Rainy Day Apartment
by Jin Lovelace, HSM team writer & filmmaker
Though the Challenge events in Home are one of the great ways to have something to do while logged in, there haven’t been a lot of items that caught my attention. Some fashion items here and there, a decoration commodity that would be my only reason to play Scribble Shooter again to collect my achievement points…but afterwards, my interest would come to a screeching halt, since the rest of the free goods just weren’t that appealing to me.
I’m appreciative of the free items and the labor that went in on the rewards. I mean after all, you mention “free items” to the few and they will flock to the menu screen in attempts to collect them all. But that’s just not me these days. I mean, unless the item beckons my attention (along with something called “motivation”).
But this month is much different. We have two free personal spaces up for grabs via the two loyalty programs Home currently offers. While the Lakeside Oasis might take you a couple of months to reach the required level to obtain, the Rainy Day Apartment takes only a couple of weeks to acquire if you’re diligent enough to grind for the last level before the season ends.
So. What’s good about this space? How did this apartment catch my eye? And the biggest question: is it worth it?
Keep in mind: this is, in fact, a re-skin of the default Habour Studio, but with one less feature. You’ll notice upon entering this abode that it may look familiar, but you’ll suddenly feel disconnected a bit from the original space. Granted, the light switches on the wall are available, but you can’t turn off the back light near the door; it stays lit.
Secondly, the missing feature is the wallpaper option. This was one of the brightest features that allowed versatility to your small abode. With this gone, it shortens your options a tad bit on your choices of hues to use in this space. This might be a big deal to some, so understand that going in.
But what’s makes this worthy of your time this season? Well, if you’re one of the many that wished for the studio to have a different time of day with rain effects, this is exactly what you’re getting — and then some.
The backdrop here is nearly as breathtaking as the Island Bungalow, with the soft reds bouncing off the walls and the rain clouds passing over the sky. While your decorative colors might be somewhat limited, this is definitely a much more cozier feel. The rain sound effect is delightfully tranquil to the ears; the wet windows add a great touch, along with the active lighthouse in the distance.
Those these good points may give some merit to partaking in this season’s grind fest, I’ll remind you again that this is, after all, a reskin of the Harbour Studio. As opposed to the past three challenge seasons that offered compact spaces that hadn’t (and possibly will never) meet my taste, this is a step up — albeit an upgrade to an existing space that many would feel right at home with.
Which leads to different question: is this a good move for Sony? Reskinning old estates made with previous iterations of the Home client opens up the door for consumers to ask for more such reskinning. Do you think it’s a possibility to offer a space that many missed out upon during Home’s closed beta phase — the Chamber Apartment? Or, instead of offering Jess’ Party House (which is a redesign of the Summer House), how about a rainy variation of the estate?
Do you think winning re-skinned spaces is worth playing the Challenge events, instead of winning generic apartment spaces that lack imagination?
Overall, I think it would be a good idea to pursue reskinning older properties, but that’s just me. The Rainy Day Apartment may be a rehash default space, but it’s definitely worth the grind if you were interested in having a Harbour Studio with rain effects and a more overcast setting that establishes a calm mood; one that you could kick back on your couch and change the LOOT Radio to the jazz station and let a piece from Paul Hardcastle take your mind into relaxing nature.
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