When Fantasy Life landed on 3DS, it was an instant classic. With its unique blend of fantasy storytelling and plethora of “lives” to pick from, it drummed up quite a fanbase. It was with almost audible excitement that players reacted to Level-5 revealing a sequel for Nintendo Switch produced under the watchful eyes of the returning Akihiro Hino, who played a similar role in the development of the original game. Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time offers an expanded but familiar experience for fans of the series, but can it outgrow its predecessor?
Upon hopping into a new game, players are presented with a pretty good character creation screen, even allowing for character height adjustments. Once this character is named, they are dropped right into the action. On a boat headed for adventure, Trip is befriended, a fun and rambunctious little bird, and Edward, a headstrong archaeologist/adventurer who is spearheading this expedition. After a short while, disaster strikes, leaving the player stranded in another world with Trip, but not with Edward, where the game gets going for real!
Stuck in an unfamiliar land, players have to follow a short narrative introduction before being told they “have no life”, which is when the “Fantasy Life” really starts. A character can choose from a list of 14 different lives, ranging from cosy jobs like fishing to more intense jobs like hunting, each with their own storylines and a whole load of missions. This is where Fantasy Life i‘s life sim elements come in (though the simulation aspect is very small) and the character can start contributing to the community.
The story is presented through a mix of cutscenes and more static dialogue screens, both voiced and unvoiced based on character and event. Everything is engaging and at times quite emotional. During review there was a real heartache when Trip is mourning the loss of Edward – after all, he’s Edward’s parrot – and this is paired with a nostalgic but tear-jerking flashback, something totally unexpected from the game. The story has a load of fantastic moments like this, though the writing often relies on bizarro humour with a lot of poop and underwear jokes, which is a bit less engaging but will likely appeal to younger players.
This first island is the tutorial of the game, showing players the ropes and introducing the tone and variety Fantasy Life i is going for. The vibrant setting is full of bizarre encounters with monsters, non-humans and the human inhabitants who all have something to offer, but this is just a bite-sized look at what’s to come. This introduction gives players an easy entry point to explore the mechanics, but the game isn’t scared to increase difficulty.
What does gameplay look like, though? Well, for review, the player was first on the Angler life path. This slow paved, somewhat chill approach is a great way to make the early game relaxing. This route sees the character fishing along the coast to meet various request criteria or even just to advance through the ranks. It’s a genuinely pleasurable experience, which also goes for the other lives available. Every job tried in this review playthrough was each as fun as the last, with all wildly varying gameplay styles.
It is advantageous to specialise in one of the combat lives as Fantasy Life i features a lot of fighting. The basic starter “no life” build will not scale as well to later challenges as opposed to, say, a Paladin. Combat is a simple affair for the most part, but there are some nuances to take note of. Attacking is bound to the X and Y buttons to combine light and heavy moves, with some lives allowing for dodging and blocking. Where things get more interesting is in magic allowing for type weaknesses and more complex strategies against bigger foes. It’s not unsatisfying at all, but simply mashing the attack buttons is usually enough to get through an encounter.
Outside of battle players have tons to do, with each activity requiring a different life to partake. Want to chop down some trees? Better become a Woodcutter! It’s a little odd just how compartmentalised the game is but after a few hours, and with multiple jobs, this becomes a great method for players to choose what they engage in. Each activity also comes with its own action or minigame. Cooking in particular can be quite in-depth, requiring each meal to be created by a minigame with quite strict passing requirements.
Outside of the tutorial players are introduced to more spaces to explore, some of which are gigantic. They are relatively simple in terms of detail but all feature unique elements and gameplay requirements to traverse. Some of these larger areas allow characters to ride a mount or hire battle companions, which can freshen up a quest outing.
Graphically, Fantasy Life i is an interesting beast. It technically looks quite simple, but by deploying modern techniques it can push the Switch quite hard, resulting in a suboptimal experience, and something players will not experience on other platforms such as Switch 2. That said, it is a good-looking title with a unique style that is very reminiscent of its original 3DS visual design. Characters are cutesy chibi style with huge heads. It can be a little odd to see at first, but after a few minutes, it will feel more natural.
The environments are a nice mix of themed areas with a chill colour palette, and just enough detailed objects to be visually interesting. Almost every detail, like trees or rocks, is choppable and mineable, so having them make up the majority of the interactive points in each zone is appreciated from a progress viewpoint. Most of the areas are designed in tiers and can appear quite blocky, but each has charming themed buildings and foliage that help make each have a bit of identity.
Sound-wise, Fantasy Life i makes use of voice acting, which is pretty good stuff, and it has an excellent soundtrack for the most part. The themes while out adventuring or during slower moments are fantastic, and many are returning tracks from Nobuo Uematsu of Final Fantasy fame. There are some less favourable tracks, though. The one for being in a workplace or building can get quite repetitive, especially when the player is moving between locations in quick succession.
Performance leaves a lot to be desired. Often, Fantasy Life i will stutter and appear a little blurry. This ultimately doesn’t impact the experience too much, but having also tried the Switch 2 incarnation, it is a shame the game doesn’t feel smooth to play.
