by Estim20, HSM Editor

There’s a certain ‘it’ factor for Granzella items. Much like Lockwood, nDreams, or Juggernaut, the company doesn’t simply release something – they take care in what they produce and justify their position in the premium category. Plus they do have a ton of bundles for the budget-conscious, giving you more than your money’s worth even if we look at individual expression exclusively.

The bulk of their content is still a seminal summary of Japanese culture tropes, ranging from the familiar (samurai) to the anime-inspired (Nostalgia School Days, sentai) to the historical period pieces (Edo!). If anything Japanese catches your eye, as I have mentioned since time not-quite-immemorial, Granzella is the developer du jour. You won’t be disappointed.

Of course, it wouldn’t be proper to view Granzella solely on their weekly avatar content. Home is known for numerous features, not the least of which is the Event. The Event (with an unnecessary capital E, perhaps) is a great social feature for an MMO already saturated with socialization. If Xi has taught us anything, we enjoy a good Event and Home needs more of them. So what happens when you combine ‘event’ and ‘Granzella’ in the same sentence?

We know the result of that combination, and have ever since Irem left the gates unlocked – Granzella is a huge content provider for annual celebrations, giving us more reason to be Home for the holidays. When it isn’t letting us fight the Kikai Empire or vanquish demonic spiders, the company is decking the halls with everything from snow to flights of fancy. The latter is even a bit literal: for the past few holidays, Granzella made sure we could fly like Peter Pan into the stratosphere.

With Christmas upon us soon and New Year’s the next hurdle beyond that, there is plenty of holiday cheer to spread evenly across Home. We have been (mostly) good this year so Home unleashed a few new goodies from its mysterious sack of toys this year – and Granzella isn’t one to disappoint. Let’s take a peek into the update.

NOTE: With the sale as the sole exception, these are updates for SCEE Home this week, in a slight departure from the updates in the past month that hit both SCEE and SCEA.

Sales Watch

The sales continues this week, with GZ Tickets (in size 240) now offered as of December 18^th. Last week the Edo sale entered the ring, after the Fossil Sale. Each will continue until the 8^th of January, meaning we’ll be able to enjoy all the holiday values until the week after New Year’s Day. Exactly one week after New Year’s – that’s a nice touch.

Offering GZ Tickets should be a positive step for anyone hoping to participate in the various venues that require tickets. Much like Midway, Granzella offers unique interactive games that use tickets – which require cash, and there is no free alternative. The main draw, from the sale’s perspective, is the archaeological excavation mini-game where you uncover fossils deep in the rock walls across South Island Hideaway. While one rock wall is free (as are the basic tools), combining the fossil sale with the tickets should give you access to the paid (i.e. tickets required) excavation site and a fossil museum to display specimens as their remains are gradually unearthed.

For those who aren’t absorbed by the thought of exhuming prehistoric creatures’ skeletons, GZ tickets are also useful for the photo booths in each of Granzella’s public spaces. With the various sales going on this month, however, it would perhaps behoove the average user to take advantage of what’s offered before it’s too late. Especially considering that any fossils earned are also earned as furniture items.

Clothing Sets

If this should serve as an indication for anything, let it serve as an indication that the City by the Bay Loft succeeded in sales. It is a highly popular space, judging from its reception, and now we’re seeing the fruits of our financial labors: clothing sets fit for a San Fransciscan.

Both men and women earn a bundle, designed around the very American aesthetic of the city by the bay. For men, Granzella offers a t-shirt and jacket bundle, with a capeline hat that almost seems out of place with the rest of the ensemble. For women, there is the striped dress bundle that assuredly welcomes spring over winter.

From Granzella: “Casual style with a Capeline Hat on top!

Granzella introduces the new Diagonal Stripe Dress Outfit Set and T-shirt, Glasses Around Neck & Jacket Outfit Set.

A ribbon around your hat tops off these casual, yet stylish sets.

Looking for a chic dress? The women’s set features a Capeline Hat with Ribbon (Large/Small), Diagonal Stripe Dress, and Backstrap Mules. Available in Black, White, and Purple.

How about a snazzy new jacket? For men, the set features a Capeline Hat with Ribbon (Large/Small), T-shirt with Glasses Around Neck and Jacket, Striped Shorts, and Slip-on Sneakers. Available in Grey, White, and Red.

Time to head out…don’t forget your hat!”

The bundles should easily carry us over into spring, even while winter ravages the country currently. The stripe dress set offers a bit more formality to the occasion, in contrast to the more casual attire donned by the men in the t-shirt and jacket set. Somehow the hat for it reminds me of the Merry Pranksters from 30 Rock – and thus I half-expect Frank and/or Lutz to prance out from beneath the bushes, telling us we fell for one of their schemes.

Either case, these are distinctively in Granzella’s line of causal/formal wear with a side of currently trendy, as opposed to period pieces from Edo or trope-savvy attire. Fashion shows may benefit greatly from additional options, without seeming like they pulled from a production of Rashomon or Power Rangers.  Anything to add to the current trends of fashionhood is exceedingly welcome and they do compliment the space as well.

City by the Bay Furniture

It is fitting we see some furniture for the City by the Bay Loft, in addition to the new clothing options. City by the Bay is getting a heaping spoonful of attention in December, as seems fitting.

So, one of the issues of decorating City by the Bay (as is the case with a few other spaces, actually) is its sheer size. Four copious floors and a backyard lay empty when you load the loft up for the first time and anyone nervous about leaving such a space untouched will be driven further anxious by the daunting task of filling the space provided. The 72 free items included go a long way towards making it feel like home, especially as they are themed appropriately, but there is only so much one can do without furniture for specific rooms of the house. This is doubly true if you would desire furniture either designed for the loft specifically or feels just right for it, even if not so designed. Triple the problem when you see that a good portion of the 72 free items are plants.

Well, Granzella understands the obstacles provided and offers some relief for the decorator in all of us. This week SCEE will see living room, dining room, and breakfast/dinner bundles for the interior decorator’s attempts at solving the space issue, and I’d be lying if I said they weren’t welcome. The packs are a collection of ornaments and furniture that fit the theme, ranging from chairs and tables to food fitting the meals mentioned.

Both the living room and dining room furniture come in four different colors, the breakfast set includes six pieces and the dinner set is a seven-piece collection. Combine these with the features already present in the space and City by the Bay Loft is one of the most customizable personal spaces yet. The furniture bundles should help with the attempts to fill the space appropriately, as even 100 items can be stretched thin with such a personal space (never mind what happens with active items involved).

New Year’s 2014

Round out the year with a little New Year’s celebration and catch the first sunrise of 2014. This coincides with the sale, since why not also celebrate the New Year with a few purchase? Out with the old, in with the new!

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