The structure of the goals matched that which we saw for September's Autumn themed set and August's laboratory themed set. I thought I'd be saying that was a good thing given that I was originally pleased to see the change, but in truth I'm already growing tired of this reworked format.
That's because the format is very much set in stone. The requirements in each goal are generally the same each time, and the order of proceedings remains unchanged with each quest too. For instance, the opening goal of all three new style goal sets has called for the purchase of a 30,000 coin appliance which doesn't require construction, the preparation of a 1 hour recipe on said appliance, and the purchase of five wallpapers. The same pattern persists throughout the various steps.
You just need to look at the plethora of content in the market to know that Storm8 are perfectly capable of being creative. And yet this is something they've continually failed to display with the quests. I thought we may be turning a corner with this altered format, but alas my hopes appear to have been dashed. Anyone around for Christmas in 2012 will remember with fondness a set of goals that payed homage to the Twelve Days of Christmas, with each step essentially adding another element on top of everything already done. I'd love to see the gamemakers come up with similarly innovative concepts for the goals.
Anyway, the Wicked Oven is the first appliance utilised in the challenges, right from the get-go. It's not the most terror inducing of cookers, with the white exterior failing to make an impression in the scare stakes. Maybe the recipes will make up for that though:
 |
| Wicked Oven recipes |
'Wicked' is the theme here, with apples, cupcakes and cookies all given a spooky purple twist. I've discussed my growing unease with the number of cupcake and cookie dishes previously, and here we are again. Both of these foods would be perfectly acceptable over in Bakery Story, but for Restaurant Story I expect to see something more suitable for a diner. It's further evidence that Storm8's creativity levels are dropping, and also suggests laziness. At least the Wicked Apples have a nice shine rendered on them to convey the smooth glossy surface of the apples.
Now to the ratings:
| Wicked Apples | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Profit | XP gain | Portions | Profit per plate | Availability | Rating |
| 5 | 2 | 3 | 8 | 5 | 4.0 |
| Wicked Cupcakes | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Profit | XP gain | Portions | Profit per plate | Availability | Rating |
| 2 | 3 | 3 | 7 | 5 | 3.2 |
| Wicked Cookies | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Profit | XP gain | Portions | Profit per plate | Availability | Rating |
| 3 | 2 | 2 | 10 | 5 | 3.3 |
Orange is the dominant colour, and that inevitably is not a good thing. The only recipe which manages to get out of the orange on any of the major factors is the Wicked Apples which nets a five for profit. This still isn't all that high in the grand scheme of things, and is certainly tainted by the fact that the Fresh Carrots (Planter's Veggie Box) from last month's goals has absolutely identical statistics, as does the Polar Powder Puffs (Food Lab Oven) from the quest before that.
Indeed all three dishes match the three candidates on the Planter's Veggie Box number for number. The game's developers have yet again put in a half-baked effort, with the recipe designs and names changed but the figures to go with them stuck in a time warp.
A change of scenery is necessary, so I'm going to peruse the new floor decorations unlocked in the 'sidestep' goals next. The Wicked Throne is 2x2 in size although the object itself only really fills a 1x1 space. Standalone this is a nice item. The frame of the chair is ornate and the cushioning of its back is well rendered. But for Halloween this decoration isn't doing it for me. It doesn't give me goosebumps to any degree, and that is what I'm ultimately looking for out of Halloween content. Plus I'm not sure where I'd use it anyway.
The Wicked Cat is probably easier to find a home for given its cute appearance. Having a nap in a light pastel toned basket, this black cat is a little more reasonable as a Halloween addition. But it's still short of a sinister side, and then there's the price. At 90,000 coins this is a very expensive piece given that it is just 1x1. However you do get a generous 450 XP for buying it, so it's not all doom and gloom.
Let's get back to the dish dissection with the Dark Drink Maker. This is the second appliance unlocked in the quest and requires 6 Plum Nozzles, 4 Wicked Wrenches and 4 Dark Bolts to construct.
 |
| Wicked Wrench and Dark Bolt |
Following on from my detailed parts analysis post last week it's intriguing to note the Plum Nozzle's return having only appeared once (for the Spanish Mixer in April) since the trend of new parts with every appliance kicked in. I definitely recommend stocking up on some of these parts of yesteryear. Meanwhile the Wicked Wrench and Dark Bolt are both brand new, and I wouldn't be surprised to see the bolt pop up in future updates given that it is relatively generic in appearance (as opposed to the Wicked Wrench - what on earth?!)
Now for a look at the recipes the Dark Drink Maker has to offer:
 |
| Dark Drink Maker recipes |
At least these drinks have a somewhat malevolent feel to them. The Dragon Fruit Juice is a clever way of including a real life ingredient in a Halloween based drink, while both the Potion Punch and Sinister Cider have an ominous sound to them.
What of the ratings?
| Dragon Fruit Juice | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Profit | XP gain | Portions | Profit per plate | Availability | Rating |
| 3 | 3 | 3 | 7 | 5 | 3.5 |
| Potion Punch | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Profit | XP gain | Portions | Profit per plate | Availability | Rating |
| 2 | 4 | 2 | 10 | 5 | 3.6 |
| Sinister Cider | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Profit | XP gain | Portions | Profit per plate | Availability | Rating |
| 4 | 3 | 3 | 10 | 5 | 4.2 |
So many twos and threes drag these drinks down, and I need say no more than that statistically these juices are each identical to the trio of recipes on the Planter's Fruit Box. Storm8 have outdone themselves here by having the six dishes in this goal set completely match the six dishes in the last. Great work.
We're almost done, with just the final goal prize to cast an eye over. Or should that be cast a spell? The Wicked Spell Station is a 3x3 floor decoration which depicts the place of work for a proper witch. A spellbook is open on a desk alongside a poisoned purple apple mounted on a pedestal. And all the witch's ingredients are in jars of several colours in a large wooden unit. The melting candles give this item a slightly creep feel, and for me it's a worthy final prize.
At first I planned to integrate the station alongside my Witch's Kitchen but I've found that they don't go together all that well. Maybe its the differing floor colours they come with that's causing me jip, but unfortunately I'm edging towards leaving the station in storage. That would be a shame since it is a nice decoration, but there's still a few days until I share my Halloween creation so who knows - maybe I'll find a way!
Halloween 2016
The only negative with the Wicked Spell Station is that it costs 64 gems to purchase another. That's par for the course these days, but it's still infuriating that buying multiples of a goal prize lots of work has gone into unlocking is so expensive. I've said my piece on this matter in the Suggestions Box so won't prolong my tantrum, although Storm8 should certainly reconsider.
All in all I think the general feeling is that the Halloween goals haven't quite been as strong as was hoped. The content availability from the off was decent enough, but in my view the quest structure, duplicated recipe stats and expensive prizes add up to a thumbs down goal set. It hurts to have to say that considering how popular Halloween is, but the game's developers set themselves a high benchmark in the vintage years with this theme, and for the second year running they've failed to light my pumpkin.
No comments:
Post a Comment