RS2 News (Jan 2016)

It's that time of the month again, where I round-up all the exciting stuff that's been going on in the sequel game, Restaurant Story 2.

When I last posted this enrapturing news segment the Snack Wars! quest was in full swing. Following the Tummy Rumble goals which were very complicated in nature, this goal set was a welcome relief to most players. The main reason for the much simpler format was the inclusion of many existing recipes, which played their part in progressing through the various steps.

It goes without saying that there were some additions though. In this case these came in a three pronged style: Dark Chocolate could be collected from serving water to parched customers, which was then used to make Dark Mole Sauce, which was in turn an ingredient involved in the Seven Leia Dip. This dip held the key to the goals as it featured in nearly every step and ultimately had to be mastered.

Unlocking of Seven Leia Dip in Snack Wars! goals

This was the third time a TV and film entity has been covered in RS2, following on from Game of Thrones and The Hunger Games, and by and large it has been very popular. I think the community really appreciate these spoof themes which play into the popularity of these huge franchises.

I'm a fan of Game of Thrones and The Hunger Games so was able to really get into those two, although not being into Star Wars meant that I was a little puzzled at times with this quest. But nevertheless I made it to the end to unlock the That's No Moon Pie on the Commercial Oven. It's just a shame it takes 4 Sugar to prepare!

Next came something we've not had in the original title for a very long time. A new seasonal app! On 9th December Storm8 released Restaurant Story 2: A Christmas Carol for iOS players complete with a Christmassy makeover. With the exterior snow-covered and fairy lights hanging from the stores and trees, there was a very festive feel to proceedings.

Title screen for Restaurant Story 2: A Christmas Carol

Not only this, but the various menus also received a Christmas decoration or two, with my highlight being the old man in glasses (sorry I don't know his name!) wearing a snowman costume in his General Store image.

This was all very exciting, although I didn't actually download the app until the in-game goal appeared on the 23rd. It was a shame that it didn't pop up before then, but it was certainly worth it for the free gems across all my Storm8 games. Patience is rewarded!

The fresh app was accompanied by an impressive range of new content in the market, as well as another quest, entitled Cooking Up Cheer!

Notification for Cooking Up Cheer! goals

Unlike the more leisurely Star Wars goals, this was one of those strenuous events that required much attention and focus. The problems stemmed from the Snowflake, which was another ingredient gathered by providing water to thirsty bots. Each time you only earned one or two Snowflakes, and it soon became apparent that this would mean collecting from a lot of customers.

The Snowflakes played a role in production of the Holiday Cheer, which was the feeder ingredient at the hub of proceedings. To collect enough Snowflakes to make the necessary Holiday Cheer you really needed to sit with the game open for long periods and tap periodically when a customer needed their thirst quenched. My tactic was to do this in the evening while watching TV, but at this time of year it can be tricky to find the time!

Not only were Snowflakes an issue in this quest, but also Sugar. It's almost guaranteed, but Sugar is generally a stumbling block in any goal set, and this Christmas batch was no different. The Holiday Cheer also needed Sugar and with a 2 hour refresh time that meant lots of waiting around. For me the shortfall jumped between Sugar and Snowflakes throughout the challenge, with the nuisance ingredient depending on how long it had been since my last period of Snowflake collecting.

 RS2 News

 05/12/15 December 2015
 07/11/15 November 2015
 24/10/15 October 2015

 19/09/15 September 2015

 22/08/15 August 2015

Despite the complications, I did complete one of the main strands to earn the Christmas Fireplace with three days still to go. As for the other strand? Not so routine. The last step wanted the level three mastery of the Fruitcake, which I thought I was well on the way to achieving. But upon filling the mastery meter, I realised I was only completing level two! It was a calamitous moment for me, and meant I still had much to do.

My situation wasn't exactly made any easier by my error with respect to the Baked Ham. Perhaps it was because it didn't need Holiday Cheer (and thus Snowflakes) to make, but for some reason I hadn't clocked that the ham also needed mastering in the second strand of goals. Why I didn't spot this is beyond me (too much eggnog maybe?!) but after realising the error of my ways I set about pulling off the great escape.

I was determined not to part with any gems or quick serves, and so set about ploughing Sugar into concocting Mastery Spice. I even hired my Mum to collect Sugar on the final day when I was at work, despite her not really having a clue what was going on! In the end I made it with 31 minutes to spare, unlocking the Snowball Cookies recipe. Thanks Mum!

