Recettear - An Item Shop's Tale

yeah I'm really loving this game! I'm not a big fan of the art style but the game mechanics are awesome and difficult. I really like the dungeons for their almost rogue style.

Made it past the third week with much dough to spare.

Question for those further along - How do the store upgrades work? I understand store expansions allow you to display more stuff, which is good. How worthwhile is it to invest in new floors, vending machines, wallpaper, etc?? Does this increase your relationship with folks and increase their budgets at your store? Or is it just eye-candy for those with money to burn?

Vending machines are good to automate low price sales later in the game when you want to focus on the 50k+ sales but still have to stock some cheap dross. Don't know about cosmetic stuff. I'd suspect given the nature of the game and country of origin that certain 'secret' adventurers require the right combination of decor to start coming into the shop.

Maybe not specific combinations, but certain atmospheres certainly. Ill have to try going all-dark or all-gaudy.

These price fluctuations are really killing me. Everything came down to the last 2 days to meet my 200k payment. But then the price of food items dropped (which is like, a third of my sales). AND the price of metal items (which is almost everything) dropped as well. I picked up a lot of stuff cheap but I couldn't offload it. I just squeaked by on my payment.

One good thing about vending machines is that you can put undervalued items in them and they still sell for base price.

Tried the demo to see what all the hype was about, and came away bored to tears. It reminded me of the bastard child of Farmville (on steroids) and a cheap Kongregate-style hack & slash Flash game (like Amorphous+, but without the depth).

Can't win 'em all, I guess.

I haven't been able to put a ton of time into this yet, but I'm really liking it a lot. It's not an easy game though, I managed to make my first payment, but I'm not feeling confident that I'll make the second one. It's tough to figure out what customers are willing to pay, for the first 8 days or so I could sell anything for 130%, but the last few days I've had to go a lot lower than that to make any sells. I guess this is tied to the reputation system also, but I don't know how that works yet.

I didn't like the dungeons at first, but after plugging in my 360 controller, they were a lot more fun. The only thing that bugs me about the game is the amount of dialogue, especially in the first few days, feels like it takes forever before you really get to play.

Also, I would love to see a DS version of this game.

The dialog is skippable so it never bothered me much.

For dungeon crawling my tip would be to forge ahead. All of the monsters you fight reappear in later dungeons. So you don't lose much anything by going forward. Be careful with the final boss though. I got to the end of the third dungeon and she whipped my ass

Anyone who thinks this game is shallow should try out the fusion stuff. And some of the later dungeon bosses get pretty crazy.

Kosars wrote:

I haven't been able to put a ton of time into this yet, but I'm really liking it a lot. It's not an easy game though, I managed to make my first payment, but I'm not feeling confident that I'll make the second one. It's tough to figure out what customers are willing to pay, for the first 8 days or so I could sell anything for 130%, but the last few days I've had to go a lot lower than that to make any sells. I guess this is tied to the reputation system also, but I don't know how that works yet.

I didn't like the dungeons at first, but after plugging in my 360 controller, they were a lot more fun. The only thing that bugs me about the game is the amount of dialogue, especially in the first few days, feels like it takes forever before you really get to play.

Also, I would love to see a DS version of this game.

While you can sell for Max profit at the beginning of the game, you really want to focus on improving your reputation with customers. Until they like you (have what they want on hand and sell it to them on the first try at close to a target # they have, usually around 107% of the base) their budget is very restricted. Improve the relationship and their budget cap may go from 1500 to 8000 pix, for example.

Once you get the hang of it you may want to start over. My second game was much more rewarding.

Yeah I would recommend familiarizing yourself with the mechanics then starting over. My first game failed because I focused too much on haggling down to the wire instead of building up a reputation. Later in the game I just couldn't sell enough to meet the 80k deadline.

Philippe wrote:

Lie Bot, what is the saddest thing?

Lie Bot wrote:

IMAGE(http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/images/10/july/recettear2.jpg)

MightyMooquack wrote:
Philippe wrote:

Lie Bot, what is the saddest thing?

