Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time Review - The Best Sort of Mash-up
Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time is better than real life. There, I said it. That’s the review. It’s a game about a girl who comes into your home, puts this game in front of you and steals all your free time, because this game rocks.
(I mean, ok. That’s not what the game is about at all. But my point still stands).
I played the first Fantasy Life title when it came out on 3DS back in 2012. I was home sick from work and grabbed it as a way to occupy my brain and take my mind off the germs wreaking havoc on my life. The game was so good that even when I was all better, the temptation to stay “sick” so I could stay home and keep playing was strong.
It was because the first game was so enjoyable that I went into this new title with pretty high expectations. Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time is such a wonderful blend of cosy and chaos, bringing all the elements of video games people love into one perfectly mixed gaming experience. There’s combat, there’s decorating, there’s levelling, there’s crafting; Fantasy Life i truly lets you live your fantasy life exactly how you want.
Taking place in the magical land of Reveria, the story of Fantasy Life i has all the A-grade elements of a fantasy game. There are dragons, there’s magic, there’s mysteries, and most importantly, there’s a world to save and humorous characters to follow you around while you do it. Whilst the main story does revolve around the whole “being a hero” thing, that’s just one tiny part of the stuff you can do in this mammoth game.
Fantasy Life i (for the most part) lets you play how you want. Yes, there are times you’re funnelled through certain mechanics for the plot, but mostly it’s up to you how you want to go through the world. If your fantasy life involves being a farmer and growing crops, you can do that. If you want to be a world-renowned crafter making clothes and furniture, you can do that. If you want to be a spell-slinging magician, a bow-wielding hunter or a righteous paladin, you can do that. Or if you want to do none of that and just decorate a cute little island for the rest of your days, you can do that too. The possibilities are seemingly endless. The mash-up of play-styles means it plays really well on a bunch of different devices, too. I did the more combat-heavy parts whilst on PC and the cosier parts I played on my ROG Ally, and on both devices, the game ran perfectly.
You’d think in a game that has crammed so much into it, that there’d be parts that suck, right? I mean the phrase “Jack of all trades, master of none” exists for a reason – but Fantasy Life i truly shines across the areas it touches. I particularly liked the combat system, which provides a bunch of different classes you can play. There’s ranged, magical and melee combat, all of which have a unique feel and play style. Crafting mini-games are also enjoyable, but I did find myself getting over them pretty quickly. Crafting also becomes incredibly grindy towards the later parts of the game, but it doesn’t feel janky or clunky… just long. And for those RPG fanatics who love the grind, you’ll enjoy this. But my teeny tiny attention span requires much more instant gratification, so this lost me. Fantasy Life i definitely has parts of the game that shine brighter than others, but overall the whole game is polished and a ton of fun.
From the very beginning, this game delivered surprises in such a whimsical way. Every time I thought I knew where the game was going, it would throw a curveball at me and change course. At first, I thought the game would be a cute little combat game – PSYCH, there’s all this crafting in it. Then I thought I’d be spending the game on the one island – PSYCH, there’s a huge map to explore. Then I figured the combat was simply overworld stuff I’d get over pretty quickly – PSYCH there’s a whole dungeon system to conquer.
The variety in Fantasy Life i is the most refreshing thing of all. Sometimes I feel like a cosy little farming sim, and other times I want to slap around some bad guys; and in this game, I can do it all. It’s like if Animal Crossing and The Legend of Zelda had a baby… but instead of being annoying like most babies are, the baby actually rocks. Yes, it comes with a $ 90 AUD pricetag, but babies are expensive. And honestly, for the amount of hours, content and enjoyment that this title delivers, the pricetag quickly gets forgotten.
Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time is a delightful amalgamation of all the things I love about video games. It’s a gorgeous escape into another world that lets you live exactly how you want. Whether you’re a cosy gamer or a chaos agent out for blood, Fantasy Life i has something for everybody.
Fantasy Life i was reviewed on PC with code kindly supplied by the publisher.
