Author:
S. Woodson
Format:
Twine
Rating:
Teen
Found
at ifdb.tads.org or jayisgames.com
My Scores (Out of 5):
Writing:
4
Art:
N/A
Gameplay:
2.5
Romance:
N/A
Summary
In
Magical Makeover, you have managed to get an invitation to Princess
Philantha's Grand Equinox Ball! (Specifically, you've managed to get
Dame Demetria's invitation to the ball. But never mind.) Once you're
inside the palace, you plan to search for the legendary,
wish-granting golden cassowary! Only, just having the invitation
isn't enough: Princess Philantha only permits the prettiest people to
be present at her party, which means it's time for a makeover! What
could go wrong?
Review
The Writing
It
occurs to me that this is the second game I've reviewed where the
protagonist is a lesbian, and in both cases, the games were text-only
and her love-life was irretrievably in the toilet. Huh. This has no
bearing on the rating, mind you; I just find it kind of odd, and if
it happens again, I'll have to check TV Tropes to see if “love-lorn
lesbian text adventure” is a thing.
Getting
back on topic: the writing for this is both good and hilarious. The
game is partly a send-up of the classic dress-up/hygiene flash games
on the internet. Our protagonist is not especially pretty, and she
knows she's not pretty, and people are all too glad to tell her she's
not pretty. But, when her rather suspicious beauty-products turn her
into freaky and unusual shapes, somehow this gets considered
beautiful. Of course, the beauty treatments are only a means to an
end, both in-game and in a meta sense: after your arrival at the
party, the story branches off into narratives that have little to do
with either beauty or the eyes of beholders, and everything to do
with looking for the golden cassowary. In other words, “Come for
the satire, stay for the adventure.”
The Gameplay
I
think I would have liked this game better if it had more choices in
the second half. As it is, only the makeover segment itself feels
remotely like a game, with the scenes at the party playing out like a
very long epilogue. The choice of beauty-products is what determines
which story you get to read at the end. Your choice of clothes has
no effect on it, though it does give you some flavor text on the bus
and at the party, which I enjoy seeing.
TL;DR:
Magical
Makeover is an entertaining interactive story that flips off
beauty-obsession without making that its only point. While the first
half feels more like a game, the latter half puts more emphasis on
“story” than “interactive”. Still, the writing itself is
often fun enough to hold this piece's head above water.
That's
just my opinion, though. Do you think that this game is simply
glamorous, or is it the weirdest thing you've ever seen? Tell us in
the comments!
No comments:
Post a Comment