Do you have a knack for fashion and organization that could run a stylish clothing store? Perhaps you are a creative trendsetter at heart and wish you could have your own clothing line to bless the world with your style? Ever dream of being a top model who spends all her time walking the catwalk and traveling the world? If you answered yes to any of these questions but realize that you live in the real world where these options aren’t always available, then maybe a game that you could carry around with you on your Nintendo 3DS would help satisfy those feelings.
Imagine Fashion Life allows you to live out all of those dreams in a convenient digital world. You start out by personalizing your own avatar, changing her name, hair color, hair style, eye color and make up. Then you get to choose your career path from three options: Designer, Top Model and Manager. Each one comes with its own story, packed with lots of side missions and mini games and depending on your chosen path, you will also meet different people. But don’t worry, you will get to change careers later in the game. Once you have made it to level one of each career, you will be able to change paths at will just by tapping on the corresponding icon at the top of the lower screen.
Designer: The story for this career sets you in a competition to be the best designer for a company called Fashion Agency. You play a mini game where you choose fabrics and styles, then sew, cut and iron them together to make trendy outfits to compete for a job with the Fashion Agency. You’ll have side missions where people you meet will ask you to make them certain outfits for various reasons. Eventually you will even be making your own brand of clothing. And since you are such a fashionista, you will also be given side missions where you will give makeovers and setup fashion shows where models will walk down the catwalk, sometimes wearing your line of clothing.
Top Model: No, this isn’t a Tyra Banks show so we won’t be sending anyone home, but there will be photo shoots and catwalks. This career path takes you down the life of a model. There are mini games where you will have to strike a pose as many times as asked before the timer runs out. You’ll also be walking down the catwalk by keeping with the rhythm Rock Band style, where if you miss a beat you’ll miss a step. Careful not to trip! And of course you will need to stay in shape by working out. That mini game has you tapping the screen at the right time to either bounce as high as you can on a trampoline or keep up with the changing speeds of a treadmill. Can’t travel the world and model clothes without putting in some hard work first.
Manager: Now that you’ve made and modeled clothing, why not sell it in your own clothing shop? This career path puts you in charge of the mall and you will spend time assisting customers to keep them happy and coming back. You will also be in charge of decorating the mall to be more pleasing to the eye; no one wants to go to a plain and boring mall. Grab that day planner, you aren’t done yet. Now that you’ve got the mall looking good and the customers are happy, get ready to organize your very own store. You will setup clothing racks and pick which outfits or accessories you want to sell right then. And for added fun, you get to dress your very own mannequin! But you have to be sure to stay trendy and sell what’s in style.
This game is constantly rewarding you with clothes, gifts and trendy points, which are the equivalent of money. You can then use those trendy points to buy more clothes and expand your ever growing collection of garments or furniture to decorate your virtual home. You’ll earn these things after every main mission and every side mission during your career paths. There is also a reward for maxing out your relationship with the people you meet and making them your best friends. You interact with them by talking to them, buying them a gift or their favorite drink, or even by giving them a makeover, which is a lot of fun.
The only complaint with the characters you meet is that they can be very shallow and some of the comments they make seem downright rude. The most memorable one that is used is, “Your face looks like an upside down dog’s.” Wow! I can see how that would build any girl’s self esteem. I mean, who doesn’t love a verbal insult on your appearance to keep your spirits high? But if they were going for a Devil Wears Prada kind of thing, they nailed it.
Even with that minor complaint, this game is still very light hearted and fun. Not to mention, with all three story lines and side missions, this game will keep you busy for hours. If you know a little diva who would love to spend hours dressing up her avatar in endless combinations of outfits and accessories, then this is the game you should be stuffing her stocking with this holiday season. Or maybe even put it on your own wish list.
A copy of Imagine Fashion Life was received by The Married Gamers for review.
