Sally's Salon: Kiss & Make-Up

[b]Sally's Salon: Kiss & Make-Up [/b](Dash-TM) [i]Game provided for Curator Review[/i] [i]Ridiculous story with a nice dash of challenging gameplay and adult humor.[/i] TL;DR - Skip to the Verdict at the bottom Options include separate sliders for Music and Sound, choice of Difficulty, Full-screen and Show Game Hints. [b]Story[/b]: Sally's "best friend" convinces her to mortgage everything she has to buy a new salon so that they can try to win the prestigious Mirage Star. The problem is that her friend, April, is shallow, narcissistic and has an ulterior motive that could tear their dreams apart. When I say that the story is ridiculous, I mean it... The seemingly-standard storyline takes a turn, then a dive, then spins on its head and goes a completely different direction. I can totally see the devs sitting around a table, high as kites as they came up for ideas for this game. There's even an achievement called "Jumping the Shark"! lol~ To show you just a snippet of what to expect, I bring you... The Jolly Jig! HAHAHA! https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1930691274 Francois is somehow even more flamboyant and over-the-top than usual, and of course still absolutely delightful in his flaky and fabulous way. [b]Gameplay[/b]: This is the dash style of TM where you click on incoming clients, then on the station they wish to go to. They may want multiple stations, or be happy with a single treatment. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1933213075 Your [b]tray[/b] has only three spots, but you're really not delivering a lot of things... It's more about service than anything else. Sometimes you just have to click on them to attend their needs, sometimes it's a mini-game, and yes, sometimes you'll need to take things to them. There are six themed locations that you'll be working in, all unique and fun-to-play. Here's a little compilation of these areas that I put together for you: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1933198496 There is a LOT going on during these levels, which is why it's a good thing that you have a [b]HELPER[/b] (usually Francois)! This is what you spend your diamonds on -- Upgrading your helper to be able to do new tasks. You're not limited to help in a single area of the locations, though. If you click on him before the level starts, you can assign a station-area. He's not quite as skilled as you, so you'll still need to help with the more advanced treatments, but it's great to have him there! The gameplay is a bit more challenging than the other dash games I've been playing lately, and you may really have to plan things out to get your full three stars on each level! [b]Carl the mouse[/b] will help a little if you can spot him, but he makes [b]no noise[/b] when he shows up, adding to the difficulty of finding him. The Mini-games are all fun, but be warned that you're going to be doing some... uh... interesting treatments. Things like directing fish to nibble on people's feet and doing acupuncture. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1933212489 Let's not forget the [b]achievements[/b]! Each trophy you gain will earn you some diamonds, but you have to go into the trophy area to claim them! The challenge levels are fun, as well, but I've not yet completed them all - I was trying to figure out where they were going with the story, so I finished that first! [b]Verdict[/b]: A fun and challenging dash game with an absurdly silly storyline, 88 total levels to play through and a great variety of gameplay. This title has a LOT of adult humor in it, so I wouldn't suggest it for the kids, but definitely recommend it to adults who enjoy this kind of game!

