My Switch could be a lot more fashionable
I remember buying the first Style Savvy as something of a lark. My roommate and I were heavily into DS gaming at the time, and for weeks, we’d been inundated with advertisements for Nintendo’s new fashion game. We couldn’t escape it. It was everywhere, and over time, all of those ads started to work as we became completely addicted to the idea of running our own boutique. The last time either of us felt such a crazed passion about the same game was right before Cooking Mama was released a few years earlier.
We got some funny faces going into GameStop to pick up our copies, particularly because mine was actually preordered. As soon as we got home, we popped our games into our DS Lites and played that day until our batteries died. We shared fashion tips, visited each other’s shops, and faced off in runway competitions. It immediately hooked us, and for me, it was yet another Nintendo franchise I would never be able to say no to.
Nintendo followed up the DS original with three sequels, all for the Nintendo 3DS: Trendsetters, Fashion Forward, and Styling Star. I’ve owned all of them, reviewed two of them, and since last year, I’ve been saying little prayers in the hope that Nintendo and syn Sophia finally announce the fifth game in the series for Switch.
I’ve been thinking a lot recently about the types of games I like and trying to figure out just why it is I like them. Because the spectrum of games I enjoy is pretty vast. I mean, how many other regular Apex Legends players also make time for something like Gal*Gun or Lapis X Labyrinth? Can’t be more than a handful, right? The more I’ve thought about it, the more I’ve come to realize that as western titles grow more “serious” in content, I need these out-there niche Japanese games to cleanse my palate, to provide some respite. Basically, they’re what keeps gaming interesting to me.
That’s what Style Savvy has been for me for all these years. It’s an even more casual experience than Animal Crossing, and unlike a lot of its competitors — Ubisoft’s Imagine series, for instance — it’s never felt like a budget experience. Sure, a lot of the fashion and styles are reused between games, but every Style Savvy looks as though it has the same level of polish you’d expect from a Nintendo-published title. Also, and I cannot stress this enough, the doe-eyed girls of the Style Savvy series look worlds better than the dead-eyed girls of the Imagine Fashion Designer games.
There’s been some speculation that Nintendo and syn Sophia had another edition of Style Savvy in the works for the Nintendo 3DS but canned it due to the handheld’s rapid decline in the face of the Switch. With the Switch Lite a hit and Nintendo advertising becoming more female-focused with each new commercial, I would like to think another Style Savvy is in the cards. I know it’s a relative niche franchise for Nintendo, one that isn’t a priority for Nintendo of America judging by its handling of the last two games, but if Clubhouse Games can find new life and a new audience on Switch, surely this Barbie simulator can too.
Just please, for the love of God, no more full-length denim skirts. I’m running a fashion boutique here, not a Sears.
