I can't overstate how humbling it is when strangers find your character charming enough to pop them into cute outfits. The game is clearly aware of this, too: it makes such a production out of getting Lookit Mail that opening one is a guaranteed serotonin boost. In a similar vein, it's extremely satisfying to work some color-coordination magic with another player's Muse. Going off their preferences and accessorizing properly will shower you in huge bonuses and stars galore, which is an undeniable rush. There's a clever sort of open-ended puzzle aspect to this game — and knowing that your unique solution will make someone on the other end of the screen smile really sweetens the solve.

Sadly, it's hard to get that same satisfaction from dressing up the NPCs spattered in the overworld, and the menuing itself is finicky — a notable problem, given how much time you spend in menus. It's frustrating that there's no way to save previously-worn outfits, or sort any of your clothing beyond extremely general categories of tops, bottoms, onepieces, etc. This becomes especially burdensome as your inventory becomes inundated with (literally) thousands of items — which happens much faster than you might think.

As much as the style pops, the setting itself is pretty barren, and lacks any significant way to interact with it. It's just a space for you to walk around, gather clothes, and dress people up, but there's not much to do even as you unlock more Cocoons. Progression is a bit haphazard without a dedicated campaign, and the fatigue doesn't take too long to set in.

At the end of the day, the social aspect is what really lifts Fashion Dreamer up and sets it apart from its predecessors. That being said, without some significant content additions and major QOL changes, that probably isn't enough to carry it long-term.