3DS Game Re:Re:Reviews - Fantasy Life
12:27 PM
Welcome
to what's hopefully to become somewhat long running series. Here I'm
planning to write some reviews of some games I've enjoyed on the 3DS
as the system turns 5 years old. A lot of these games will be pretty
old, some from the system's early line up, and some released last
month. It's not a comprehensive list of what's good on the 3DS, but
rather a list of games I've played, liked and think that people who
haven't tried them really should give these a shot. I'm aiming for a
1 game every other day schedule so hopefully I can keep that up for a
good week or two.
Today,
we look at a game you probably won't have played or even heard of.
Here's Level-5's Fantasy Life.
Fantasy
Life was released October 4th, 2014 (North America) and
developed by Level-5. It was published by Nintendo for North America
and Europe.
Fantasy
Life is probably a title most would expect on a list of recommended
games for the 3DS. It received mixed critical reviews, and while it
came out with a fair amount of fan-fair, the buzz around the game
died down pretty quickly. As much as it's liked, among Level-5's
output, it unfortunately ends up being an “also ran” game, out
performed by the likes of Professor Layton and Youkai Watch.
Fantasy
Life has a similar charm to Animal Crossing in it's goofy characters
and oddly calm world. As an RPG, it's definitely more guided than
Animal Crossing is, but the fun to be had is largely up to how you
want to have fun. Outside of the story missions, it's really about
how you explore and interact with the world. Are you going to go on
the classic heroic adventure as a Mercenary, hacking and slashing
your way through the game, or are you going to take the more novel
route, saving the world as a craftsman, like a Carpenter?
One
of the best and unique aspects of Fantasy Life is it's job system or
“Life” as it's known as in game. There are three Life categories: Combat, Crafting and Gathering. All of them are viable
ways to play the game. Craftsmen level up by making things, while
gathering classes level up by gathering the resources the class is
based around. Anglers fish, Miners pick away at ores, while
Lumberjacks fell trees out in the fields. The best way to play the
game is by mixing and matching these classes – Craftsmen really
benefit from the ability to gather up the relevant resources as
Gatherer classes, while Combat classes do best when using crafted
weapons, which are far superior to the store bought stuff. It's in
this symbiotic class system where the job system shines. As each
class is a perfectly viable way to play the game, you could complete
the story entirely as one of the Craftsmen classes, saving the world
from impending doom as a Chef, one dish at a time.
The
story for the game is pretty generic JRPG material but the characters
are just so fun and goofy that I'd forgive some of the weaker story
beats that revolve around them. You're saving the world, but there
really aren't any bad guys in the story. The big, dark, evil sorcerer
in the neighbouring kingdom? Nope, just a goofy story made up between
the kings of your country and theirs. A dark goddess trying to win
the world? Never mind, she's just trying to fix things too. It's just
a happy, sweet time in this world, where everything bad comes with a
silly spoonful of sugar. The DLC adds another area, while also
putting one very sweet bow to tie up the the loose ends left by the
main story. The DLC ending really is “true” ending of the game in
that it's much more satisfying, both in story and emotionally, but
isn't necessary for a full experience. The main game's ending is
perfectly fine, but the DLC means more Fantasy Life.
Another
thing that I didn't get super into, but thought was really neat, were
the houses. You can buy different houses throughout the game in each
of the different cities. They serve as save points and quick travel
points. Carpenters can build both decorative and functional furniture
for houses – beds, storage chests, closets etc. You could
essentially go all Animal Crossing on your houses and really
personalize and decorate your house.
Multiplayer
is a great way for gathering or crafting classes to get extra
experience and hard to get items deep in the fields. Party up with
some combat classes and have them take out the monsters while you
plunder the land of resources. Unfortunately, the combat isn't quite
deep enough to require specific tactics outside of “kill anything
that's aggressive”. Still, playing with other people makes running
around in the fields a fun and relaxing time.
It's
not all rainbows and lollipops with Fantasy Life, however. It suffers
from a common problem in that it's UI is clunky, particularly in
crafting. There's no way to view the recipes outside of the crafting
stations, making it a real chore to figure out what you need for that
sword or table. Having the crafting recipes up on a separate device,
or in the 3DS browser is probably the best way to keep tabs on items
you need.
Combat is pretty simple, with (if memory serves me correct) 2 weapon
combos, a charged attack and combat skills. It's definitely got some
finesse to it, especially once you're up against higher level
enemies, but for the most part, you generally don't need to be
fighting smart to do well. My favourite part of combat is when
defeating “boss enemies” (enemies in quotation marks as this also
applies to “boss ore veins”, “boss trees” and “boss fish”)
they turn into hauling items. If you want the loot and money for
defeating them, you'll have to lug them back to town and turn them
into the guild office for your reward.
For
all the game's polish, the Guild Offices feel oddly incomplete. Only
the main town, Castele, has the multiplayer desk staffed, whereas the same desk in other cities are unmanned. It'd be nice if those
were filled to make things easier on people needing missions in other
regions of the world. It'd be nice if there were a reason given for
the lack of staffing at the other offices because it just feels odd
to always see the vacant desk.
Another
potential problem, and one that popped up a lot in reviews of the
game, is that it can feel like a check list. It's simple gameplay
doesn't always lend itself to fun, occasionally becoming a repetitive
slog of busy work, like gathering up items for townsfolk or crafting
items for people. Once you've seen the story through and all that's
left are the towns people's requests, the game loses a lot of it's
shine without the forward momentum of the story.
Overall,
Fantasy Life is a fun and charming time of a game. Blending some
aspects of Animal Crossing, RPGs and Level-5's always fun games, it's
a that's great for almost everybody. My biggest disappointment with the game is that the sequel is a smart phone exclusive. It's due to be released sometime this year, and I don't think we'll see it outside of Japan.
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