The reason for the delay in getting this out is my slowness in completing the goals. This is partly down to my reluctance to spend unnecessary coins on additional appliances, but mostly down to the higher recipe durations involved. I'm not really complaining though - it was good to see a change with the 14 hour Rudolph's Ravioli added a fortnight back added to by another couple of efforts reaching into the double figures for length.
I firmly believe that variety is a positive thing for the game, and although some players frustrate at the time taken to complete the goals when there are longer dishes required to be prepared, there are equally many who groan at the sight of short foods which can easily spoil if you are inattentive. So other than holding up my blog posts, I can't really complain!
In truth I still haven't completed the goals. I've bought five of each appliance which in most cases is a nice round number for this quest's tasks, but that does mean I'm not progressing as quickly as I used to under the previous goal structure. Nevertheless I've on the final step so do have access to all the recipes and only have the final prize to unlock.
This is the fifth straight goal set with the same exact structure. Be it buying five wallpaper in the first step, visiting five neighbours (and leaving 10 tips) in the fourth, or sending out 8 part requests in the first sidestep, the requirements are always the same. And it gets all the more samey when we consider the prices of the various decor - this hasn't always been the case, but on this occasion the costs are all identical to those we saw in the Thanksgiving goals in November. In fact, the recipe durations provide the only disparity from the last quest.
Hey ho, that's enough moaning! Let's have some analysis of the dishes, starting with the three entries on the Homemade Oven.
 |
| Homemade Oven recipes |
All three of these dishes look excellent, particularly when seen served up on counters. The Wrapped Fruitcake almost appear like gift wrapped blocks of soap with their cute little bows, while the Homemade Ham couldn't look more appetising as a whole ham is smothered in some thick and gloopy sauce and accompanied by a bunch of tasty grapes.
Now for some ratings:
| Wrapped Fruitcake | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Profit | XP gain | Portions | Profit per plate | Availability | Rating |
| 4 | 5 | 4 | 8 | 5 | 4.8 |
| Turkey and Tinsel | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Profit | XP gain | Portions | Profit per plate | Availability | Rating |
| 4 | 3 | 4 | 10 | 5 | 4.4 |
| Homemade Ham | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Profit | XP gain | Portions | Profit per plate | Availability | Rating |
| 5 | 7 | 4 | 10 | 5 | 5.9 |
There's nothing particularly impressive to note here, with all three dishes achieving yellow numbers. However the Wrapped Fruitcake does manage to reach 8th spot in the overall stakes for the 3 hour duration which is fairly impressive from a pool of 63 candidates.
Meanwhile the Homemade Ham is the 22nd recipe of 16 hour length to appear in the game. Given that there are 677 dishes now present in Restaurant Story, this is a real abnormality. Indeed we've had a long wait for another 16 hour effort - the last to be added was the Cowboy BBQ (Cowboy Stove) way back in February 2013. It turns out that 16 hour recipes were pretty popular in the earlier days but have fallen by the wayside over the last four years.
And before I move on some credit needs to be given to Storm8 for producing three recipes with unique statistics. I'm quick to sharpen the knives when the numbers from existing dishes are reused, so it's only right that I doff my cap on this occasion.
Now to the first couple of floor decorations you can obtain exclusively through the goals. The Yule Log Fireplace is the prize unlocked for completing the first sidestep and features a fireplace which has been lavishly decorated with Christmassy goods and chattels. You've got bushy wreaths equipped with fairy lights lining the fire, candles glowing on the mantelpiece and a large wreath perched on the wall behind.
I really like how the game's developers have opted to have an imaginary wall. In other words, the wreath appears to be floating, with us the players given the opportunity to decide what kind of background we wish to use. In the past Storm8 would have attached a wallpaper (usually a poor choice) that would restrict our creative juices. Not this time.
However I'm still not sure I'm going to use the Yule Log Fireplace. This is because I own the Holiday Fireplace having bought it for gems during a sale some years ago. It is also well covered with festive trinkets and as a bonus includes a golden grate in front of the fire. It's not to say that this new fireplace is bad, but I think I prefer the old one. For newer players though it's nice to have this option, especially since it's for coins.
