Fantasy Life

Genre: Action-RPG

Players: 1-3 Co-Op (Local Wireless / Online), StreetPass Supported

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Review:

Fantasy Life, released on Nintendo 3DS in 2014, is an Action-RPG with some minor “Life Sim” Simulation elements. Players take the role of a resident of a medieval fantasy kingdom who has started their first steps on their new “Life”, the game’s way of referring to their job class system, whose mechanics are central to both the gameplay and story here.

This game makes use of colorful, cartoony 3D graphics, with characters that aren’t very far off from Miis in terms of complexity, but this simple character design seems to have been used to give the game more leeway to have a bustling, busy world full of people and all sorts of cartoony detail in its locales. This is backed by a lovely soundtrack with some really wonderful music from Final Fantasy composer Nubuo Uematsu, with some highlights being Main Theme, Idyllic Landscape, Night of a Quiet Town, Tavern, and Night of the Great Plains. Be aware that these wonderful orchestrated themes are nestled amongst numerous more whimsical silly themes that are less delightful, but perhaps a better fit for the game, Still, overall, there’s a lot to love here.

When it comes to the gameplay, Fantasy Life offers players quite a bit of variety. There are 12 different job classes, and they offer a variety of experiences – you get more of a focus on combat with fighter and bowman classes, where classes like fisherman and cook are more relaxed and easygoing. Players won’t be forced to choose just one class – at any time, you can sign up for a different “Life”, taking the skills and bonuses you earned in the other job class with you. Ideally, you’ll want to have multiple classes under your belt.

Given the great variety in job classes and a wealth of side-quests and goals for players to tackle, there’s a lot to do in this game, and the game world is large too – I wouldn’t quite go as far as to describe it as “open world”, but I can certainly understand why some use the term. The central town of Castele is itself quite large and sprawling, and players will find even more of the game’s world gradually open up to them as they progress through the story.

If I had to make one complaint about Fantasy Life, it is that while there’s a lot to do and a lot of area to explore, the mechanics of everything don’t feel especially deep. Combat is simple and lacking nuance, cooking’s central activity is a fun but simple minigame… if you’re looking for a deeply-constructed system behind each of the “Life” focuses in the game, you won’t really find it. This is a game that’s more about breadth than depth.

A few other things I should note before concluding this review. Firstly, this game has a few multiplayer features I sadly wasn’t able to test myself. There’s StreetPass support, as well as the ability to play with friends. Also, there is expansion content in the form of Origin Island DLC. With the Nintendo 3DS eShop closing in March 2023, you may want to get this DLC now before it becomes permanently unavailable.

Overall, Fantasy Life is a delightful, lighthearted, fun, varied Action-RPG, and one with a wide appeal whether you prefer action of more slow-paced pursuits in the genre. This game is lacking depth in some areas, but overall it is an ambitious and highly satisfying entry in the genre, and one well worth playing.

tl;dr – Fantasy Life is an Action-RPG with some “life sim” Simulation elements, where players take on 12 different “Life” classes with focuses ranging from combat to crafting. It’s a fun game with a delightful presentation, a large world to explore, and tons of stuff to do. And while it can be a bit shallow in places, this is still overall a wonderful entry in the genre well worth playing.

Grade: B+

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