Review: Fashion Dreamer (Nintendo Switch)

Fashion Dreamer is a fun and cute open world fashion game in which you collect clothes to dress up yourself and others. You can start your own clothing brand, create your own clothes, and build up your image. When Fashion Dreamer was announced, a lot of people assumed it would be like Style Savvy, a fashion franchise also created by Syn Sophia, but for the DS. While there are a lot of similarities between the games, Fashion Dreamer lacks the depth Style Savvy had, making this new title a bit of a disappointment.

You start Fashion Dreamer with the ability to create your own character, choosing the body type (though all are pretty skinny), skin color, gender, hair, eyes, lips, nose, etc. You get to choose your name, as well, and you’re then sent into a tutorial to learn the basics of the game. In Fashion Dreamer, your main goal is to create an image for yourself and your brand. You want to gain as many followers as you can, and you do so by showcasing your fashion skills, which can be done in many ways.

The easiest way is by dressing up yourself or others. When you dress your own character, other players will be able to see you in their game. If they like your style, they can walk up to you and literally “like” your outfit. Liking your outfit not only helps you gain followers, but it also allows them to add your clothes to their inventory so they can style themselves and others. This is super helpful when you’re wearing your own brand, as it allows you to get your name out there. You are able to like other player’s outfits and gain their clothes as well.

Dressing other players also helps you to gain followers as well. In your profile, you are able to list your favorite color, pattern, and style, as well as your most wanted item. When dressing other players, these options are shown so that you can match their preferences. The better you do in matching their needs, the more stars you get.

You are also rewarded with bingo tickets, which can be used to play bingo and win prizes. The outfit you created will be sent to the player, and you’ll be given followers from it. If they like your outfit, they get to keep it, and you get more followers from it. When other players dress you up, you can also like the outfit to keep it.

Both in offline and online-mode, you also have the option to dress NPCs. This is where I think Fashion Dreamer started to lose me. Since there’s no story that takes place in this game, a lot of it is just repetitive dressing up. We faced this in the Style Savvy games, as well, as the story died down. What makes it hard to stay interested in Fashion Dreamer is that even the NPCs have no story to them. They are very monotone characters who don’t have any real personalities except for one liners. They also don’t have any preferences as to what clothes they want. They do have specific styles, but there’s no real penalty if you don’t match their styles. Sometimes the NPCs will have an exclamation point above their head, in which case they want something more specific, but it’s usually very easy to find. Even your “boutique” is more like a showcase room for your designs. Every once in a while an NPC will show up, but all they do is ask for an item you have showcased.

If you want a game where all you have to do is dress yourself and others up, do your makeup, hair, and design clothes, then Fashion Dreamer is perfect. Its wide collection of clothing and styles is super fun, and allows you to create many different outfits. Though designing your own clothes lacks a lot of personalization, it’s still fun to pick certain items, change their colors, and claim them as your own. The fashion elements of this game have definitely been given an upgrade since Style Savvy, and have a more modern approach.

However, if you want this game because you like the story and challenges of managing your own store and customers, it may be best to just stick with Style Savvy; there’s just no real challenge to Fashion Dreamer. It’s a well made game with great graphics and animations, but it lacks the heart and drive that Style Savvy had, which may leave many fans disappointed.