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| Notification for Valentine's Day sale |
It's been a long time since there was a sale with a weekly update, so I need to find my bearings! We'll start by taking in the brand new stuff introduced pertaining to the Greek theme. Here's the list, with everything available from level 26:
Tables:
- Greek Flag - 8,600 coins
- Column Stool - 8 gems
- Laurel Leaves - 19,200 coins*
- Gladiator Pup - 32 gems
- Greek Garden - 56 gems
- Athens Pillar - 5,600 coins
- Greek Oven - 36,000 coins
(*) Not listed as new due to temporary release on 13th Jan 2016
Putting the Valentine's bonanza to one side for now, this isn't the most inspiring of selections. There's no wallpaper, floor tile or counter, meaning this is something of a Greek tragedy. I actually think Greece is definitely a country worth covering in the game as there's certainly the scope. But Storm8 have made a tired looking job of putting this set of items together.
This viewpoint may be influenced by the fact that Bakery Story had a Greek update just a few weeks ago. Indeed the two games have pretty much shared the same update themes throughout January, except in a differing order. To many players this is unacceptable as it demonstrates a real laziness and lack of creativity on the gamemakers' part. Personally I'm not so put out - it makes sense from a business perspective for Storm8 to use the same themes across multiple games, and as far as I'm concerned they're separate entities anyway.
Let's take in some of the new content then, although we obviously don't have a teaser to survey. What? We do?!
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| Items from update as shown on Storm8 Blog |
After eight weeks without our fix of Tuesday previews the Storm8 Blog has finally got its mojo back. It just so happens that I bemoaned the apparent binning of the teasers in the Suggestions Box this past Saturday - either the game's developers have reacted quickly to my words of wisdom or their blog writer is back from a long Winter break!
In all seriousness it is excellent to see the teasers return. I mentioned in that post over the weekend that they really do help create some buzz over on the Storm8 Forum and that has absolutely proven the case. Hopefully this was little more than a short interlude and the previews are back to stay.
Returning to Greece then, and I'm going to commence the analysis with the Laurel Leaves. This wall decoration was accidentally released for free with the Winter wedding update a fortnight back, and having been swiftly removed has now returned. This hiccup has clearly had an impact, with the item not placed at the start of the relevant tab in the market, nor is it labelled with a 'NEW' caption. You can find it not too far in between the Chalk Menu and Hanging Rake.
It's good to get the mystery of the Laurel Leaves sorted out, and they are a really nice decoration to boot. The yellow colour is cheery and the way it almost creeps up the wall is lovely. It's a slight shame it doesn't start right at the bottom of the wall, but I'm sure you could find plenty of pieces to place in front of it to disguise that. The price is decent too, even if it is 19,200 coins more than when it was briefly in the market two weeks ago!
Let's now turn our attention to the appliance added with this update. The Greek Oven is another constructible cooker, with 5 Mallets, 5 Iron Presses and 5 Greek Knobs needed to build it.
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| Greek Knob |
As is tradition the last of these is a new part, so you'll need to get busy stocking up Greek Knobs. In terms of appearance this appliance doesn't get me excited - it looks very boxy and the use of the Greek flag is rather predictable. Surely it would have been more interesting to have the oven made purely from marble or bronze?
Anyway, there are three recipes to consider:
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| Greek Oven recipes |
The Greek Salad and Moussaka fill in gaping holes in the Restaurant Story diet, while the Chicken Athena is another of those culinary lessons (at least for me). On this occasion discovering that a Chicken Athena usually has all the Mediterranean ingredients that I love (such as tomatoes, olives, feta cheese and garlic - you could have guessed that last one!) made me rather hungry, and I've just eaten!
Celebrating the tastiness of these foods is all very well, but what of the recipe ratings?
| Chicken Athena | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Profit | XP gain | Portions | Profit per plate | Availability | Rating |
| 3 | 4 | 4 | 8 | 8 | 4.3 |
| Greek Salad | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Profit | XP gain | Portions | Profit per plate | Availability | Rating |
| 4 | 6 | 4 | 10 | 8 | 5.4 |
| Moussaka | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Profit | XP gain | Portions | Profit per plate | Availability | Rating |
| 6 | 5 | 6 | 10 | 8 | 6.2 |
There's an interesting mix of scores here. The Chicken Athena and Greek Salad both may only get into the yellow overall, but they do rank high in their respective durations. The Moussaka lights up green, but that does flatter it a bit. There are only 17 recipes of 7 hour length in the game, and some of them - such as the Gumbo (Basic Stove) and Pork and Persimmons (Basic Oven) - are outstanding statistically. So the Moussaka has a lot to live up to and doesn't quite make it. Not that it's a bad dish mind you.
Back to the new décor now, and it's mostly gem heavy from here on in. None more so than the Greek Garden which is one of the most expensive floor decorations around at 56 gems. You do get a very pretty 4x4 sized item for the outlay, but it's still far too much for my liking. The weathered structure at the back looks the part, and the bots in their togas seem to be delighted to find themselves in such ancient surroundings. The pool of water, fallen leaves and basket of fruit add some extra charm to make this a highly attractive addition. But the price tag is still excessive.
Yet in comparison to the Gladiator Pup the Greek Garden starts to look a good investment. This dog follows on from the Festival Pup which was included in last week's Chinese Celebration box. And I don't like it. Dog lovers may find this armour-clad pooch adorable but I just can't get into it. And it's probably cutting its paws on the sword! Add in that you're forking out 32 gems for this 1x1 pup and I'm veering away.
