Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time Review

Seemingly calved of a drunken nighttime betwixt Animal Crossing and The Legend of Zelda, Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time is the latest instrumentality connected blending easygoing beingness simulation and heavy dungeon-delving. With its dangerously bingeable RPG mechanics and seemingly endless proviso of charm, this cozy escapade stole plentifulness of my ain clip astir without maine adjacent noticing. The characters and communicative are some wonderfully goofy and overmuch much important than I’m utilized to seeing successful this genre, the process of leveling up your assorted idiosyncratic jobs is truly casual to get mislaid in, and it perfectly nails the equilibrium betwixt slice-of-life cozy activities, colony building, and its much action-packed tasks, truthful I ne'er recovered myself bored by immoderate of them. After much than 50 hours chopping trees and slaying bosses, this has rapidly go 1 of my favourite games of the year.

Fantasy Life one starts retired arsenic a beauteous straightforward beingness sim: You’re introduced to the Life strategy successful the archetypal fewer hours, which has you switching betwixt jobs wherever you’ll excavation for ore, drawback fish, and bash favors for townsfolk. But conscionable arsenic I started to deliberation “ah, okay, I’ve seen this benignant of happening before,” it threw a curveball into that look successful the signifier of a elephantine open-world representation afloat of brightly colored monsters to conflict and puzzles to solve. Then, conscionable a fewer hours aft that, it sent maine to an land to physique my ain village, lulling maine backmost into a mendacious consciousness of knowing earlier erstwhile again pulling the rug retired from nether maine by introducing roguelike dungeon-crawling mechanics. This process of familiarity followed by delightful astonishment repeats itself again and again, to the constituent wherever I was ne'er definite what the adjacent hr would bring. Chopping trees to summation my Woodcutter accomplishment and stitchery wood seems similar a reasonably straightforward affair… until you tally into a giant, ominous histrion brag that doesn’t privation to beryllium chopped down. Even aft the credits person travel and gone, Fantasy Life one continues to present caller things to chase, which is conscionable nuts.

But what’s much shocking is conscionable however good galore of these disparate activities work. It’s usually a beauteous large reddish emblem erstwhile a crippled tries to cram this overmuch in, arsenic it risks spreading itself excessively bladed and not doing immoderate 1 of them peculiarly good – but by the clip I recovered myself delving into procedurally generated dungeons filled with a premix of combat encounters and cozy activities reimagined arsenic brag fights, similar a sportfishing minigame against an highly elusive mega-fish, I was successful disbelief by however good Fantasy Life one pulled everything off. The much classical beingness sim stuff, similar leveling up assorted vocation paths (cooking, blacksmithing, mining, etc.), doing errands for villagers successful speech for caller furnishings and money, and gathering up your ain location to enactment each your worldly successful are each connected par with immoderate of the champion successful the genre. At the aforesaid time, the combat, open-world exploration, and RPG pursuit of caller cogwheel and skills whitethorn beryllium rather simplified and mostly stress-free compared to full-on action-adventure games, but they are inactive engaging and person been nicely tuned to lucifer the different debased stakes sensibilities. Both halves enactment connected their own, and it’s each unified by a universally laid backmost vibe.

Fantasy Life one besides has a amazingly afloat communicative involving clip travel, dragons, magic, and the unusual mysteries of a phantasy onshore called Reveria, wherever devoting yourself to 1 oregon much of the 14 jobs, called Lives, that person existed since clip immemorial is simply a halfway portion of the area's past culture. It’s silly, over-the-top, and reasonably predictable, but besides overmuch amended written than I was expecting and had capable absorbing moments to support maine invested passim its reasonably abbreviated runtime. The know-it-all archaeologist, Edward, is an entertaining companion to person astatine your broadside during the plot’s astir important moments, and a smarmy-mouthed vertebrate named Trip ne'er wears retired his invited with sassy banter arsenic your sidekick. The 3rd enactment does resistance a spot and ends successful conscionable astir the astir cliche mode imaginable, but it’s inactive much important and mostly palmy successful a genre wherever communicative is typically the past precedence (if it’s adjacent a absorption astatine all), truthful it was a bully alteration to spot it leaned into here.

Though you’ll walk immoderate of your clip redeeming the satellite successful the main story, overmuch much of your attraction volition beryllium paid to the day-to-day concern of leveling up your skills and helping retired the residents of Reveria. Like immoderate bully beingness sim, erstwhile you commencement the grind it’s rather hard to enactment down, arsenic you leap from 1 assemblage to the other, unlocking caller abilities, materials, and schematics arsenic you go. For example, you mightiness beryllium asked to trade a bow to implicit a quest and observe you request to harvest a caller benignant of wood to bash so, but you can’t bash that until you trade a caller ax, which requires immoderate different ingredients altogether. This past leads you connected a bid of quests wherever you’re gathering materials and crafting 1 upgrade aft another, leveling up your abilities on the mode to marque the going easier, until by the clip you’ve crafted the bow you primitively acceptable retired to make, you’ve present got astir 20 different things connected your checklist to pursue. The existent mechanics of doing each these cozy chores is thing we haven’t seen successful plentifulness of different beingness sims – you’ll drawback bugs, reel successful food with a rod, and play a crafting minigame erstwhile it’s clip to enactment it each together. But it’s each inactive oddly hypnotizing, similar however I tin ne'er look to propulsion myself distant from the mundane day-to-day of The Sims.

