We're into July and that means long days and hot weather! To mark this we are headed for a holiday at the sea in Spain, and there are goals waiting for us there!
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| Introduction to Spanish summer themed goals |
A summery themed quest is nothing new in Restaurant Story, but rarely do they seem to embrace a non-English speaking nation quite like this. To demonstrate what I mean, let's have a look at the complete list of goodies added with this update:
Tables:
- Sol Tables - 12,000 coins
- Cabo Cactus Chair - 9,000 coins
- Pelican Rock - 15,000 coins
- Barco de Pesca - 50,000 coins
- Paletero - locked by goal
- Cocina - locked by goal
- Baile Folklorico - locked by goal
- Sol Flags - 8,000 coins
- Tide Pool Floor - 5,000 coins
- Ma Mar Oven - locked by goal
- Paraiso Oven - locked by goal
- Crab Counter - 12,000 coins
I'll be the first to admit that I've got a Spanish to English dictionary sitting open! We have a fair few thoughtfully named items, although many of them will have to wait until the goals content report to get a proper verdict.
That will come once I reach the back end of the goals, but for now let's focus upon the seven additions which can be purchased right off the bat. In the majority the content is less expensive than it was for the last update which is good to see, although I still feel that the pricing is a little extortionate. Goals need to be inclusive of all players, and high prices won't work for low levellers.
So what do we make of the table and chair combination? The Sol Tables (misplacement of a plural there by the gamemakers!) features a sun design on a blue framed round table, while the Cabo Cactus Chair essentially attaches a cactus to the back of a seat. The latter has to be a leading nomination for the award for most ludicrous design in the game's history. Nobody is going to want to lean back against a cactus, which makes this chair a shocker!
But the combination of table and chair gets a fail too. There's no true connection between the pair, and that's always a bad start to an update. To be honest I'm not that keen on the table's appearance either - it looks a little predictable and doesn't for me show much imagination on the part of the game's developers.
Fortunately the two new floor decorations recover the situation, with the Pelican Rock displaying a pelican balancing on a rocky outcrop surrounded by water. It's only 1x1 in size so will not make or break your diner, but it does make for a nice little filler and will be welcomed by those players who collect animal themed pieces.
The Barco De Pesca continues the watery theme, with a sailor having a fish from the deck of his wooden boat. The title of this item translates as 'Fishing Boat' which is a rather succinct way of describing it. The lashing of waves gives the impression that the vessel is in transit rather than stationary which makes this fisherman a brave man, but whatever the case this is a lovely compliment for the Pier Fishing.
Spanish themed update (April 2016)
It's also good to see a character of colour. For a long time the lack of ethnic diversity was a common criticism of Storm8, but I have noticed a few more varied skin tones of late which is pleasing.
The only other character readily available to buy in this update is a helpful crustacean. I say helpful because the Crab Counter effectively involves a crab carrying a glass slate. For those searching for realistic decor it's a disgrace, but there's something quite comical and oddly satisfying about this counter for me. I envisage one or two of the more creative players around the community coming up with clever ways to use this crab as some sort of window fitter!
Over on the walls we have no wall decorations. This is the second consecutive batch of goals where this has been the case, which inevitably leads me to ponder whether wall decor is something which the gamemakers are slowly fazing out. It's probably too early to make that assumption, but we should certainly keep an eye out going forward.
Fortunately we do have a wallpaper, with the Sol Flags depicting a marked brick wall with blue and pink banners hanging down from the top. What I like here is that this wallpaper is unique - we don't have anything else like it. Where to use it is tricky but perhaps it could come in useful for a medieval theme?
Last but not least we have the Tide Pool Floor. More commonly known as rock pools where I come from, this tile aims to recreate the abundance of marine life which is left behind by the tide down on a rocky shore. I don't think it's all that successful, with the coral designs fairly plain and simple. However I concede that it is difficult to provide much detail in a single 1x1 floor tile.
And until the goals content report, we are done. You can get all the details for the goals in my dedicated post here, but for now I'm feeling unsure about this update. Recently this run of goal updates has impressed me, but there seem to a significant number of items in this particular effort which don't quite reach the heights, at least in my opinion. Luckily there's still time my view to change, with three more floor decorations still to be perused. Until then, avoid cactus chairs!
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