Those who love trend simulation video games as a lot as I do will doubtless bear in mind a collection for the Nintendo and 3DS generally known as Style Savvy (often known as Style Boutique and Girls Mode). Developed by Syn Sophia, this collection of video games was distinctive.
They every had their very own tales as to the way you got here into proudly owning a boutique of your personal, you’d meet vigorous, memorable characters throughout your time as a stylist, and most significantly, you had customisation choices galore. Since the discharge of Style Savvy: Styling Star in 2017, which featured a pop idol twist, followers have been in want of a brand new dress-up sport like Style Savvy for the Nintendo Switch.
Syn Sophia listened, after all, and lately dished out Fashion Dreamer for Nintendo’s hybrid handheld. That mentioned, regardless of being unable to place it down for the previous week or two, it was removed from what I’d hoped. As a lot enjoyable as it’s at hand out my unwarranted trend recommendation to folks, the sport is uninteresting, flat, and lifeless in comparison with its non secular predecessors.
We’re dwelling within the age of social media (or the collapse of it, in case you’re feeling cynical), and Fashion Dreamer has tried to make this the core caveat of its sport, to its detriment. Rather than opening up a boutique, tending to prospects’ wants and visiting the Exhibition Hall to purchase new garments, Fashion Dreamer is all about gaining social media followers. The memorable characters we beforehand had have been exchanged for caricatures that aren’t half as participating, your ‘boutique’ is merely a Showroom that gamers can go to somewhat than having any substantial objective, and even clothes customisation feels half as thrilling because it as soon as did.
With all of that in thoughts, this didn’t cease me from tirelessly enjoying the sport for hours on finish. While it’s removed from what I anticipated it to be, and much faraway from how lively and engagement the Style Savvy collection was, there’s nonetheless quite a lot of enjoyable available in allotting unwarranted trend recommendation to NPCs or different participant’s Muses. Each time you achieve this, you achieve followers, and the extra followers you achieve, the extra hub areas (generally known as Cocoons) that you may go to.
Even then, the joy of unlocking a brand new hub space to discover is missing; they’re all the identical, that includes some characters to present trend recommendation to, a salon, and a pop-up space the place you may gather new garments. There’s no incentive to truly preserve going with Fashion Dreamer after some time; you’re not boosting a boutique’s earnings anymore, you don’t should diligently earn money from prospects to purchase new clothes objects, and so forth. There’s no limits, which is nice for some gamers, however damaging for simply how participating the sport truly is.
Syn Sophia has efficiently modernised the collection, and it is actually not let gamers down when it comes to simply what number of objects of clothes can be found. If you need a sport the place you may repeatedly dress-up characters over and over in new clothes, Fashion Dreamer is simply that. You can take loads of photographs of your characters outfits, amass an enormous social media following, and unlock extra garments whereas doing so. But that’s it for Fashion Dreamer’s gameplay loop. It’s related sufficient to the Style Savvy collection, however the lack of a problem or an overarching purpose past gaining as many social media followers as attainable seems like a let-down.
Let me reiterate that as lifeless as Fashion Dreamer usually feels, I nonetheless can’t name it a foul sport. I undoubtedly had enjoyable enjoying it, and can little doubt return to it once I really feel like mindlessly enjoying dress-up. But the shortage of a problem, purpose, or any actual gameplay past amassing cult standing among the many trend world has seen me doing one factor I by no means fairly imagined doing in 2023, and that’s returning to Style Savvy. While Fashion Dreamer is undoubtedly granting the liberty that I think about quite a lot of gamers have been dreaming of, I can’t fairly assist however miss the problem that its non secular predecessors supplied.