At least the Athens Pillar does give us some respite from the gems. Pillars are a rare addition, so it's certainly refreshing to see another introduced. This marble pillar looks impressive, and the vines wrapped around it only serve to enhance the appearance. Unfortunately it is a little on the short size, with it only coming up around three quarters of the height of the Wooden Pillar. As a result the Athens Pillar does look like something of a little brother whereas it should stand tall and proud. I guess I can overlook this though.
All that remains are the new table and chair. The Greek Flag is as predictable a table as you'll ever get with a country themed update. We have a Greek flag on the table surface (did the name give it away?!) and a small column underneath. At least the latter component is more interesting, but I really feel that the game's developers missed a chance to go all out with a completely marble table that looked aged and rugged.
The Column Stool does achieve this, but it fails the affordability test. And miserably. At 8 gems this chair is the most expensive we've ever had. From the teaser alone I was formulating ideas based off this chair, but there is no way I will part with a small fortune of gems to pick up only a few stools. Storm8 have dropped the ball spectacularly when it comes to pricing on this one.
That brings our Greek odyssey to a close, but before I head into the night there's the small matter of a Valentine's Day sale to report upon.
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| Valentine's Day sale items |
You can click on the above image to enlarge it.
This is the first sale of any kind since the Black Friday washout, and the first regular update sale since the Autumn specials at the end of September. There's been so much clamour for a sale of any description in recent weeks and months, so I'm delighted for everyone that one has arrived, especially those who were growing disillusioned with the game.
You've obviously got a view of all the stuff included in the sale via that picture above, but here's a neat table detailing all the goodies, with the gem items (and only the gem items!) available at 25% off the original price until 15th February.
| Item | Cost | Category |
|---|---|---|
| Red Heart Table | 4 gems | Tables |
| Heart Host Table | 18,000 coins | Tables |
| Romantic Table | 8 gems | Tables |
| Love Table | 20,000 coins | Tables |
| Red Heart | 5,000 coins | Chairs |
| Romantic Chair | 5 gems | Chairs |
| Love Chair | 10,000 coins | Chairs |
| Movie Poster | 28,000 coins | Wall decorations |
| Cross My Heart | 9,000 coins | Wall decorations |
| Cupid's Arrows | 14,000 coins | Wall decorations |
| Heart Lights | 6,900 coins | Wall decorations |
| Love Candy | 28,500 coins | Wall decorations |
| Teddy Bear | 6 gems | Floor decorations |
| Be Mine | 14 gems | Floor decorations |
| Valentine Fountain | 32 gems | Floor decorations |
| Heart Floor Lamp | 6 gems | Floor decorations |
| Heart Piano | 36 gems | Floor decorations |
| Kissing Statue | 26 gems | Floor decorations |
| Heart Statue | 14 gems | Floor decorations |
| Valentine Candelabra | 6 gems | Floor decorations |
| Romantic Park Bench | 23 gems | Floor decorations |
| Amethyst Heart | 14 gems | Floor decorations |
| Valentine Kitten | 9 gems | Floor decorations |
| Love Snow Globe | 24 gems | Floor decorations |
| Kissing Swans | 23 gems | Floor decorations |
| Pink Couch | 11 gems | Floor decorations |
| Valentine Robot | 35,000 coins | Floor decorations |
| Valentine Divider | 12,000 coins | Floor decorations |
| Love Birds | 42,000 coins | Floor decorations |
| Table of Romance | 24,000 coins | Floor decorations |
| Heart Swirls | 2,400 coins | Floor decorations |
| Cupid's Arrow | 29 gems | Floor decorations |
| Kissing Booth | 13 gems | Floor decorations |
| Valentine Candy | 15 gems | Floor decorations |
| Romantic Dinner | 31 gems | Floor decorations |
| Love Pug | 7,700 coins | Floor decorations |
| Flying Heart | 6,000 coins | Wallpapers |
| Hearts | 7,000 coins | Wallpapers |
| Layered Hearts | 1,000 coins | Wallpapers |
| Heart | 5,900 coins | Wallpapers |
| Fondue for Two | 10,000 coins | Appliances |
| Valentine | 5 gems | Counters |
| Romantic Counter | 8 gems | Counters |
| Love Counter | 8,000 coins | Counters |
| Date Night | 12,500 coins | Counters |
| Valentine Chest | 18 gems | Boxes |
| Love Chest | 18 gems | Boxes |
| Valentine's Box | 18 gems | Boxes |
I didn't realise how long this list would be until it was well underway! It turns out there are 48 items included in the sale which must be some kind of record.
There's such a great range of coin and gem content has been marked down, so if you're planning to deck out for Valentine's I strongly urge you to take some time to work your way through this list. There are a few pieces which I'd say are still grossly overpriced, but ultimately Valentine's is one of the big occasions of the Restaurant Story year which is worth spending big on. Plus with us being starved of sales recently this is something not to be missed!
One last point - most of the items included in the sale were already resident in the market, with only a few old LTOs or removed décor in there. But be aware that there is a distinct possibility it won't only be said items which vanish completely when the sale ends. It's entirely possible that everything could be pulled, so make sure to buy up whatever lights your fire before the deadline passes.
That does it for this week, with that surprise sale really adding another dimension to the update. The Greek theme was a good concept in my book although its execution wasn't perfect. I feel that Storm8 didn't maximise the opportunity presented by a Greek theme, with famous historical sites and the Olympics glaring omissions.
Nevertheless the Valentine's sale has eclipsed it anyway - thank you Storm8 for finally offering up some special deals. I'm sending a Valentine's card as we speak!
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