Lie Bot wrote:

IMAGE(http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/images/10/july/recettear2.jpg)

Bankruptcy, ho!

I just started a New Game+. I'm having just as much if not more fun this time around. A lot of your stats and inventory carries over. So making money this time around is far less stressful. This leaves more time for dungeon crawling and hitting story triggers. Something you don't have a lot of time to do in your very first game.

Things I learned from my first playthrough:
1. It can be tempting to buy loads of merchandise from the guild and market to fill out your store. You can quickly flip them for about a 30-50% profit. But finding items in a dungeon and selling them for a +100% profit is much better. Buying items when prices are low is a good strategy. You may make less profit buying stuff when prices are high. But you can potentially sell items for double.
2. Certain fusion recipes are really easy and only need 2 components. (Some of them can have more than 30) When you find components for these items always take them with you.
3. Unless you need a ton of them, or the item is especially rare. (fur balls are always needed in big quantities) Always dump ingredients without a + bonus. When you craft an item it adds up all of the bonuses from every ingredient. So items without a bonus are wasted potential. I once crafted a +15 shield.
4. Never repeat a dungeon level you have already explored. Always move forward, you will find better loot and more of it. Monster types repeat eventually, so don't go back to the amber way just to farm the rabbits.
5. Keep an inventory of all item types and tiers. Sometimes a customers just wants a cheap trinket and won't buy a pricier item.
6. If you leave in the morning and go directly to adventurng, skipping the shops. You can go dungeon crawling twice a day.

7. Maintaining a few of the cheapest of every category of item will let you make unexpected sales and extend your chains, which are very important for leveling.
8. When someone comes in for a preorder, and those items are price-depressed, sell them your cheapies. Hang onto the expensive ones until prices recover.
9. Remember you make money on the buy, not the sell.

I finished the first playthrough last night and was able to do it without looping so it's possible. Couple tips.

When items are high make the most of that time period. I made a killing selling armor and weapons at 208% during those times. It was essential to making enough to pay off Tear the final two weeks.

It really is necessary to level up your merchant skill and build rep with your customers. I never went above 104% for normal items and 208% for higher priced items.

Before you end the game stock up on items so you'll have just over 500,000 pix. When you start a new game + the money doesn't carry over but your item stock does.

Bullion Cube wrote:

While you can sell for Max profit at the beginning of the game, you really want to focus on improving your reputation with customers. Until they like you (have what they want on hand and sell it to them on the first try at close to a target # they have, usually around 107% of the base) their budget is very restricted. Improve the relationship and their budget cap may go from 1500 to 8000 pix, for example.

Once you get the hang of it you may want to start over. My second game was much more rewarding.

Thanks for the tips, I didn't even know you could get them to accept your first offer, so clearly I've been trying to charge too much. It definitely feels like a game that requires a lot of experimentation to get right.

208% !? I had no idea.

You can only charge 200% or more when the price of a type of item is high. This is why its worth building up a large inventory. If you try to purchase items at high prices you can still make money. Instead of buying the item for 70% or so, you have to pay 90%. But you can potentially sell for 260%. Its really just risk vs reward.

Keep a scorecard for each customer, every time you see a heart put a tick beside their name. I counted 5 hearts for the Young Man, but he still can't afford to pay about 30k. And once you have a high rep level you can start going for profit more than rep. 5 hearts means they can afford just about anything you can buy from the market or guild, so gouge away. Most customers will pay 125%. Some will go a bit higher, like the guild master. Others are a bit more thrifty like the Young Woman and Little Girl.

Yea, I haven't been tracking hearts. I wish Tear could tell you how your relationships were doing with all your customers. Right now I'm stuck playing a guessing game.

Good to know that you can go that high when the item's price goes up. I'd been selling at around 150%.

Quick question on vending machines. Can you adjust the stock whenever you want? I planned to put items with depressed values in there, but I want to be able to take them out when the price normalizes. Is this an option?

