Level-5 is an interesting studio. They’ve created some of the most interesting, well designed and best written games of the early ’00s, being responsible for both Dark Cloud and Dark Cloud 2/Chronicle (In the EU), the Professor Layton series as a whole, and Dragon Quest VIII and IX. They have also managed to handle the increasing madness that is the Inazuma Eleven (Of which there’s a new entry coming August 21, interestingly enough!) series admirably, and, for the time it was around, made the Yo-kai Watch series a genuine competitor in the crowded monster collector and raising fields. It also made White Knight Chronicles.
Its Osaka Office, the developer for the game in today’s review, has had a bit of a rougher ride on the other hand. Back in its original form, Comcept, It developed Sweet Fuse: At Your Side, a genuinely not bad otome VN for the PSP. It also developed Mighty No. 9, a fairly controversial title which is well-documented enough elsewhere to not need explaining here. It has also been under some mildly stressful events during the past year, with its founder, Keiji Inafune, leaving the company in the midst of Fantasy Life i‘s development. So, the question is this; where on that scale does Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time land? With your permission, allow me to tell you a story. This might take a bit, I should warn.
The Prologue
FSi starts with you, after designing and naming your MC in Level-5’s always lovely art style, your mentor, an archeologist with red hair named Edward, a blue bird named Trip, a number of porcine-ish companions, and the remains of a remarkedly large dragon skeleton on board a flying airship, heading towards an island that had been untouched for centuries, or at least as far as you and your mentor are aware. As archeologists are wont to do, Edward allows you to name the island, before the two of you plan to begin your investigation. And then a cybernetic purple dragon with rocket launchers appears before you, the fossil hatches into a skeletal dragon, and things rapidly, and quite literally, head south from there. The airship is decimated, separating you, the bird, the professor and the skeletal dragon fall, the professor is, seemingly, lost, as you lose your grip on him, and the three of you that remain end up diving through a portal. You crash, the group finds a curious helmet that is immensely helpful for the bird… and then you meet a girl.
That may sound like quite a bit happens in a very short amount of time, and that’s because it, indeed, does. Let’s be clear, however, a lot does happen here, but it isn’t rushed, and it flows quite well together. And this is how the game itself goes. There’s a lot there, and a lot to do, but! There’s no need to rush yourself, because this isn’t that kind of game. This is your story, and it goes at your pace.
Charming, And Truly Delightful
‘What’s the game itself like’, you ask, getting a bit understandably impatient with the storyteller, if a mite rude. Well, dear reader, Fantasy Life i is, at its core, a mix between the Rune Factory and Animal Crossing series, as a life simulation JRPG. After some additional story with the girl, the dragon and the king of the island, who happens to be the girl’s brother, you’re tasked with a question. ‘What kind of Life do you want to live?’ And then you’re instructed to go to the town guild, and pick said Life to start out with. There are fourteen of these, although you ‘only’ start with 12 with the other two being unlockable as the story progresses, and you’re free to pick whichever of the 12 you’d like. No restrictions, no fuss, decide how and with what you want to start. These are set in three categories: Combat (The Paladin, Mercenary, Magician and Hunter), as well as the default Brand New, Gatherers (Angler, Miner, Woodcutter and Farmer, the last being locked off until a certain point later) and Crafters (Alchemist, Cook, Tailor, Carpenter, Blacksmith and Artist, the last being similar to the Farmer in regards to being storylocked).
Each category, and each class itself, has fairly simple setups for how they play, and the names reliably inform what they do. If you’re a Merc, you smack with your broadsword in genuinely quite engaging combat, if a little simple at times. If you’re an Angler, you go to a body of water and, well fish. If you select Cook as your life first, I did, you go to a workshop, or someplace with a workbench/stove, you collect ingredients, and you cook. Each category has its own groove, and different forms of difficulty and boss battles, from… actual boss battles in Combat roles, to particularly large ore deposits where you need to find a sweet spot to find the best spot to smack it with your pick, to some of the more complex button combinations as you frantically work to tailor high level equipment. Everything feeds into each other, and each category complements each other nicely, but… for the most part, you don’t strictly need to focus on anything yourself, because you have friends to help you.
Seriously, There Is a Lot
The Life system is the meat of the game, it feeds and nourishes the games’ systems, and every bite you take makes the next step in your journey more enjoyable as your growth unlocks a new side system, and adds something new to the table. The systems are the bone in the middle of said meat, everything runs incredibly smoothly, albeit there are one or two minor dark spots where the minigames for the Crafting classes can be a skosh strict if your equipment is too low, if you happen to forget about the skill system, and allotting skill points… or forget to report back in to your Life’s Master to advance in your Life. Or, if you don’t have a Buddy or two. After you rescue them from having been turned into various decorations.
“So, where do you find these Buddies?” You get a few through the story. “…How do you turn them back?” You take them back to the goddess statue on your island, where she turns them back into humans, as you build houses, clean the rubble, develop, gather Celestia Flowers and… a few other things that I will not spoil. “…Wait, you said a few of them? Where do I get most of them?” You get them- “wait what ISLAND-” Please let me finish.
You get more Buddies by exploring a place called Ginormosia, a sprawling continent where the systems all intertwine beautifully, and, just to start, each area has Shrines for you with different challenges that you complete to rescue them, although, admittedly, they do repeat types of challenges a few times. There’s no end of things to do in Fantasy Life i, and, once again, you’re in no hurry.
Epilogue
The story of this game is not without blemishes, as mentioned before, certain parts can be a bit strict or frustrating if you lack patience…the Memory Mushroom Shrines in particular being slightly bothersome if you’re like me and occasionally have the memory of a concussed goldfish that has been recently punched in the face again. If you’re in a rush, it can feel a little grindy, especially near the end if you’ve only been focusing on two or three Lifes, and haven’t been exploring, seeing what there is to see, and what there is to do.
Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time moves at your pace, and it never stops giving you something new to do, no matter what that pace happens to be. Want to hang out on your island, talking to your rescued Buddies? You can absolutely do that. Wanna explore randomized dungeons that make use of what you’ve learned and trained with said Lifes? You can do that as well. Want to travel around, doing combat and various challenges on Ginormosia? Yes, that’s open to you too. Wanna keep doing that, and more after you beat the story and learn more about its characters? Also very much possible, and if you’re that far in, as I am? It’s worth it. It’s not perfect, but it almost is.
Now, if you don’t mind me, I’m going to leave you with this storybook to read, and this comically large hunk of meat that needs roasting. I have a comfy chair to relax in, a beautifully made, if slightly fatty, steak that needs devouring, a non-branded soft drink to go with it, and the intent to continue enjoying my time. If you wish… well, the ingredients for a fantastic time are in front of you.
