To be honest, as an old player who has played since the Symbian era, I have always been very picky about mobile games. Recently, a friend recommended this "Makeover Game", saying that it is a "playable comic" adapted from the comic of the same name. I originally thought it was a relaxing work where you change skins and costumes, but after playing it in one go, I found that this game is much more ruthless than similar themes.
Let's first talk about comparing similar games. There are actually many interactive narrative games on the market with the theme of "becoming beautiful", such as some of Orange Light's ancient dress-up or modern counterattack works. Most of them follow the Mary Sue route. The heroine dresses up, falls in love, cheats, and finally reaches the pinnacle of life. But "Plastic Surgery Game" is different. It puts the cruelty of the "face-based society" directly into your face. The heroine Yi Rong obviously has excellent performance, but because of her ordinary appearance, her boss ignores her, her colleagues despise her, and even her customers only smile at her beautiful colleagues. This kind of real and suffocating workplace environment resonates with me, a 30-year-old veteran player - to be honest, who hasn't suffered a hidden disadvantage in the workplace because of their appearance?
The core mechanism of the game is the "Plastic Surgery APP", which will change your appearance every time you use it, but at the cost of consuming "vital energy". This setting is actually very similar to some RPGs played in the Saipan era, such as the resource management gameplay of "Magic Tower", but "Plastic Surgery Game" deeply binds this mechanism to the plot. Every time you become more beautiful, the attitudes of people around you change immediately, but the plot will gradually reveal the dark truth behind the APP. This balance of "cost and gain" is more valuable for discussion than those games that simply rely on krypton gold to buy clothes and become beautiful.
Of course, there are also shortcomings. As a "playable comic", the interactive form is relatively simple, mainly clicking to advance the plot, making choices, and occasionally mini-games. Compared with the cinematic interaction of "The Invisible Guardian", the dynamic expression is weaker. But considering that it's free with no in-app purchases, the art style maintains the sophisticated level of comics, and the character expressions and storyboards are very intense, it has exceeded my expectations.
Not to brag, but if you are tired of those positive beauty stories, or want to experience real social issues, this game is worth spending an afternoon to savor. At least it reminds me of the surprise I felt when I played "Seven Nights" for the first time on Nokia - low cost, but thoughtful. 😌