Let us preface this review by saying that our first introduction to the GameHouse catalog was Sally's Salon: Kiss and Make-Up. Perhaps everything in our lives will pale in comparison after that, but Angela's Fashion Fever felt especially disappointing.
First, the gameplay. It goes without saying that any game in this genre is inherently repetitive and simple. That's what we all come here for, isn't it? However, after the first chapter where Angela leaves her job at the repetitive time management boutique, there is no explained reason to continue working at repetitive time management boutiques all over the world. Yet she does, despite being in a high stakes intense fashion design competition that should be taking up all of her time.
Story reasons aside, certain aspects of the gameplay are never explained properly and often frustrating and confusing because of this. I'm looking at you, bird feathers in Rio and roses in Paris. You can't possibly try to explain to me why we're rubbing golden mica powder on a dress and making it gold every single time someone wants a gold dress. When it first came up, I spent an absurd amount of time trying to find the nonexistent ombre sunglasses in my store, only to realize that I must hand dip them myself. Enjoy the still wet paint, models!
Then there are the mandatory dress-making challenges you must endure each chapter in order to move on, while still having to run the boutique. These challenges are the only reason that I ever failed or had to restart a level. The box opening one in particular (which also makes no sense after chapter one, but I digress) where all of the materials fly everywhere and you have to pick them up one at a time throughout the course of the level but ONLY when it calls for a certain item, is EXTREMELY terrible. Even pausing the game and trying to look for the item covers up half of the screen, so you can't even cheat properly. Sometimes you pick up the item it called for, and by the time you put it on the mannequin, it is no longer the item it called for. And if you have extra hired help or lots of customers in the store, it is even more impossible to find the items called for, because half the time the people will cover up the useless item you need. The other challenges are annoying at best but never as bad as this one.
The espresso machine in Milan was the only gimmick in the game that attempted to have anything to do with the location you were supposed to be in. The dress choices, specifically in Tokyo and Rio, felt like strange cliches that had nothing to do with the appearance of the dress, and only added to the lack of cohesion in theming.
As for the sad excuse of a story in this game, one can describe it no better than too little butter spread over too much bread. This game is an excessive 90 levels long, with 29 of these levels being levels that do not unlock any story scenes whatsoever, yet are mandatory. That's almost a full third of the game that is just empty. As you might imagine, this is where the problem of pacing begins and ends. After each grueling level with something behind it, you are lucky to unlock maybe a full thirty seconds of story, if that.
As for the contents of those thirty seconds, well, they are weak, predictable, and uninspiring. The reality show itself uses almost exactly the same assignment every single time. Almost as if it's a reflection of how the romantic plot never goes anywhere and just stays at a vague romantic feeling kind of. The other contestants of the show make a dress each time that corresponds to their color scheme while still being somewhat different from the last one. These other contestants all participate in the story events at least a little bit before they are kicked off. All but my favorite shining star, Yuna. If I'm not mistaken, I believe she made the same dress, every single time. And never said a single word or took any sides in conversation, made it all the way to the end, and said one sentence before she was kicked off. And if that doesn't tell you something about the missed opportunities in this game, I don't know what will.
One of the main selling points of this game was Angela's angel VS devil system. However, this was very disappointing. What we thought might have been some kind of player choice or dialogue system is simply her internal dialogue about the situation. She never acts on either thought, though. You cannot make Angela satan, and you cannot make her an otherworldly being of goodness. And the game doesn't make her that either. She simply rests at the level of good samaritan while being a plainly horrible person to most people around her. Angela wrecks lifelong friendships with no consequences. Angela is easily swayed by the thought of fame and/or sex. However, she shows compassion towards the little Italian girl and Victoria at the tail end of the game. I couldn't tell you why.
Speaking of things I couldn't tell you, the villain of this game is but a skeleton of what they could have been. Unlike in Sally, the villain's motivation is never clear or explained, and it's even more unclear whether or not this villain is. [spoiler] Was there ever a Truly? Is this the only Truly? Was Truly murdered? Will there ever be a Truly? [/spoiler] There are many questions left to us, and not in the way we ever want to be left them. Our heroine Angela herself gets a literal thirty seconds of resolution at the end that doesn't resolve anything, including the entire "will we, won't we" romantic plot that kicked off almost all events in the game. It feels cut off like an umbilical cord, rushed despite the plot never going anywhere.
If you are considering buying this game and have not played Sally's Beauty Salon: Kiss and Make Up, please change your mind and play that one instead. Because in Fabulous - Angela's Fashion Fever, there is no victory, no defeat.
