Title: The Ssum: Forbidden Lab
Developer: Cheritz
Release Date: August 16, 2022 (NA)
Platforms: Mobile (Android, iOS)
Languages: English, Korean
✴READ OTHER RELATED POSTS
- Part One: “Two Weeks of Playing “The Ssum” – A Review Diary Part 1”
- Part Three: The Ssum: A Review Diary Part 3 – Harry’s Route!!
- Part Four: The Ssum: A Review Diary Part 4 – Harry’s Confession Day?
- Part Five: The Ssum: Review Diary Part 5 – Muse of Musical (Harry’s POV)
- Part Six: “The Ssum: A Review Diary Part 6 – Harry’s Childhood”
This post is way long overdue! (I know… *laughs*)
Truth be told, I didn’t think I’d follow up on this Review Diary, but there are so many things going on in the game right now that it’s just impossible for me not to write about it. Furthermore, almost all my friends have stopped playing this game, uninstalled the app completely, and moved on.😂 So right now, I feel like I am all alone in the playing zone void, and this blog is my only outlet for all this unnecessary word vomit. (cackles)
For my personal gameplay updates of The Ssum: I am currently finishing my last orbit in Planet Mewry, and there are A LOT of things I need to scream talk about! But before any of that, I wanted to get back into recapping planet VANAS. Take note, this is Part Two of my review, you can read PART ONE here.
Also, before we get to the diary part, I’d like to share some of the cool little updates of the game, self-help links, and a few other hap’nins of The Ssum within the past month.
UPDATES ON THE SUBSCRIPTIONS
Last month, Cheritz made a big update to both their Rainbow and Aurora subscriptions. If you are subscribed to the Aurora Subscription (like me), you now get the AidBot, (which used to be $89.99 purchased separately) for free! The AidBot, mines (or incubates) energies for you automatically so you won’t have to do that by hand anymore. It also grants you infinity watts to be able to explore the planets anytime! Additionally, you get the Typing Expert License for free as well. This makes Teo type his texts 10 times faster than normal. Keep in mind that you’ll need to manually activate the Typing Expert License in your game settings to use it.
For the Rainbow Subscription, you will now get to access Teo’s private account. You’ll also get the Typing Expert License feature for free.
It doesn’t look like they’re lowering the prices for the subscriptions. While I’m still hoping they will in the future, I’m not holding my breath for it.
CONTEST AND FREE BATTERIES
Due to so many game updates and scheduled maintenance, I have stacked up so many aurora batteries to a point that I can completely diss my subscription now and not worry about running out in the next few months. You can see how many batts I’ve accumulated from the screenshot above, just from me leveling up my planets & unlocking trivial features on the reg. To top it off, I’ve also won the review contest of The Ssum’s merch on Twitter (cackles).😜🤣 So I got rewarded 200 aurora batteries for that too, contributing to my already fat stack. Nyahahaha! 🤣🤣🤣 At this point, I’m literally hoarding in-game batteries just as much as I hoard IRL game merch.
THE SUMM DISCORD SERVER IS THERE TO HELP YOU OUT!
If you are looking for a welcoming community that’s very much willing to help you navigate everything you need to know about The Ssum, feel free to join The Ssum’s Discord Server. While I’m not on this server, I’m currently in contact with its owner, and they are more than happy to welcome old and new players alike to share their experiences (and maybe frustrations lol) about the game and its current events. This server also provides you helpful guides regarding the daily calls and chats in the game as well as tips on how to level up your planets in the Forbidden Labs section. This place is pretty nifty, especially for new players. I’d say it’s definitely worth checking out!
PLANET VANAS RECAP
So we found out eventually that every thirty days, we move orbit into another planet. Each planet will have its own characteristics, which basically affect our main love interest in the game, Teo. Teo will also change his hair color every time we jump into a different planet. On Planet Vanas, we are greeted by a black-haired Teo (which I quite miss tbh), and on Planet Mewry, we are spending our time with a pink-haired man who calls himself Teo. 😩
There are no detailed explanations for this. It’s just basically how it is every time we transfer orbits. Additionally, I believe PiU PiU’s love journal also mentions the hair color change but vaguely ever expounds it.
