The year began with four consecutive updates of the winter variety, which included the Winter Animals crate and two goal sets. The first of these came with only eight days on the clock, while the second afforded us 15 days. In both cases it was unprecedented - quests had always been stretched out over three or four weeks, giving us plenty of time to unlock all the hidden goodies and start work on mastering the new recipes.
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| Items from second winter goal set as shown on Storm8 Blog |
It was the start of things to come. Every goal set since has provided at most 15 days for completion, with a few mini editions giving as little as five days. It's been a hugely significant change in the game's dynamic, with plenty of occasions throughout the last 12 months where players have been unable to finish a quest before the deadline. The shorter goals have laterally involved the focus being placed upon a particular appliance of yesteryear, with new recipes added and high demands in the accompanying tasks.
The general consensus has certainly been that the duration of goal sets is now too short. This has been pointed out to Storm8 via their forums on numerous occasions, but the game's developers seem to have become deaf to any feedback - the 15 day quests just keep on coming.
Into February and topical events were the order of the day. First was the Super Bowl which was marked with the Big Game Crate. Valentine's Day followed accompanied by goals, although there was only the one update dedicated to Valentine's. The same was the case in 2015 so this was by no means unprecedented, but it was a disappointment to many given that Valentine's is one of the big headlining themes on the Restaurant Story calendar.
Regular updates for Presidents' Day and Mardi Gras followed, but had a blank week between them, with the Mardi Gras stuff not arriving until the following Monday, the day before the event itself. The content was of a high quality, with the matching King and Queen of Mardi Gras a particular highlight. They could be used to help create the ultimate parade, but given the lateness of the release it was all a little after the Lord Mayor's show.
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| Introduction to Mardi Gras goals |
I had offered up some sketchy speculation regarding the lack of our usual Wednesday update the previous week, with news of more than half of the Storm8 workforce being made redundant almost certainly related to the absence of new content. And given that a number of other titles in the Storm8 fleet, including Bakery Story, did receive an update during that barren week, there was extra reason to be concerned for Restaurant Story's welfare.
Following that Mardi Gras update was a two week hiatus during which the entire community was left in a state of limbo. The real issue in my opinion during this time was the lack of communication from the game's developers. No updates during a difficult time for the company was perfectly reasonable, but not informing their loyal followers of the situation was not.
And on a similar note, the Storm8 Blog is now in the internet's equivalent of the graveyard. Not since the preview of the Presidents' Day update has there been a post on there which is a real shame. We've had dry spells before with the source of the update teasers, but given that it's now been nearly 11 months since any activity on there I think it's safe to say that it has been an unfortunate casualty of the lay-offs.
We would have to wait until mid-March for the next update of any note, with this being a 17 item strong St Patrick's Day sale. There were no new decorations introduced, but the Egg Salad Sandwich was brought back on the Basic Stove, and would be the first of many previously removed dishes to make a triumphant limited time return in 2017. And sales would be plentiful too, especially in the first six months of the year. Easter, May, summer and school were all among the themes which were celebrated with a collection of deals.
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| Notification for Easter 2017 sale |
A citrus based box update at the back end of March seemed fairly standard at the time, but in hindsight it was significant - it was the last update not to include a quest. It's almost strange now to think of a time when we juggled between goals, boxes and regular old updates, but it really did happen! Now we don't get anything other than goals, with a New York theme at the beginning of May introducing the final new box alongside a quest.
Among the early updates in the 'new era' was a theatre theme which built upon a release from four years earlier. This was one of my picks for the update of the year, not least since there were four floor decorations available on top of those unlocked in the goals. The Velvet Rope, Movie Screen and Red Carpet Stars were along the inclusions and were of a high standard.
It was around this time that a sparkly new feature was launched on this blog. The Crate Catalogue documents the contents of every box in the game, and based upon my page views over recent weeks and months when crates have gone on sale it appears to have been a big hit with readers. And on the subject of page views, near the end of July I celebrated one million visits to the blog. It was a milestone I'd been eyeing for some time, and to finally reach it was a proud moment. Now to aim for two million!
There were an abundance of summer themed updates in 2017 including two with a water park background. The first included the Lockers, Lifeguard and Water Slide, all of which are great items, and inspired a pool themed section in my restaurant when I did my annual revamp in July. The second introduced animals to the fray and I daresay will be featuring at my place in 2018.
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| Pool theme section at The Garlic Tree in July 2017 |
The only drawback with these updates really was the rising costs. Expensive content was a recurring problem in the second half of the year, culminating in late October with a table and chair set which - when buying four of each to satisfy the typical furniture goal - set us back a total of 208,000 coins.
In the middle of all those summer updates was one of the most peculiar we've ever seen - winter in July. Even if this had been Christmas in July it would have been somewhat acceptable, but instead heads were being scratched. And not helping proceedings was the fact that nearly everything was imported from Bakery Story - in my own words this update 'smacked of a lack of effort'. Ouch.
