Imagine my surprise when I was suddenly told the game released yesterday (or well, technically the 16th with timezones). While it is digital only, I’m still thrilled to see it. It didn’t get much of an announcement beyond a website update and a video over on Youtube:
Don’t feel bad if you’re unaware of the series. We’ve only gotten one other title translated in English actually– Girls’ Fashion Shoot Catalog, a digital only game for the 3DS. I really enjoyed it, finding it a bit more relaxing and less hectic than Style Savvy. MODEL Debut3 #nicola actually released in Japan last year.
The game has you becoming a model, generally for a magazine, but also occasionally branching out for other projects. When doing these projects, you will also get to decorate and design the photo shoot which gives me nostalgic reminders from when I’d print out all the outfits that I’d make in a Barbie Design game I played and staple it together into a real design magazine. Maybe I’ll show it off one day.
When doing magazine assignments, you are given a set of clothing options along with anything you personally own while other assignments will generally only use your wardrobe so like with Style Savvy, you may want to try and have other clothing items to make sure you can cater to different themes. You’re pretty much taking jobs and doing your best on the assignments to get all the way to the top Model spot (or in this one, specifically just an S level ranking). And if you’d rather watch a video, you can find my playthrough over here.
The game kicks off with you having just passed the Model Auditions, but you still aren’t part of an agency. You decide to take a walk to clear your head which leads to you designing your character.
While the game features more options than Fashion Dreamer in some ways (with a filter and categories closer to Style Savvy with a few additions), others it drags down as you have no body-related options (height or anything else) and a lot less skin tones with barely any for darker shades (at best, a darkish tan).
I ended up settling on this appearance, with being able to have a nice wavy full ponytail probably being my favorite part, even if I have mixed feelings on the bangs. Regardless, I made my outfit to head out and the story began.
While taking a stroll, you’ll end up running into Reigo, the first of three characters you can apparently date, who thinks you have the perfect look for his music video. After doing this, you’ll end up naming your character and giving them some personality. I really do wish there were more options– of the personality types, Diligent felt like the closest I could pick for my character, but it really wouldn’t have been the main choice…
Due to the success of the music video, you end up finding an Agency and get to create your first Portrait. The Agency is where you will get all the magazine assignments.
You will then get to pick from four options to do your first job. Each job has you design and outfit and then Magazine Page/cover for that outfit/theme. I generally like keeping what they pick, but occasionally I may make a few adjustments.
After finishing this, I essentially was introduced to how the time system works in the game: You get two activities every week (with four per month): A Work activity and a Day off activity. Work activity is doing any assignment, such as the Magazine ones, while a Day off allows you to either pick a location to hangout to up your stats or talk to one of the NPCs you’ve met (so far, only one has been on the map at a time). While the first meeting with them is free, subsequent meetings may require you to have certain stats from other places first.
Finishing a work assignment will immediately take you to a Rest Day while doing one of the Rest Day options will take you to a new week to pick a new work assignment. You can hang out in your room to change, make or edit new portraits, or go shopping during either option and they will not count towards the day changes. I was very excited to buy this Teddy Bear.
Right now, I just have the Girly store, but more are supposed to unlock as I get further into the game. And after shopping quite a bit, I made a new outfit I was very excited about. I do wish you could just… update your Portraits with a new outfit though over having to remake them entirely.
I ended up knocking out my other assignments…
…Getting my first stat point from the Library…
…And even getting my first Duo Assignment as well.
I also did grab a new lipstick from the Make-up store as I felt it was closer to natural than the actual “no lipstick/natural” option is. I don’t plan to buy any other options from there, but maybe if a nicer wavy ponytail shows up…
I then decided to take a break for a bit because I’m still really sick and the game initially crashed during the Duo Assignment, so I figured maybe it needed a break.
As mentioned before, I really like just being able to pick from a selection of items for what I want to use for an assignment rather than having to stock up. It’s also super nice having a story. I’m still going to continue playing Fashion Dreamer and if a Style Savvy ever comes out for Switch (or Switch 2), I’m sure I’ll grab that too, but I’m excited to have another fashion game to play. If you prefer just modeling outfits and having story, you may like this, but do keep in mind that there is less personalization in some assets of the game.