Planet Vanas is described as the pioneering site for truth. And this clearly matches up to the confession day that we got on day 14, where Teo tells (us) the MC of his true feelings. This day, I believe was the main *highlight* of all the events and subplots on this planet.
NOTES:
- Spoilers will be kept to a minimum. Descriptions of how each day went (as far as chats and calls) will be boxed in case you want to avoid them.
- We continue to orbit Vanas from Day 15 to Day 30. P.S. Planet Mewry will be on a separate post which is going to be Part 3 of this review diary.
- Halfway through week 3, I ultimately gave up on the outgoing calls as I kept forgetting them due to my hectic IRL schedule, so I will discontinue posting guide charts for it.
- One of Cheritz’s updates pushed the dates back so, instead of starting at Day 15 (for this review), we now start at Day 14 (Day 13 is now the official day where Teo confesses to you). I know! It’s confusing af and it annoyed me too but oh well! (shrug)
- I did a little scrapbooking below just to have that diary feels, so make sure to view the scrapbook section!! 😆
🚀DAY 14
Congratulations! You got Teo to confess, and it’s your first day together as a couple! Teo is extremely happy to have you as his girlfriend and is being sappy and cute in your convos. He said he couldn’t stop smiling and even sends you a picture of him feeling embarrassed of his sappiness. He also sends you pics of flowers and a clear blue sky because he remembered how much you liked them (from your previous convos and chats). In the morning, he tells you he’s heading off to the hospital for physical therapy (he said the accident has weakened his legs, and he needs to get their strength back).
During dinner time, you play the cute nickname game with him via chat, and you both decide what pet names to call each other. (I think no matter what you pick, the game is going to default to “Honey”). Later in the night, he gets a call from the film producer and was told that the movie project fell through (apparently the production company went under). He says this happens all the time with indie films but he was still shocked and is feeling a little bit upset on the news because you were so excited for him about it. He also says he’ll try to look for part-time jobs in the meantime because he doesn’t wanna rely on his parents for finance.
❀Click to View Scrapbook❀
Comments: Day 15 chats are stupidly mushy that they made me giggle nonstop on my phone in front of my judging all-male colleagues at work! 🤡 🤡 🤡 The phone calls especially were honestly too cute for words. My grown-ass self felt like a high schooler again! lmao 😂 I actually understood how Teo felt when he received the news that his film project fell through. I took a lot of film production gigs myself after grad school, and unless you have a sturdy backer or you’re releasing the film yourself out of your own pocket, it is fairly common that most independent projects are getting dropped mid-pre-production due to budget issues. Teo was a little upset by the news but still remained positive since he knew these things happen all the time.
| CALL SCHEDULE | TITLE |
| (Outbound) After wake up chat | Where Am I Going? It’s a Secret! |
| (Outbound) After breakfast chat | Where’s My Key? |
| (Inbound) After lunch chat | After Therapy |
| (Inbound) After dinner chat | I’m so Happy We’re Dating |
| (Inbound) After bedtime chat | The Movie Is No More |
🚀DAY 15
Today, Teo is determined to get a part-time job, so he goes and looks at job ads and has managed to get three interviews for the day. The first job interview was for a restaurant mascot (the ones who hand out fliers to passersby), but they sent him away the moment he got there as he was too tall to fit the costume (LOL). The second place he went to is for a cashier gig at this giant mart, and he said the interview went well for it. The third and last place he went to was for a machinery operator at an amusement park. He takes a picture of himself in the amusement park and sends it to you.
Later in the day, he tells you that the amusement park got another candidate for the job opening, but the mart is happy to have him and was advised to come tomorrow for some training.