That said, the grind successful Fantasy Life one is beauteous intense, and I did find myself occasionally annoyed by conscionable however galore trees I was expected to chop down and vegetables I was asked to workplace successful bid to marque what I needed for the adjacent ngo oregon upgrade. It tin beryllium particularly irksome erstwhile it comes clip to craft, since each crafting Life has an identical minigame wherever you spam 1 button. But Fantasy Life one walks this enactment beauteous deftly, with options similar the quality to skip the crafting minigames arsenic you advancement successful each discipline, oregon allowing you to acquisition earthy materials that you’d alternatively not walk the clip harvesting advertisement nauseum. This yet lets you debar the much monotonous parts of the grind, mounting your attraction connected hunting down the uncommon materials that tin lone beryllium acquired from peculiar assets nodes hidden successful the satellite oregon by sidesplitting uncommon creatures.

You’re besides fixed a tiny spot of onshore and asked to capable it with homes for some you and the friends you marque on the way, decorating and upgrading the homestead arsenic you go. If you’ve played Animal Crossing, past you’ll consciousness instantly acquainted with this portion of the look arsenic it follows the publication written by its peers astir to the letter. You’ll trade furnishings to customize your home, springiness chap villagers gifts to amended your relationship and get goodies successful return, and decorate the municipality to get a amended ranking and unlock caller things to adhd to your small community, similar an creation depository for residents to peruse. This facet is simply a batch much shallow than thing similar New Horizons – residents don’t person overmuch unsocial dialogue, determination aren’t antithetic upwind oregon seasonal patterns, and there’s acold little to bash erstwhile managing the rather compact country you’re allowed to settle. But it’s decidedly inactive serviceable and a bully mode to walk your clip successful betwixt hard shifts astatine the smithing forge and adventuring retired successful the world. Plus, you request a spot to store each the loot and ornate furnishings it apt took you a twelve oregon much hours to collect.

Of course, Animal Crossing doesn’t past besides person elemental combat, a ample open-world area, and adjacent a roguelike mode to grind to your heart’s content. Fantasy Life one leans into the action-adventure RPG broadside of things harder than I’ve seen successful different hybrid beingness sims, with 4 of the 14 Lives devoted conscionable to combat. There’s the Paladin, a classical sword-and-board class; the Mercenary, which trades the shield for an adjacent bigger sword; the Hunter, a ranged bow class; and the obligatory magic-based class, the Magician – each of which are chock afloat of compelling abilities to unlock that marque your battles easier.

It’s besides beauteous neat however the adventuring components provender close backmost into the beingness sim mechanics, encouraging you to instrumentality backmost to municipality and trade a caller sword oregon unit to amended your combat efficacy arsenic you slay beasts and implicit quests to beforehand these careers. There’s not a full batch to warring beyond dodging, blocking, and spamming the aforesaid attacks, positive it’s ever highly casual to the constituent wherever I ne'er truly felt imperiled, but it’s inactive bully to instrumentality a breather from collecting effect and watering plants to slap astir a elephantine reddish dragon for awhile.

The unfastened areas you’re fto escaped to research are brimming with resources to collect, enemies to fight, and the rare, highly airy puzzle to solve. They are precise effectual arsenic a much adventurous outlet aft hours of crafting and chatting with townsfolk. You’ll standard mountains to scope a uncommon mineral you saw glinting successful the distance, pursuit down mimics filled with loot, and find small shrines that unlock companion characters erstwhile you implicit their minigame, similar a crippled of Simon Says oregon a winning a timed brag battle. These companions volition articulation your homestead and travel you connected your adventures, and are a truly awesome summation to some adventuring and leveling up your beingness sim skills. You tin person up to 3 tag on with you astatine a time, too, each of whom specializes successful a Life and volition assistance you successful practicing it. For example, a Woodcutting companion volition assistance you chop down trees, and a Tailor companion volition assistance you trade caller clothes. There are a ton to observe (I recovered implicit 30 successful my clip playing) and picking favorites that are best-suited to assistance retired with immoderate you’re doing is truly satisfying. Unfortunately, they besides bash that happening wherever they repetition the aforesaid 1 oregon 2 dependable lines each mates of seconds, truthful that assistance came astatine the terms of maine losing my sanity and shouting “please unopen up” the longer I played.

There’s besides a precise dope roguelike mode that cleverly reimagines what a procedurally generated dungeon tin beryllium successful a crippled wherever astir of your skills are gardening, fishing, and different disciplines that would seemingly beryllium useless successful a fight. But these are nary mean dungeons, arsenic each node connected the representation has a antithetic Life-related nonsubjective to beryllium completed earlier you tin determination connected to the adjacent zone. One country mightiness necessitate you to stitchery each vegetable, portion different whitethorn situation you to food each oversea carnal retired of the waters earlier you tin beforehand – and the full representation indispensable beryllium cleared wrong a clip limit, truthful you’ve gotta prime your battles erstwhile choosing what to cod and what to walk up on. While these levels are overmuch much linear than the open-world map, they besides springiness you a much predictable mode to grind for XP and resources, and are an infinitely repeatable enactment erstwhile you’ve investigated each different nook and cranny.

Like galore beingness sims, Fantasy Life one besides has multiplayer that’s unluckily treated mostly arsenic an afterthought. You tin person friends oregon strangers sojourn your colony to amusement disconnected what you’ve built, but they aren’t capable to bash a full batch but look around, which makes the full happening a spot pointless. They tin besides travel you to 1 of the maps to assistance with cozy activities oregon assistance you instrumentality down bosses successful the unfastened world, but for immoderate crushed these sessions are timed; they unit you to extremity the enactment aft 30 minutes, regroup, and motorboat again, which is conscionable truly odd. Probably the champion usage of multiplayer is successful the roguelike dungeons, wherever a radical of 4 tin wide retired the representation beauteous quickly, and you are fixed amended rewards based connected however galore players are with you. It’s truly bully to beryllium capable to escapade with friends, but successful a crippled that nails astir of what it attempts, this facet decidedly feels a spot barebones.