Progress through the goals was a little different on this occasion compared to recent challenges, with sidesteps involved for the first time since the back to school goals in August. There were two in this case, with the second of them perhaps causing a little confusion among players.
This is because the prize upon completion of the sidestep goal 'Say, "I Do!"' was the last of the new recipes, the Winter Cake.
 |
| Unlocking of Winter Cake in goals |
Usually the recipes can only be unlocked via the main strand of goals, and there's a good reason for this - releasing a dish in a sidestep means players can cook it before they actually get to the goal that requires it to be made.
This means that a dozy moment could leave you preparing a batch of Winter Cakes when the goals are still asking for the previous recipe, the Cake Samples. On the other hand this unusual structure did leave an opening for anyone whose circumstances and cunning were in good shape. Depending on how many more Cake Samples you needed after finishing the sidestep, you could set off some Winter Cakes ahead of time. Upon finishing the Cake Sample goal, you could then serve those Winter Cakes immediately, giving you a headstart in the final goal. Of course you wouldn't get any credit for the preparation, but that can be remedied in an instant anyway.
Enough of that though! Let's take in some of the fresh content, starting with the Nuptial Stove which loses its padlock after the first goal. I do like the appearance of this appliance, and particularly enjoy how both of the new cookers have the same colour scheme. This is a real rarity, so I guess Storm8 would usually prefer to have clearly distinct appliances to avoid any confusion. For me though I prefer the similar styles as it does bring the two appliances together.
Between them the two cookers require a couple of new parts to put together.
 |
| Alpine Knob and Blue Rose Knob |
The Blue Rose Knob is involved in the construction of the Nuptial Stove while the Alpine Knob is needed for the Nuptial Oven. The game's developers have once again failed to display any degree of imagination - yet more knobs! And just to compound my joy the Feather Fan Knob originally used for the Antique Oven in the lead-up to Thanksgiving is called for! A completely random choice, but I guess it does at least offer another use for that knob!
As ever there are three recipes to be discovered on the Nuptial Stove, with each being of a short duration.
 |
| Nuptial Stove recipes |
At first I had no idea what the Hors D'oeuvres were, but some detailed research has unearthed the news that this is the French term for an appetiser offered before a meal. So although my culinary knowledge wasn't extended by these dishes my French was!
I've got to say that the appearance of these foods on the counters is quite disappointing. I always prefer recipes to be served on or in elegant plates and bowls, and sadly that's not the case with these. The Hors D'oeuvres is especially disheartening - for an appetiser to be presented to customers on a cooking tray is just unacceptable!
All will be forgiven though if the recipe ratings are outstanding...
| Hors D'oeuvres | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Profit | XP gain | Portions | Profit per plate | Availability | Rating |
| 6 | 2 | 3 | 8 | 5 | 4.4 |
| Chicken Plate | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Profit | XP gain | Portions | Profit per plate | Availability | Rating |
| 2 | 3 | 3 | 7 | 5 | 3.2 |
| Steak Plate | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Profit | XP gain | Portions | Profit per plate | Availability | Rating |
| 2 | 3 | 2 | 8 | 5 | 3.1 |
But they're not. Indeed the first two dishes have comparable stats to the Cheese Pumps (Witchy Stove) and Croque Monsieur (Bastille Stove) respectively, which were both released in 2015. The Steak Plate at least offers an original profit number, but it still closely mirrors the figures of a couple of last year's goal foods.
So let's venture onward to the Winter Spread, which is likely to be the next item you unlock. This piece is 2x2 in size and showcases a wealth of what mostly appears to be sugary treats. It's essentially a mini buffet, but the inclusion of pretty bouquets of flowers, glowing candles and tags for the various goodies give a really classy feel. I love this decoration, so much so that's it's already on show at The Garlic Tree! You'll have to wait for my next self-promoting post for a view, but I'll divulge that the Parisian Waitress is overseeing it's stocking!