❀Click to View Scrapbook❀
Comments: Because Teo is out and about job hunting, there were lots of long pauses today. And what’s funny is, I think I’ve gotten the hang of playing this as a background game while doing something else. Ha! Teo while busy looking for gigs, also kept calling you (after every chat) – it’s kinda cute how he says he misses you and wants to update you every chance he gets on his job interviews. Apart from that, Nothing really stood out to me this day story/event-wise.
| CALL SCHEDULE | TITLE |
| (Outbound) After wake up chat | What Kind of Gig Should I Try? |
| (Inbound) After wake up chat | You Matter to Me More Than the Interview |
| (Inbound) After lunch chat | Far and Far Is the Road to Amusement Park |
| (Inbound) After dinner chat | After Call from the Amusement Park |
| (Outbound) After dinner chat | Your Preference for Amusement Rides |
| (Inbound) After bedtime chat | I’m So Glad I Found a Gig! |
🚀DAY 16- DAY 21
Teo is taking part time jobs after part time jobs. The wait times were longer than usual but wasn’t as brutal as the wait times on Mewry.
Day 16: Teo took a part-time job at the Grocery Mart and worked as a cashier.
Day 17: Teo is still working at the mart and was transferred to the warehouse section. He’s out there all day sorting out grocery stocks. He sends you sweaty pics of him.😆
Day 18: He’s still stacking shelves in the mart. This time he was assigned to the fruit aisle, and he drew faces on a bunch of oranges.
Day 19: He went for an acting gig interview and got the job right away. His role? A puppy dog! (suits him well tbh lol) He signed a contract right then and there. The next morning he got a call and was told the project was canceled.
Day 20: Teo took a pet-sitting gig and was babysitting a cute corgi the entire day. He takes the dog for a walk in the park, and he sends you lots of pictures of the puppy.
Day 21: The entire day, he just talks to you about his outrageous very detailed adventure-esque sci-fi dream about him and you in the plant world. (This day was a waste of time, and I wished I would’ve skipped it!)
❀Click to View Scrapbook❀
Comments: These are all boring events in Teo’s day-to-day life. He tells you that he takes these part-time jobs because he didn’t want to rely on his parents, and I’m honestly happy that he has this kind of mindset as it mirrors my own. I believe I took part-time gigs one after another since I was 18 (while juggling w/ school at the same time), and it wasn’t until I was 21 that I finally landed a full-time job, barely making minimum wage! 😂 ha! (you gotta start somewhere, ya know!) The phone calls here were especially fun. While Teo was part-timing in the grocery mart, he always spends his break times calling you. He also sings you the happy mart song during a phone call on Day 16. Teo also tried to be a little flirty on the chats, which is cute and all, but it wasn’t anything to hold your breath for.
🚀DAY 22 – DAY 24
Teo does more part-time jobs during these three days!
DAY 22: Teo takes a part-time job at the library. Nothing really happens here. However, this is by far the best Teo has ever looked! His selfies and the pictures he sends you here are just *chef kiss*!
DAY 23: Teo takes a part-time job as a pizza delivery guy. And one of his deliveries got him roped up into a 911 incident as the customer he was supposed to deliver pizza to was found collapsed in their apartment. Teo was taken to the station as a witness and was asked a bunch of questions. He was OK and released at the end of the day, and he got a free pizza to take home with him.
DAY 24: Teo is babysitting. He tells you he loves kids and wants to have kids someday!
❀Click to View Scrapbook❀
Comments: I wouldn’t say these days were entirely boring. I liked the library chats just because he sends you pretty pictures of himself, and trust me, once you’ve orbited on planet Mewry, you’d wish you were back here, receiving ‘library Teo’ pics!😩 Although Day 23 was a bit suspenseful, I didn’t care for the events there. Day 24, where he tells you that he wants to have kids was a BIG turn-off for me ngl. Sorry, Teo, I do not want kids on my own. My nieces are enough! (laughs)
🚀DAY 25
BIG SPOILERS: JAEHEE (from Mystic Messenger) accidentally swaps phones with Teo!!!
During the wake-up chat, Teo tells you that he spoke to his friend who owns a cafe and was invited to work there for a day. He said he was feeling excited because he genuinely loves making coffee and is pretty talented at that too (this is true, he’s actually pretty good). During lunchtime, the cafe got a little busy, so he tells you his replies may be cut short. A few minutes later, the chat will prompt you to bug Teo and send him a few messages checking up on him. Next thing you know, you’ll get a reply from non-other than the workaholic queen bae herself… JAEHEE!
