I have played a lot of games this quarter. Some of them have been great, while others have caused me to question my life decisions. But I am not here to talk about that. I am here to tell you about a game that has brought much joy to my life.
My Fantasy Life, that is.
That’s right. I am talking about Fantasy Life, the RPG that might have fallen under your radar while you were Super Smashing it up. I almost forgot about it as well, had it not been for a chance trip to the 3DS store for an update.
At first glance, I wasn’t going to give this game much of a chance. I thought that I knew everything about this type of game. You play as the one hero in the whole world who can save Whatever-town from the all-powerful evil. We have all heard that one before. I was, happily, mistaken.
You start the game; your Life, without one. I know that doesn’t make sense now, but it will soon. The game revolves around different lives that you can take part in. You can be a Hunter and live off the land. You can be an Alchemist and make dangerous concoctions. Or, if you just love food (like me) you can be a Cook. These are just a few of the Lives you can have. You can have them all, just not at once, but you do have the freedom to change your Life whenever you want, which is a big help for those people trying to reach 100% completion the quick way, i.e. Me.
I am have not finished the game yet. I am only on level 30 – there is just so much to do. For example, I am fighting enemies as a Mercenary. They have the highest damage output without having to use your SP like Wizards. As a Mercenary, I fight with Greatswords and I make my own weapons because, as a Blacksmith, you can always make higher quality items than what you can find in the store. But Blacksmiths need ores like copper and steel so as a Miner, I have to go to different caves to get the ores. But if I want a higher level pick or tool, like a fishing rod I have to be a Carpenter.
Do you see what I mean? It gets tricky but think about this. Each time you do anything in any Life, chop trees, fish, cook, make bombs, all of these things get you experience. So jumping from Life to Life actually helps you in the long run. This doesn’t exactly equate to the real world but that’s why this is called Fantasy Life.
The art style is small and cute. Your characters will suffer from the tragic “my sword is bigger than me syndrome” but that’s a small thing.
One thing I appreciate about the game is that it can be a hardcore game where you can get everything and slay every monster, but if that isn’t what you want out of this game you don’t have to do it. There is no penalty for choosing whatever type of Life you want. If you want to slay the boss of the evening as a Tailor, you can do that thing. Then, tell me how the hell you pulled it off! That’s the real beauty of it, you can do whatever, however you want and it’s great.
Mashability Index
Story – 4/5
I haven’t completed the story just yet but nothing so far is as generic as Destiny so it’s up there.
Graphics – 4/5
I am not expecting to see the blood flying off of my weapon as I thrust it into my enemies. As a matter of fact I am not expecting to see any blood due to the game’s rating but the 3DS graphics hold their own.
Gameplay – 5/5
This is turning out to be a game that I can and will play again to try different Life combinations. I feel like I have some agency in my Life and all the other Lives I choose. It is a good feeling.
Fantasy Life – The only Life where you can have it all.