Level-5 have continued to show they are capable of delivering a wide variety of different gaming experiences over the years, from RPG Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch which they collaborated with the legendary Studio Ghibli on to the Professor Layton line of DS and 3DS games that are genuinely thought-provoking puzzle games. While it surprises me that Nintendo haven’t dived at the chance to localize Yo-Kai Watch, which has been gaining much attention in Japan since last year, they have recently localized and launched their Life-Sim/RPG Fantasy Life. Despite not setting my initial hopes too high, I personally found that the game effectively harmonized both gameplay styles to deliver a balanced, all-ages approachable experience despite a couple of noticeable issues and general repetitiveness.
“Get a Life” is one of my least favourite taunts/insults, especially as the validity/progress/outcomes of any personal accomplishment or aspiration cannot always be dictated by someone else not in your shoes. In Fantasy Life however, the phrase “Get a Life” would be considered a legitimate statement given a majority of citizens fall into and train as one of 12 character classes referred to as a “Life”. Dare you take up arms as a Paladin or Mercenary? Fancy learning the ways of a Magician? Want to stay away from front-line battling and take up a trade like tailoring, alchemy or mining? Fantasy Life aims to give players the opportunity to choose how they progress their character’s experience throughout the game by providing opportunities and collectibles distinct to each class, and then allowing them to change direction at any time with little in the way of limitation.
With 12 different lives on offer, each having different styles of gameplay associated with them, first impressions may indicate that some will dominate over others… but this was only partly true from my experience. The development team made it so that irrespective of what class you choose to work with, ultimately you will never find yourself without something to do or find. Using an example of a mountainous lava-filled dungeon for example that you come across early on, it was full of enemies that would be tailored towards the four “combat” classes but also contained spots for miners, woodcutters and even fisherman to gather at while there were also resources for the other classes to collect.
The entire open world area and all other nooks-and-cranny’s were well balanced so, while you may find yourself drifting towards a combat class more often than not, there is still some purpose to choosing an alternate class and reaping all benefits associated with it. Personally, while my dominant “life” was the Magician, I occasionally switched back to alchemist and used the items I had acquired during my travels for profit. As you learn new skills as you level up each class, there is always some gameplay reward associated with fulfilling tasks set to you by the master of each respective life.
There is a full length storyline associated with Fantasy Life which is less intrusive than I would have liked. The storyline sees your completely customized character meeting a mysterious talking butterfly on the day of your “Life” choosing ceremony with the King, eventually involving a series of missions and ultimately the typical RPG quest of you and your new-found friends working towards saving the world. But one issue is that a majority of the time will be spent fulfilling MMORPG-esque quests that range from delivering X number of Y to an NPC or defeating A number of B and then capturing their leader. The ability to switch character classes and being able to undertake up to 30 quests as once does help mitigate the repetitiveness, but a more prevalent storyline to break up these quests would have been a major help, as I did experience burn-out a number of times during my playtesting. It did help that the battle system was quick and easy to grasp however, with a degree of challenge that didn’t treat you like this is your first time ever playing an RPG and offering an adequate amount of challenge.
Fantasy Life has its RPG mechanics down-pat with a diverse range of character classes, spells, equipment and more accessible to the player. However other features included in the game are a mixed bag ranging from very well implemented to almost pointless. The biggest highlight in Fantasy Life is its character customization system, which is just as diverse as Level-5 provided in PS3 RPG White Knight Chronicles. Across both genders, the development team has provided an extensive range of options including five body types, six head types, approximately 50 hair styles (With no gender discrimination) and a range of other facial and clothing options. The system is completely approachable, and even without the inclusion of sliders allows a player to create a fairly unique character. I can simply sum up my opinions on the character creation system in five words/symbols: “Fantasy Life > Mii Maker”. Much in the same vein as the “Life” system, it is also possible to change your characters hairstyle or even clothing colour at will once certain conditions are met.
In addition to general and job experience points that are obtained through general gameplay, there is also an additional “Bliss” point system which are acquired through completing certain tasks both known and unknown to the player. This system allows you to select from one of twenty-two bonus options ranging from affordable hair-style changes to being able to own a pet – with one unlocking every time you achieve a set number of Bliss points. The lack of transparency with regards to earning these points initially came across as frustrating, but eventually saw me not going from point A to B in my travels, but scouring alternate routes to try and discover new things.
The one pointless feature that seemed to only exist as justification for the Carpenter class was the housing system, which sees your character acquire a room of their own to decorate… very similar to Animal Crossing. While it was possible to create some memorable homes in Animal Crossing, most of what I tried to create in Fantasy Life came out drab, quickly becoming something I didn’t remotely care about during my playthrough or afterwards for that matter.
Final Words on Fantasy Life
While its cover artwork and general visual design may give Fantasy Life the impression of being a game targeted towards younger audiences, I consider it to be extremely approachable to gamers of all ages, serving as a true testament to Level-5’s capacity to develop games of not only dual-genres but with a wide audience appeal. While you could easily find a game that is better in respects to each individual gameplay element, they all unify well into one enjoyable experience with tremendous replay potential… even if the typical MMORPG-style questing system may not be appealing for long play sessions.