Jaehee tells you she acquired Teo’s phone by accident and she’s going to return it as soon as possible. During the chat, you’ll get to ask Jaehee about her day. You can also tell her a few comforting words since she’s overworked (as always). You’ll also get a chance to ask her a few tidbits about her work and her boss (Jumin). Ha!
❀Click to View Scrapbook❀
Comments: I freaked out when out of nowhere, the BGM of the chatroom started to switch to Mystic Messenger’s BGM. The music was so soothing & nostalgic. It made me realize how much I missed Jaehee, and I was feeling all kinds of emotions left and right! hahaha I made sure to pick all the choices checking up and on Jaehee too, and asking her how her day was. There were a few choices that lets you check up on Teo but nah bruh, I’m all about my queen, Baehee right now. 🥰 I was so sad that this was only for a brief moment and would’ve wanted for Jaehee to have Teo’s phone all day (lol). I even tried calling after the chat but for obvious reasons, it goes to Teo’s answering machine. I’d assume Cheritz would have to schedule a recording session for Jaehee’s voice actress just to record this cameo, and that probably wasn’t ideal considering all the hooplas you have to go through at the backend when it comes seiyuu contracts. Anyway, this was an amazing day! Teo also looked really good in his cafe uniform!
🚀DAY 26 – DAY 27
DAY 26: Teo goes back to his part-time job at the library. He’ll be helping manage an event where a famous director will be visiting and giving a lecture about the industry. Come lunchtime, and the event begins. The Director then talks and gossips about another older Director, who happens to be Teo’s father. Teo got mad at the nasty comments given to his dad, so he made a fuss about it right then and there and the lecture was forced to a halt. The lecturer got mad, and all the audience left. He felt bad about the incident and moped about it for the entire day.
DAY 27: Teo is sick. He went to the doctor to get meds. Later in the evening he goes for a run at the park for some exercise.
❀Click to View Scrapbook❀
Comments: Day 26, got a little dramatic, and I actually feel for him. If you’ve been keeping up with this game like me, you’ll notice throughout the previous chats that Teo loved his dad very much. His father is like his idol and life inspiration, so getting extremely pissed that his pops got badmouthed like that is pretty much warranted. I liked this day because we get a side of Teo that’s a bit vulnerable. The phone calls here were also pretty good. Kudos to his voice actor, who’s done a tremendous job of personifying Teo’s depressive state.
🚀DAY 28
Teo gets a sketchy email about a part-time job interview at a place called “DONGHO Corp” which is located in the middle of nowhere. Despite you telling him not to go because it looked suspicious, he goes to the interview site anyway. A few moments later, Teo gets a weird phone call from an unknown guy who confirmed his interview for Dongho Corporate and adds that he probably doesn’t want to get affiliated with them. Teo hesitates for a minute, but then shrugs the whole thing off. During lunchtime, Teo arrives at his destination when suddenly a vehicle stops him and some men wearing masks blindfolds & kidnaps him. They brought him over to this elegant mansion-like place, and some bigwig dude tries to recruit him as one of his lackeys. Teo firmly declined, and he was later let go. They also threatened him not to call the cops and made him swear to just forget about his encounter today.
❀Click to View Scrapbook❀
Comments: Wow, this day is just….so…..honestly…STUPID! Teo is just too dense af! Clearly, the interview email was already a huge red flag…WHYYYY did he even bother? Like??? It blows my mind how utterly naive this 27-year-old man is. BRUHH… Anyway, he did come out safe in the end but heck, if this was IRL that’d be a different story. Idk, how I feel about this day.
🚀DAY 29 – DAY 30
DAY 29: Teo gets a phone call from his professor and was told that he’s joining a reality show called “Muse of Musical”. Muse of Musical or “MoM” is a survival reality show that casts musical actors competing to star in this big upcoming musical film. They’ll go through different audition challenges that will test their aptitudes in singing, dancing, acting, and appearances. Harry Choi (Teo’s friend who wears a horse mask) will be one of the judges in Muse of Musical.