I could really have done with a long lie down after those goals, but there was no such luxury as we moved straight on to the Winter Wonderland Cruise Event. Due to my real life activities I made the unusual move of starting the cruise immediately so as to have it done before New Year.

Main page of Winter Wonderland Cruise Event

This proved to be a good move overall, with the first nine days being quite relaxing for me. It was only the final day which offered a challenge, mostly because it played into what I have identified as my weak point in these cruises. When 4 cruise coin orders appear I feel an obligation to complete them because of the significant chunk they take out of your progress meter. The problem is that I tend to do this even if the order is out of my reach.

The prime example in this cruise was a 4 hour Tuna Casserole order which appeared at the start of the final day. With only two Mushrooms in hand and six more hours before another batch are available to me, I should be realistic and pass, but instead I persevere and spend most of the day pouring over the Street Market in search of the magic Mushrooms. As a result the casserole ended up taking 11 hours to get done - definitely not worth it!

In the face of adversity I still managed to finish the cruise, although it did require me to tune in at 7.55am, just five minutes before the deadline! Luckily I needed to haul myself out of bed at around that time anyway, but it's never a good idea to cut it short!

For completing this cruise event, you were able to unlock the Snowy Oven which contains five new recipes.

Snowy Oven goal prize in Winter Wonderland Cruise Event

These are pretty good dishes in that they yield a quality number of coins and require few of the more long refresh ingredients. Plus there's the prospect of 15 mastery stars to gain, which I'm always on the lookout for!

Having started the cruise event immediately I thoroughly enjoyed having a few days of no time limited goals, thus allowing me to freestyle with cooking for a bit. Often during quests I feel the need to cease all other cooking in case I use up ingredients which are going to be needed. Setting stuff off across all my appliances is really invigorating after a week or more of inactivity.

The quiet hasn't lasted too long, with the first goal set of 2016 commencing this past Thursday. The quest The Adorable Snow Man is a Winter themed one, and also a very short one.

Step from The Adorable Snow Man goals

Lasting only for a week, at the heart of this challenge is Yancy the Yeti who visits occasionally with a Marshmallow. With Yancy only stopping by once every couple of hours, the build-up of Marshmallows seems to be quite slow, and that's concerning. However it seems that only one of the new recipes needs to be mastered, so that surely makes things easier.

At the time of writing I've accrued enough Roasted Marshmallows to learn the Campfire Chicken, and look forward to trying to finish this quest within the time limit. At least with all the recipes held on a new appliance, the Campfire Stove, it seems that they won't disappear when the goals expire. The only issue is that you have to be at a relatively high level to unlock some of them, so a fair proportion of players probably won't be able to participate fully. That reminds me of the Valentine's goals last year which I was unable to complete for that exact reason.

Before I sign off, I'd like to share a couple of things. Firstly, it's now more than a year since I first loaded up Restaurant Story 2 and entered this new and entertaining world. It was actually Christmas Day 2014 that I first indulged in the game, and I thought I'd take a snap of my personal stats on my first anniversary.

Restaurant Overview of The Onion Bush

It's a bit scary to think that I've served up nearly 20,000 dishes over the past year - it's equivalent to 54 orders per day! And considering that I do tend to halt cooking during some events I would expect others who have been around since Christmas 2014 to have amassed even more dishes. I've also bought fewer decorations than some, mostly because I've tried to build up my coins for upgrades. Now though I'm flush with cash so will probably spend more liberally on décor in the future.

Finally, like I did for Halloween, I gave my diner a special refurbishment for the Christmas season.

The Onion Bush at Christmas

There were some really great items available over the festive period, and with my gem balance inching back towards its pre-Black Friday level, I was well placed to spend freely. Perhaps the most enticing offer was for Santa's List, which could be procured for free as part of a goal if you purchased Santa's Workbench (50 gems) and the Red Nose Reindeer (125 gems). With Santa's List valued at 250 gems this was an opportunity not to be missed, so I made the investment!

I ended up using quite a few decorations gained from the various events over the last year (the Alaskan cruise event's prizes proved very useful!) and even included the Elegant Divider from Halloween. I'm not sure my bridge has been that successful due to the shortness of the river, but when you've got so many appliances what can you do! I hadn't been planning to use up my parts for more expansions any time soon, but the difficulty of fitting everything in for this Christmas theme has made me re-evaluate!

That covers the last month in RS2, as the game continues to thrive. In some ways it's kind of reassuring to know that when the original game does eventually come to a close that the sequel and many of my finest neighbours will be there waiting. But of course I'm hoping that day doesn't arrive for a good while yet!