Style Boutique

You’ve got to take the good with the bad in this job, and so after exhausting all potential possibilities, it fell to me to review Style Boutique for the Nintendo DS.Style Boutique (known as Style Savvy in the US or as Wagamama Fashion: Girls Mode in Japan) is quite clearly aimed at tweenage girls. It’s your first day working at fashion store Primavera, and you’re immediately thrown into the deep end and made to suggest outfits for browsing customers based on what they tell you about their style. It begins with fairly basic colour coordination. Eventually, however, things get a little more complicated with choosing complementary colours and styles and even requests for certain ‘looks’ (such as ‘hip hop’, for instance). If you pay attention to the descriptions of the various brands, you should be able to meet such requests easily enough.A particularly catty subplot begins to develop on day one (unless I’m reading too much into this) when an established store clerk comes to you for help. You see, she just can’t seem to pick the right style for a customer that she’s attending to and asks if you can field this customer for her. Naturally, I picked a perfect little number and the customer was absolutely rapt. The established clerk then suggests that perhaps I got “lucky”, and warns me “not to get to cocky”. Please! I have a gift, OK? Eventually the store manager gains enough confidence in your fashion sensibilities to allow you to purchase stock for the store. You’ll have to pay attention to the requests made by customers prior to visiting the Exhibition Hall, to ensure that you make the most efficient use of your budget.Obviously, fashion-crazy pre-teen girls will lap this game up, but it’s far too unfair on Style Boutique to highlight this as the only appealing factor. It also delivers the satisfaction of being a successful salesperson and, ultimately, running a successful business. In a nutshell, the game is deeper than initial appearances may suggest.