Fairy Tail 2 Review - Fairly Nailed
I really like Fairy Tail as a series. Sure, it’s big, bombastic and dumb; almost the anime equivalent of junk food. When the series ended I was ok with it. It’d run its course and wrapped up, which is more than many shows can say. I was surprised, but not unhappy, to see an RPG come out for what I think is the best arc of the show; the Grand Magic Games. I was doubly surprised to hear that, 4 years after the anime/manga had ended, and a pretty mildly received game launch there was going to be a sequel.
Fairy Tail 2 takes place in the final arc of the anime. It’s an exciting arc, even if it does fall back on the “power of friendship” trope. The game nails some aspects of it, and completely messes up others. Important characters are ignored or lumped with just existing via text boxes, and many important moments are completely glossed over. I’m torn on this, because as a fan I want to see those scenes in the game, but I also wonder how much of the story makes sense if you don’t know it ahead of time. Then again if that’s true, I don’t know why you’d think this is the game for you.
It’s not all that bad though. Combat has been swapped from turn based to more active combat. Combos and weaknesses play a much larger role, and you can switch between team members on the fly. This allows much more interesting fights, where the previous game’s fighting became a bit stale. Of course, this is Gust, so this iterative design is a known quantity. Unfortunately, there are less playable characters this time around so whilst the combat is more interesting, it’s also a bit sad to not be able to play around with more of the Fairy Tail crew. The combos are still appropriately cool, and unison raid attacks can be performed later in the game. It’s a good selection of tactical options, at least. Combat can also be completely skipped if you’re too far above your enemy in level, so you don’t get sucked into battle with weak enemies.
I enjoyed the little flourishes though. You can rest up at campfires and watch little optional skits between characters. These add a bit of extra fun for fans to the game. The campfires also replenish your HP and work as fast travel. Moving around the map is also more enjoyable. Part of this is due to the graphical upgrades; the game looks crisp and runs at a good framerate. It won’t be winning style awards, but it’s punching above its weight for sure. There are plenty of reasons to explore around the map; sidequests to collect items, treasure chests, collectibles and area bosses are all present. Again, you can interact with almost all of these as much or as little as you want.
All in all, the game doesn’t overstay its welcome. This is always the gamble with RPGs and despite wanting to see more of the things around the edges of the story, Fairy Tail 2 doesn’t waste your time. I saw most of what I wanted to see and the game clocked in at around 25 hours or so. Post-game content still exists to be cleared and I haven’t sunk my teeth too hard into it, but after some very meaty RPGs over the last few months, it’s good to have one that I can polish off in a week or so.
There’s some classically Fairy Tail music in the game too. I don’t think it’s been lifted from the anime, but it definitely has some of the same vibes; an odd mix between rock and almost Irish jig. I dig it, but I’ve always liked it. The audio in the game is enjoyable, but some people might be turned off by the lack of English voice acting. I’ve played a lot of Gust RPGs, so I’m used to it.
I like Fairy Tail 2. It’s competent but not great, and there are a few things that irk me; like locking exploration behind specific characters that join much later. If you’re not a fan of the series, the game lacks quite a bit of backstory, and even the stuff that is in the game can be locked behind late game campfire scenes. If you are a fan of Fairy Tail in manga or anime form, this is a fun jaunt through the final arc of the series.
Fairy Tale 2 was reviewed on PC with a Steam code kindly provided by the developer.