So, today I have [b]Sally's Salon: Kiss & Make-Up[/b] for reviewing and oh boy I DO enjoy playing this game a lot so far! I think Delicious with Emily and Fabulous with Angela now have a worthy rival *wink*. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1473050601 [h1]The Story[/h1] There are three characters that I cannot but mention from the very beginning. First, there is Sally - a stylist that we remember from other GameHouse titles. She is friendly, spontaneous, and incredibly talkative. She can be very impulsive, and as we all know too well, this can lead to big troubles. Second, we have Francois, a time-long friend of Emily - if you do not remember him, then you have not played Delicious games at all because this guy is difficult to forget. And the last but not the least, there is the antagonist – April, Sally’s so-called childhood friend. She will bring a lot of trouble to our carefree girl, as well as try to earn big bucks along the way. This trio will play the major role in the whole story. But do not tell Francois! He thinks he is the main hero here, of course. Anyway….So, Sally has always dreamed of having a fabulous salon that will provide all manner of services. And surprise-surprise! April has an offer – a luxurious spa that needs just a little bit of investment. Sally cannot but trust her *best* friend and immediately sells her current salon to get this one-in-the-life-offer. Francois tried to persuade her against it, but would she even listen? No, of course not. Sally is overjoyed about her purchase of course, and as a co-owner she is supposed to finally get a chance to make her dream come true. Bu-u-u-ut…But I did not call April an antagonist for nothing. Sally and Francois will have to deal with lots of problems to survive this new adventure! [h1]The Gameplay[/h1] GameHouse specializes on time-management games, and Sally’s Salon is not an exception. You will have to serve customers as fast as possible to get the highest score, as well as complete additional tasks unique for each level. There is also a tricky mouse hunt that you need to pay attention to. Each customer has a heart over his or her head. It indicates how happy they are with the treatment and will eventually convert into the final score. As you understand, you need to do your best to make them happy or you risk failing the level. The emptier a customer’s heart is, the angrier they will become. They may even storm out without paying. If a customer has a golden heart, then huray! They cannot become impatient at all, so just line them up at the checkout and get an additional bonus for serving several of them simultaneously (called a “treatment chain”). You can also upgrade you equipment and the room itself. In Sally’s Salon you also have a Helper (Francois, to be precise), and using diamonds, you can improve his performance significantly. You get diamonds for completing Challenges and getting stars on common levels, as well as in the Trophy section – this is the same as Achievements in Steam. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1473051980 [h1]What I really liked[/h1] - The story and the characters. Both are hilarious, amazing and cute at the same time. If you are not a big fan of comedy or sitcoms, then I am not sure that you will enjoy both of these features; but if you are, then be ready for some good time with this time-management gem. Sally and Francois truly shine during the whole story; - The narration. The story is presented by Francois who comments each action and gives his opinion about, well, everything. He can even stop the time to explain what happened before this or that scene. This is quite unusual for Game House titles while we usually follow the story as it happens and not before the events at hand, but it worked great in Sally’s Salon. Francois is an amazing character, so it was only natural to give him his prime-time at last! - Animations. In addition to the usual movements and interactions, we now have fully animated scenes. Not just characters’ sprites moving on the backgrounds, but cinematic moments that give a feeling of watching a comedy series on TV. Add it to Francois’s narration and you get a super combo of great fun. Oh, and Sally will show her special moves at the end of each stage – just wait for the stars to show. However, there are some issues that I will mention in the negative part of my review; - 60 great levels + 28 Challenges + Helpers + lots of mini-games + Carl the Mouse. Lots of stuff to experience and to collect – there are achievements for each of them, remember? - The Jolly Jig. Just see it and you will understand what I mean. [h1]What I found neither good nor bad[/h1] - Even though I liked the overall humor, I think some jokes were cheesy at times and I heard some of them before. However, if you are in the right mood (and not too picky), you will not have any issues; - The music is good, but nothing worth writing home about. Still, this is my usual issue, so you will not be bothered by it at all, most probably. All in all, the music is quite lively and lovely – double *L* for a good score. [h1]Something to complain about[/h1] - I have noticed some freezes during animations of the story part. There were about 2-3 of them over 2 hours of playing, I think. Quite minor freezes, mind you, but still noticeable. There were several of them during the stages too; - Some story animations looked blurry; you will notice it during one of the first scenes – if I am wrong about it, be free to correct me in the comments, but I am quite sure that my eyes did not deceive me. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1473051544 [h1]The Verdict[/h1] [b]Sally's Salon: Kiss & Make-Up[/b] is a great addition to GameHouse’s collection of time-management titles. It is bright, hilarious and touching at the same time. The characters will win your heart immediately, and new cinematic scenes brought new life to their interactions. If you liked Delicious, Fabulous and Heart’s Medicine, you will like Sally’s Salon too. I wish you good gaming and a lot of fun! [h1][i][url=https://steamcommunity.com/groups/LucyCorner]You can find more reviews at my personal Curator Page. Please, give it a read ❤ [/url][/i][/h1]

Usually this series is a huge hit for me, but this one is a giant miss. I ran into a bug on many maps where I'd be stuck in a location unable to move the character, causing me to restart. The story...Jesus. I got about mid-way before just skipping through it. I couldn't care about any of the characters or find interest in the story. It felt like something I'd write in middle school. I had to force myself to finish (Which I did for the achievements.) The game play itself was simple enough, easy and fun, but unless you are a die-hard of this game-style or the company (They have MANY other great others) I'd give this a skip. Achievements were straight forward and easy to get it, enough diamonds to unlock everything you need too.

I've been a big fan of GameHouse games, but this one did not capture the same sense of fun gameplay with a charming and wholesome story. The gameplay wasn't exactly bad, as it is similar to many of the other time management games. Though it is instead pretty slow paced and not very challenging. While on the other hand, the storyline was more of a chore to get through. It seemed written as if it were based on several recycled Internet memes. The story was all over the place with very dramatic shifts from one problem to another that really just did not make any sense. The characters were not very creative and had very empty and annoying personalities. It didn't convey any sense of working in or running a salon at all and was more like a cheesy sitcom reusing the same jokes and blowing up problems that don't actually exist. I'm certainly going to keep playing GameHouse games, but I'm hoping future games will take a different direction than this one has.

