The more I think about it, rather than the combat or the boss battles, it’s the downtime that really defines the greatest JRPGs. When I remember Final Fantasy 8, I picture strolling through Balamb Garden; in FFX, it’s those tranquil little sequences in Besaid and Kilika. Everyone loves going to the tavern in Monster Hunter. The entire Persona series is based on hanging out with your friends. Originally released in 2012, Fantasy Life is the epitome of the pastoral RPG. And now, more than a decade later, Fantasy Life is suddenly back with a totally new sequel that’s already earned tens of thousands of players and close to immaculate reviews.
Fantasy Life is created by Level 5, the team behind Ni no Kuni, Inazuma, and the Professor Layton series. The first game has a storied history. It arrived in 2012 for the Nintendo 3DS, and was successful enough that a sequel was put into production. However, development on the planned Fantasy Life 2 hit a series of obstacles and it was pushed back until 2018, when it was retitled to Fantasy Life Online. In 2021, Fantasy Life Online was released in the west, but it only lasted for two years, when the servers were taken offline. Now, however, the JRPG is back in full.
Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time is a true sequel to the 2012 original. Part life game and part building game, as well as cooking, crafting, and constructing your own house, you can redesign the landscape, customizing your little corner of paradise precisely to your liking. There are 14 different job roles, an entire continent to explore, and you can play either solo or in groups of four.
The new Fantasy Life only landed on Steam yesterday, Wednesday May 21, but it’s already a giant hit. On release day, it reached a peak of more than 34,000 concurrent players. More significantly, of the 2,500 Steam user reviews posted so far, 92% are favorable, bestowing upon the game the ever-vital ‘very positive’ rating. If you want to try Fantasy Life for yourself, it’s available for $59.99 / £49.99. Just go here.
Alternatively, get the best RPGs on PC, or maybe the best games like Stardew Valley.
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