little to no warning. I should really check the correctness of this, but I think that happened when a number of old Storm8 games were closed down a couple of years ago - one day the game was there the next it wasn't. I pray it won't all end like that!
I'm looking at doing a post on this very subject in a few weeks, so keep an eye out! :)
This is obviously a New Year update. This is the season for New Year resolutions. That's why we have the "Resolute" stove. Most people's resolutions center around health and fitness, which is why all the recipes are so whole grain-ey. Juicing is another health/fitness trend, hence, the Juice Bar. A life coach could definitely help with fitness goals as well as many other lifestyle changes required by most New Year resolutions.
ReplyDeleteSo, no, this is not an off-season update. If anything is signalling the end of the road, it would be the giveaway prices. There had been a giveaway tendency to the game of late. I'm talking about crate first prizes given away for minimal goal challenges, gem dispensers, gems for ad-watching, etc. Why would they give away their money-makers?
I must still be suffering from New Year! Of course it's a New Year update, for all the reasons you've given! Perhaps it's my lack of resolutions which prevented me from making the connection...
DeleteHaving said that, I do think it's a somewhat tenuous link to New Year. You could quite easily release this update at other times and it wouldn't look out of place - I still think there was an element of cobbling stuff together to fit the theme.
I like your mention of giveaway prices as evidence of the game's demise. I may just 'borrow' that for an upcoming post! :)
I've noticed that cooking appliances, tables and chairs in the last few updates have been much more detailed which is something I like!
ReplyDeleteA question here - what makes you feel as though Restaurant Story is coming to an end? I enjoy this game and can not warm up to RS2.
I don't want to say too much here as I'm planning a post in the near future on this very subject, but I think there are a few signs that we could be approaching the end.
DeleteIt was when I was putting together the year in review post that it really struck me how much the game has 'toned down' in recent months, with several factors pointing towards less attention being paid to the game.
I'll say no more for now, but watch out for a related post soon! :)
I think the low prices might be a sale like we all have in the stores now. To make room for the summer collection.
ReplyDeleteLets all stay positive about it. We got great items for low prices.
That's the spirit! I've rarely seen an update quite as cheap as this one, so we should all make the most of it! :)
DeleteAnd the war paint on the face of juice girl are rosy cheeks :-) from all the healthy smoothies.
ReplyDeleteOf course they are, although not executed all that well. Maybe it's actually juice that she's spilled on herself. :D
DeleteYour comment made me laugh. It's actually horribly executed :-D
ReplyDelete