If you love the old Sally's beauty salon or Delicious Emily games, you're gonna be very disappointed. They took that idea and added a ridiculous story that just plain dumb to it. The story of this game is 90% of the game so it really takes a toll on enthusiasm when its just too long and boring. The Story: Francoise comes out naked for no reason and talks often about things that say nothing or gives any clues as to what happened to the money in the safe that Sally needed to save the salon The Massage old couple and the Cop are super uninteresting and take up 60% of the story The "High 5 guy" is dumb and uninteresting, takes him more than half the game to admit he likes some girl The "Muscle" guy has a flat personality that just dumb and uninteresting to follow or care for, has not much to do with the story, yet takes a good quarter of it Sally's friendship with her friend who sabotages her constantly hangs on by a thread of "we were friends as kids" so therefore she's still my friend. Which makes no sense since her Friend is 99% of the time mean to her and hurts her for no reason. Sally is 100% naive and this makes her personality flat and makes you question her as the main character, since the majority of the story has too many uninteresting people in it, of which includes a Talking Plant. The Game and minigames: Repetitive, most of the levels are the same They don't keep you in the same kind of category, you run from salon, to massage parlor, to makup parlor, to pool/exercise/food assistance. Which defeats the purpose of the beauty salon, you're supposed to do makeovers not be a servant in retail! (Really disapointing for me, did I mention the retiree couple are so boring?) Only two design options regarding your salon equipment: Fast or Patient, which also impact the way you play which is no fun. They allow employee training so Francoise can help you but it takes forever for him to actually be helpful. Most of the time he just stands there and occasionally presses a button to dry the hair. (you'll see what I mean when you play how unuseful this is) Summary: Bad Character Design Bad Story Only two Design Choices regarding your salon, that impact the way you play Game deviates from Beauty into Retail service (not fun) since its a beauty game A lot of Uninteresting Characters Repetitive Game play with not much fun design put into it, Boring Visuals My sadness with this game: Miss the original Delicious Emily and old Sally's Beauty Salon had a less ridiculous story and more of a happy great one that you enjoy progressing through. This game is a fail. Who got Who pregnant, and that's "cray" is gossipy which can still be done correctly but they just sucked at incorporating a decent story. It feels too side tracked from Sally herself, and then what's the point of her character if she's not in the story 50% of the time. The Design choices are so poor and makes you feel so limited, What I like about the old games is you had way more selection in terms of looks for you beauty salon, they also had a career progress approach of starting with a small salon to end up with a big beautiful one would be more satisfying. Also, why does the design have to impact game play!? It just forces you to stick with one of the two choices. Bugs: This Game is so buggy! It constantly gets stuck or stops working. For me to play it, I had to uninstall it 7 times after it bugged for it to start working. It constantly goes from one monitor to another (i have dual monitors) and can't click on the game, because if I click on one screen, the options actually clicks on the other monitor even though I haven't moved my cursor to the other monitor. That's just one bug, most of the time it just stops working and closes out . Also where the challenge goal bar while playing (top right screen) blocks the background and prevents you from finding things to complete the challenge in the mini games. so annoying... Sometimes the game bugs and even though you've accomplished it, it won't show the diamond at the end of the game. Sometimes it won't fill the bar as you're completing the challenge at the top right of the screen until you're done with the game, making you think you're not doing the challenge goal correct. Supper buggy. Also, sometimes its not even clear what you're supposed to do, making it confusing to play. (The bar at the top of your screen during your game that tells you what your challenge is).

As far as time management games go, Gamehouse is on fire as always. However, this storyline...I don't even know where to begin. It started out as cute and quirky. It had a lot of dry humor and sarcasm. About midway through the game, whoever wrote this story must have taken some serious WTF pills because the story goes from quirky to way the hell out there in outer space somewhere. We have all read that ridiculous story where you are like, "Yeah, whatever. That is just far fetched." This goes beyond that. I mean people died and miraculously came back to life. Murderous cop ... well that one would take forever to explain. Ridiculously naive shop owner, with a trio of followers with about the same IQ, a lot of head injuries, a talking plant and a massage giving super computer. I played it all the way through so I could get all the achievements, but just stay away from this one.

It is a decent casual game and probably my favorite one in the series so far that I have played. It would have gotten a positive review at the 9,99€ price it used to be, however the price increased for seemingly no reason to 17,49€ in 2024 which makes me not recommend it instead as it is not anywhere worth that money to me for what it is. Works fine on Linux with Proton (Proton 5.0-1).

THIS GAME IS AWFUL FOR PC PLAYERS ESPECIALLY WITH THE FACT I TRIED TO STREAM IT AND YOU GUYS LITERALLY ATE MY MOUSE I CANNOT SEE WHAT I AM CLICKING ON UNLESS I STREAM MY MOUSE THROUGH OBS AND EVEN THAT IS SPOTTY DO NOT PURCHASE THIS FOR PC PLAYING THIS IS QUITE LITERALLY A MOBILE ONLY GAME FIX THIS TRAGEDY

I always loved time management games since the era of Diner Dash, then come Delicious, Fabulous, Heart Medicine, Sally's Salon. Then come this game with the supposed same name and connected universe with all of the game i mentioned before, not that i hate it, i like it a lot! Seeing the character are interacting in one scene and another. But this game.... gameplay and mechanics are fine, but my god!! WHO WROTE THE STORY!! They need to be fired... The story is horrendous, the characters are dumbed down almost retared i would say, even Sally herself are being dumbdown. Literally the worst entry in the franchise. If you want to buy this game, hopefully you are ready to cringe hard.