Borrowed stuff from the sister game (and others) became a running theme, perhaps best exemplified by the sea based goal set in August when there were both prizes and appliances 'borrowed' from Bakery Story. Overall I don't have a huge problem with this - as times may well be tough at Storm8 it makes sense to pool resources where possible, and so long as there remains some element of originality on a regular basis I think we can make do. Plus Bakery Story has some classic content which is well worth having in Restaurant Story such as the Beachy Hut which made the leap for the sunset goals. However based upon some of the criticism many don't agree with me!
| Content from sunset themed goals (courtesy of pcalbral03) |
That sunset based update managed to mix some superb stuff (chiefly the Beachy Hut and Beach Feast Table) with the 'truly awful' Plastic Table, Chair and Counter which were so dull and boring in appearance that I may be giving them the medal for the worst trio ever added.
The big innovation over the summer was the concept of bonus goals, a three-part quest activated around halfway through the main chain. These give players the opportunity to unlock a bonus item independent of the main strand of goals. They first appeared with a pirate themed update when the 4x4 sized Pirate Fountain was up for grabs, and have been a staple of full length goal sets ever since. There's been chances to obtain some seriously coveted decor of yesteryear with the highlights including the Headless Horseman and North Pole.
I really like these bonus goals as they are a nice way to get hold of something which would otherwise not be available or be rather costly. Moreover because they are independent of the main chain you can make the decision on whether to take them on without it impacting your progress in the main sequence of steps. I've passed at least a couple of times (having not previously skipped any quest in my entire playing career) and don't feel at all bad for doing so.
Into the seasonal themes then, and unlike the one hit wonder that was Valentine's in 2017, Halloween included three updates - two goal sets and a sale. This was the first ever case of two Halloween quests, and although neither came with a particularly clear theme, the second was stacked with puns from the horror genre. Across both goals the high point for me had to be the Creepy Doll in her rocking chair. Terrifying and well worth the 24,000 coin asking price.
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| Halloween 2017 at The Garlic Tree including Creepy Doll |
The Halloween sale included all five Halloween boxes to have appeared in the game as well as a range of other stuff. It was a good selection but was lacking in the Haunted House and Haunted Clock Tower which was undoubtedly a disappointment for some players who didn't already have them in their inventory.
Two Thanksgiving challenges came next, and were followed up by Black Friday. Always eventful, 2017's edition was no exception. The event lasted for the entirely of Thanksgiving weekend, with new content added each day - a first for Black Friday. On the Friday itself a range of stuff was made available including the Build a Snowman, a steal at 25 gems. Sadly I confused myself with the timings of the sale and missed out on this bargain but plenty of others didn't - a popular buy.
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| Black Friday 2017 sale items on Friday |
The last non-seasonal update of the year took us to Westeros and A Game of Thrones. A significant aspect of this release was that it was the first occasion in which a franchise has been represented in the original game (Restaurant Story 2 has had a number of them). There were some brilliant puns in the goal text with the gamemakers quite happy to get dangerously close to potentially fatal copyright issues. The decor was not so impressive but the concept itself was good fun and I'm now intrigued to see if the likes of Harry Potter and Star Wars will follow suit in the coming year.
Christmas was restricted to a single set of goals, with the content a little different from the norm. Instead of the standard fare there was a range of cultures and customs covered, both in the items and food. I had reservations at first given that Christmas is a time for tradition, but on reflection seeing different corners of the world recognised was fascinating. Plus I got the North Pole from the bonus goals which is a fantastic festive decoration.
Year in review posts
31/12/16 Year in review 2016
02/01/16 Year in review 2015
03/01/15 Year in review 2014
28/12/13 Year in review 2013
02/01/16 Year in review 2015
03/01/15 Year in review 2014
28/12/13 Year in review 2013
After the Christmas stretch there was time to squeeze in one last mini update before the year was out. It was a New Year theme which didn't actually have any New Year content, except for the long lost New Year Party which made a welcomed return. However the main talking point was the three new recipes on the Food Replicator which were re-coloured copies of the existing dishes. Not a good sign going forward.
It really was a funny kind of year with lots of change, headlined by the loss of regular and box updates. Going forward I would definitely like to see a return to different types of update. We had 22 batches of goals in 2017 compared with only 12 in 2016 - they do make the game more stressful and restrict the amount of time available for freestyle cooking and working on fully mastering recipes. However the flame is still burning strong which is as much as we could have hoped for after the difficult spell for Storm8 in the spring.
I say it every year, but given that turbulent period and the reliance on Bakery Story content from time to time it does feel like the end is drawing ever closer. Will 2018 be the year that the curtain falls on this game that we all love so dearly? There's only one way to find out, and the Restaurant Story Adventures blog will be there every step of the way. Happy New Year everyone!
Very nice article. For me this game has started to get very boring. Even know we get a new quest every week, it's basically the same thing over and over again with different decorations and recipes. This game is 7 years old now and it's age is showing. I also don't understand why Storm8 makes a sequel and then decides to stop the sequel and put all their energy into a 7 year old game.
ReplyDeleteTotally agree with you Paul. There's plenty of good moments in the game but there is a monotony to it these days.
DeleteI suspect the take-up of RS2 wasn't as strong as they hoped - I even wonder if it may have contributed to the lay-offs at Storm8 last year. Plus maybe the original game is cheaper to run. :)