So, the world hasn't fallen completely to shit yet... at least, I haven't heard anything more from the India/Pakistan spat lately, so we'll call that progress. The rest of you habitual bad actors, kindly keep fucking off.
That said... I can't help but wonder, if the current unsettled state of the world didn't play a factor in my deciding to hop back into Book of Hours again. I mean, sure there was the new DLC "House of Light", and a wad of unspent Christmas Steam-cash involved as well, but the vibe of "things are no longer fully under control, if ever they were" just gels so well with that game.
Since we all know I like the game, how about the DLC? Well, honestly, I don't really know yet. In truth, I've only used one feature of the DLC at all so far, which lets you collect the addresses of visitors you've serviced previously, the better to invite them back at time(s) of your choosing... which I've mainly used so I don't have to choose between meeting their needs and demanding they teach me that juicy language I'm currently missing. I fully intend to do the whole cooking and hosting salons thing, when I can figure out cooking and/or have spare cash to spend on ingredients. Hopefully, I'll also stumble across the "further stories" mechanic at some point as well. All in all, it doesn't significantly alter the base game, from what I can see so far, but does provide at least one quality-of-life improvement. Is it worth full price? Normally, I'd say no, but if the game itself has bitten you well enough that you'll come back to it again and again, the extra texture it provides is certainly nice.
EDIT: A week on, and I've worked out cooking, hosting, and further stories. Cooking, well, newer ingredients list hints in their descriptions, while older ingredients often work on their own (for example, grapes can be made into a grape salad at the oven).
Hosting is a bit more complex - different hosting areas have differing requirements (you're not holding a picnic in the ballroom, nor a formal dinner in the garden), and the guests all have their food and drink preferences. Meet those requirements, and you can start the salon, which you have to watch over and feed cards to progress successfully. It's a bit of a nuisance, but the rewards (in the form of Lessons) are good enough that it's limited to once a season.
Further stories... well, it's thematically strong, but mechanically weak. Basically, each Incident involves a number of major players, and further stories asks you to bring one back to ask how it all turned out. They'll tell you, then, oh by the way, some unintended consequences of that action are running amok, and they'd like your assistance in addressing that, either using your Skills or providing a specific reference book. Unfortunately, they don't tell you what book you need by title or anything like that, but by a description of its contents. Unless you're seriously internalizing the bits of story the books provide, you're likely to be left with an "I think I remember something like that" feeling as you sift through all your collected books. Very librarian, but very annoying in-game.
Does any of this change my mind about the DLC as a whole? Nope, still a "nice to have" for people already obsessed with the main game, and that's it.
No comments:
Post a Comment