DAY 30: We are finally orbiting this new planet called “Mewry” and Teo’s hair is now pink! (actually, Teo’s hair on Day 29 was already pink, but today is where Jimin wannabe enters the chatroom). Anyway, during the morning chats, Teo tells you more about Muse of Musical. He mentions that one of the judges of MoM is ZEN (from Mystic Messenger), and he asks you if you know who ZEN is. You’re given different choices here, including one that lets you say “He’s my ex.” (haha) I picked this choice and Teo tells me how he was surprised that I’m being too honest lol He then checks out pics of Zen on the internet and said it’s amazing how flawless and beautiful he is. There’s another choice here that lets you tell him “That’s why I liked ZEN because he’s so beautiful” or something along those lines. Again, I picked this choice ROFL (sorry Teo!), and Teo says it was unnecessary for me to say that. Ha! Do I smell jealousy?
❀Click to View Scrapbook❀
Comments: I love these days! Not only do we get a mention of Harry Choi on Day 29, but we get cameo pics of ZEN on Day 30. It is now clear that The Ssum’s universe is pretty much the same universe as Mystic Messenger, and I can’t wait to actually see more cameos of the MM characters. But I’m also hoping that they won’t take over The Ssum’s subplots too much, as I wanted this to be a separate game on its own. Anyway, I’ll expound on this soon when I get to part three of this Review Diary which will be more on Planet Mewry.
THINGS I’VE NOTICED, THINGS THAT STOOD OUT
- Debunking my previous technical theory of the game, where there might be different scenarios panning out depending on the choices you make… This is false. While the conversations will differ a little bit, there’s only one route you’re heading to. Whether you’ve ignored Teo or were mean to him during his courting days, he’s still going to confess to you on Day 14 and you’re still going to end up with him as a couple.
- There are no bad endings. This is clear to me now.
- While the bugs have calmed down, the translations were still not good. Lots of typos, misspellings, awkward phrasings, missing prepositions, and the list goes on.
- Harry has been getting a lot of mentions lately? Is he going to be the next LI? (If he is, I’d totally smash!)
- Yes, Cheritz has confirmed there will be more love interests. (Possibly after the 200 days, though this is only speculation).
- The cameos of MM characters were fun and I would love to see more of them!
THOUGHTS ON PLANET VANAS
While writing this review, I realized how much I took Planet Vanas for granted. There’s actually some decent storytelling here and I love Teo on this planet. He grew on me and his myriad of emotions here was very relatable. Mewry right now is just horrible istg! But I’ll save that rant for later.
Since this post is just a recap of Planet Vanas, I’ll discuss my overall thoughts on the game (after playing steadily for two whole months) in my next post which will be focusing on Planet Mewry. This review ends here, unfortunately, but trust that I’ll be back next week with a tirade of Mewry-themed rants! Ha ha haaaah…
-Chlo over and out! NYAA
(cringe.. but I’ve always wanted to use this catchphrase!)
Otome Kitten 
I cannot tell you how glad I am to read your thoughts. I also have been going it alone, so it’s nice to hear from someone. 😀 Tiny spoiler (sorta) but I got so confused on Day 51 that I had to check Reddit for someone explaining what had happened. Very much looking forward to your opinion on Mewry.
More importantly though, thank you a million times for explaining how to turn on the speed typing. I had no idea I had to enable it and I have been furious with the Mewry wait times. T_T
Had I but known!!! So thank you again!
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Ahh im glad im not the only one still playing hahaha! 😅 And yeah gawd Day 51 was so frustrating and out of nowhere! lol i definitely have some words with it! Im almost done with Mewry and honestly cant wait to leave lol – this planet was awful! XD
Thanks for reading! 🥺😘
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Long time lurker here! Finally had the courage to post a comment. (w.w) U’ve no idea how happy I am to see an update in your diary review today. I started to fear that you have abandoned the game like most people so I was surprised to see this post! I just got back to the game after uninstalling it after confession day and I’m cruising mewry now and I so much agree that this planet i’s very frustrating but knowing someone else in the community is still playing it makes me feel good ig. I have seen nasty comments and reviews on Youtube and it discouraged me from continuing. I’m glad your review remains critically unbiased so thank you! I am still not sure where to put Teo as a romanceable character. He is just too dense for my taste and yes that kidnap scene was awful. i cant wait to read what you think of planet mewry its gonna be an interesting rant/ i mean read! haha 😛
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