If you weren't already feeling full up after gorging on that spread, then you'll be fit to bursting after indulging on the contents of the Nuptial Oven. I've already said my piece on the likeness of the two appliances, so I'll get straight to the dishes.
 |
| Nuptial Oven recipes |
I've covered my frustration at the number of baking themed recipes being added in the Suggestions Box, but it seems that the gamemakers are continuing to ignore me (how rude!) We're now up to 18 cupcake dishes and 20 cake dishes. This isn't Bakery Story! Having said that I am feeling a little more lenient in this case because these are delicacies you might expect to find at a wedding. However we do already have a Wedding Cake on the Basic Oven!
Something I do like is the presentation of these three recipes. Unlike the products of the Nuptial Stove, these are well delivered, with each coming on a plate with little touches. The Cake Samples deserves singling out for the dessert spoon and the chocolate swirls. Having these swirls on the plate as well as the cake itself really helps bring the dish together.
According to the agenda now is the time for me to provide the ratings on these bad boys...
| Love Cupcakes | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Profit | XP gain | Portions | Profit per plate | Availability | Rating |
| 2 | 4 | 2 | 7 | 5 | 3.3 |
| Cake Samples | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Profit | XP gain | Portions | Profit per plate | Availability | Rating |
| 2 | 4 | 2 | 10 | 5 | 3.6 |
| Winter Cake | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Profit | XP gain | Portions | Profit per plate | Availability | Rating |
| 3 | 2 | 2 | 10 | 5 | 3.3 |
Orange is again the prevalent colour, with none of these recipes garnering the kind of score needed on the major factors to bump up the overall rating. Like with the Nuptial Stove dishes, there's nothing to really set the pulse racing in either direction - these are distinctly average candidates.
Time to return to decorative prizes, and the Ring Barker is the reward for finishing the penultimate step. There have been many puns over the years in Restaurant Story, but I reckon this may be the worst yet! Maybe I'm just slow off the mark but I didn't catch on to the fact this was a pun for the ring bearer at a wedding until I came to write this post!
As for the item itself, I'm not feeling it. I've never been that keen on animal based content (says the guy who's got the Lounge Lizard and Pool Shark as regular attendees!) and I can't help but feel that we'd have been better off with an actual ring bearer. Or indeed just a generic bot in a suit. A dopey looking dog wearing a bright red bow and a top hat just doesn't appeal to me.
In contrast, the final prize from these goals is a beauty. The Snow Ceremony shows two newly weds standing upon a golden path surrounded by Winter décor which is itself speckled with gold. There's even two bystanders celebrating this beautiful marriage. The girl in the pink dress intrigues me as you can read her in one of two ways - either she's blowing a kiss to the happy couple, or she's crying into her hands because the bride has gone off with the man she loved...
Winter 2016
In all seriousness, this is a brilliant item, and one which I suspect we'll be seeing displayed in a lot of diners around the community. If I hadn't already committed to my outdoor Winter theme I'd probably have been among them, but as it is I'm going to carefully place the Snow Wedding into storage. However if we make it to Winter 2017 I'll definitely be utilising it!
All in all this is a really good goal set. Okay the recipes don't do the business, but then again they never do. It's the décor up for grabs that we really look out for, and the stuff in this update (both unlockables and standard market items) is terrific.
The only other point I want to make relates to Valentine's. I mentioned this in the update post, but I do wonder if this quest doubles up as our goals for Valentine's Day. There is a lot of love involved (one of the recipes is even called Love Cupcakes!) and with goal updates coming on the second Wednesday of the month it may be that Storm8 felt that combining Winter and Valentine's would be a clever idea.
I'm not against it myself, but I believe there are many who will be disappointed if there isn't a goal set dedicated to Valentine's on the way. After all Valentine's is generally viewed as one of the pillars of the game's year, along with Halloween and Christmas. The absence of Valentine's goals would be unprecedented.
Whatever the implications of the romantic aspect of this update, there's no arguing that we've started 2016 very strongly. Between this and the healthy New Year update things are looking up, and I for one am delighted at that.
Is 4 the highest rating that hors D'oeuvres can go up to?
ReplyDelete