The second sidestep yields the Holiday Piano as a prize. There are no shortage of pianos in the game, but I reckon this might be the first one ever available for coins. In a break with the traditional polished black finish, this grand piano is bright red and displays a wave of musical notes on the side. Some players have expressed reservations regarding the proportions of this piano, with it perhaps being shallower than expected. But I'm fairly happy with it and think it's a cute little piece for lighting up your Christmas layout.
Back to the main strand of goals, and we have the second appliance from the quest, the Homemade Mixer. This one needs to be built, with 4 Family Spoons, 4 Family Forks and 6 Sturdy Wood necessary for its construction.
 |
| Family Fork and Family Spoon |
The first two of these are new parts and thus you'll need to send off plenty of part requests to your neighbours in order to accumulate enough to build a number of mixers.
Just in terms of its appearance the Homemade Mixer looks fantastic. Too often new cookers are very generic in design, with so many variations out there of the Basic Stove. But this mixer is original, even if it does come on the Holiday Home Counter. The mixer machine has been really well created, with lots of time clearly having been put into making it look as realistic as possible.
And the mixer brings with it another three festive treats.
 |
Homemade Mixer recipes
|
I do appreciate when the gamemakers add little extras to dishes, and that's been applied here with a spoon alongside the Persimmon Pudding and some sort of decorative bits accompanying the two drinks. And the Holiday Eggnog looks really enticing in a red mug - that's coming from someone who's never tasted eggnog and has no intention of doing so anytime soon!
To the business of the ratings:
| Persimmon Pudding | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Profit | XP gain | Portions | Profit per plate | Availability | Rating |
| 6 | 5 | 5 | 7 | 5 | 5.6 |
| Spiced Cider | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Profit | XP gain | Portions | Profit per plate | Availability | Rating |
| 5 | 6 | 4 | 10 | 5 | 5.6 |
| Holiday Eggnog | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Profit | XP gain | Portions | Profit per plate | Availability | Rating |
| 4 | 6 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 4.8 |
Again yellow is the predominant colour, but a few greens do drag these dishes into positive territory. The Persimmon Pudding gains ground thanks to a strong profit score, with its 1,300 coins profit placing it 12th in the 2 hour duration out of 80 recipes. The other two dishes are more ordinary when it comes to profit, but while the Spiced Cider's six for XP gain is not very notable, the Holiday Eggnog's is. That's because it is the sixth highest in the 10 hour bracket, even if it is still well short of the Haddock's (Fish Stand) tally of 164 XP.
And like the Homemade Ham, the Holiday Eggnog is a welcome addition to a mostly unpopular recipe length. It's only the 21st dish of 10 hour length, and the first since the Saag Paneer (Masala Stove) was unveiled in July 2015. Not quite as long a wait as we endured for the 16 hour duration, but still a good monkey to get off the back!
We're just about done, with only the final goal prize left to peruse. That's the Holiday Living Room which is a 4x4 floor decoration. You get one for free after completing the last task, but further buys will set you back 65 gems. These extortionate fees for additional final prizes are ridiculous and really need to stop.
Christmas 2016
21/12/16 Box update
14/12/16 Goals
14/12/16 Goals update
06/12/16 Elves workshop update
30/11/16 Winter update
14/12/16 Goals
14/12/16 Goals update
06/12/16 Elves workshop update
30/11/16 Winter update
Anyway, this prize is almost a complete scene, with another fireplace (this one a little less extravagant) joined by a Christmas tree with a number of presents beneath and a table set for two gift-receiving guests. Most notable here is that the table and chairs are the Gran-Gran's Table and the Gran-Gran's Chairs from the beginner's goals. I'm really not a fan of those - they look old fashioned and depressing, which I suppose was meant to be the point to some extent. But placing them in this piece was a strange call.
However there are positives. The two presents perched on the chairs are clever touches, and the tree looks lush and well decorated (a couple of the bobbles even have bows attached!) And there's no attached floor, so we can place this item on the flooring of our choice. That table and chair are a big turn-off though, and leave me indifferent to the decoration as a whole.
The final prize may not have quite met my expectations, but I can't really complain about everything else. Even the recipes get a big tick thanks to some nice designs, original stats and duration variety. We just need to see the goals as a whole being given a little more spice - Storm8 need to drink up some of that Spiced Cider!
No comments:
Post a Comment