Bullion Cube wrote:

Yea, I haven't been tracking hearts. I wish Tear could tell you how your relationships were doing with all your customers. Right now I'm stuck playing a guessing game.

Good to know that you can go that high when the item's price goes up. I'd been selling at around 150%.

Quick question on vending machines. Can you adjust the stock whenever you want? I planned to put items with depressed values in there, but I want to be able to take them out when the price normalizes. Is this an option?

You can swap inventory inside the vending machine at any time so don't worry.

You can even sell vending machines through vending machines -- those are big-ticket items, lots of profit.

I played the demo for a good 30 minutes last night. I really liked the game, but with so much on my plate right now I think I will end up just waiting till the x-mas sale. I wish there was a bit more to the action RGP element. Does the combat get any more interesting, or is it basically just press A to attack and thats it?

Kerplunk wrote:
MightyMooquack wrote:
Philippe wrote:

Lie Bot, what is the saddest thing?

Lie Bot wrote:

IMAGE(http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/images/10/july/recettear2.jpg)

Bankruptcy, ho!

This is what happened to me - and that damn fairy had NO sympathy AT ALL!

I tried explaining that I had done my best and that if those cheap old dudes who were probably going to reject my low prices anyway had just stayed at home, I would have had the money! And Tear was all, "Sorry, loser - I'd love to listen, but I'm putting in a jacuzzi and minibar where your bed used to be."

Remember that clearing the debt does not mean the game is over. There are dungeons and adventurers that don't even unlock until post debt events.

You can probably unlock them sooner if you spend a lot of time adventuring. But while under debt most people won't have time to do both. Thats what makes a New Game+ so awesome.

Tamren wrote:

You can probably unlock them sooner if you spend a lot of time adventuring. But while under debt most people won't have time to do both. Thats what makes a New Game+ so awesome.

No. There are areas you will not be able to access until out from debt.

There are a ton of dungeons. Your initial 5 level dungeon, a 15 level dungeon, a 30 level dungeon, a 50 level dungeon, a 100 level dungeon, and then a final dungeon that I am not sure the length on.

New characters are unlocked at the end of each dungeon. You will not reach the end of those dungeons during your debt phase. In New Game+, your dungeon progress resets. You have to basically keep playing after you pay off your debts to access those things.

I find the appropriate price for selling items that are "Red" value that day is

Spoiler:

Roughly 225%. I found at 208% I wasn't getting any Near Pins, so I kept bumping it up until I started getting them with some frequency. At 225% I get a Near Pin about a quarter of the time, so the 104% equivalent is probably within a percentage or two of that point.

Do the customer hearts carry over if you loop?

Mr Crinkle wrote:

Do the customer hearts carry over if you loop?

Definitely seems that way to me. I beat the debt on loop 3, and it was pretty wicked easy at that point. Failed the first time on debt 1, the second on the final ridonkulous debt.

On big sales, I beat Prozacs, but didn't get a screenshot. I would have if I'd known there was competition for it, but it was selling 2x Golden Scales to Alouette on a high price day. Sale was for a whopping 145k, as I sold them to her at the outrageous rate of 300% base value.

Oh, and the game is fantastic and every positive thing everyone has said is true.

Mordiceius wrote:
Tamren wrote:

You can probably unlock them sooner if you spend a lot of time adventuring. But while under debt most people won't have time to do both. Thats what makes a New Game+ so awesome.

No. There are areas you will not be able to access until out from debt.

Sweet. Well I got Louie up to level 30 on my first game which pretty much made him untouchable. I'm going to try out Charme this time.

I'm trying Charm out too. I found her a bit too weak the first time around, but by new game + she's bought decent equipment for herself, and I can build her up as I go through the early levels. Much easier to compensate for her short range weapon now.

Edit - Anyone know how to trigger access to the dungeons? I'm on day 15 on new game +, and am waiting for the Amber Way to open up. I cleared Jade Path twice, quickly, and have been working on my merchant level since then. Do I need to talk to people in town? Dungeon crawl more?