If there are members who are watching this thread wondering whether to buy this game, the following I have borrowed from Amazon.co.uk and is a 5 star review which I think gives an accurate picture of what the game is like. Maybe it will be useful for possible US buyers to help them also decide.
Most Helpful First | Newest First
23 of 24 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Fantasy Life, another Level 5 gem., 27 Sep 2014
By Miss Samantha Capes "The Star Ocean Geek." (UK) - See all my reviews
= Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars
Verified Purchase(What is this?)
This review is from: Fantasy Life (Nintendo 3DS) (Video Game)
I wasn't convinced by the trailer to this game, which was just an opening sequence with cute anime characters running around. It was charming and funny, but showed little of what the game had to offer, which is actually a LOT.
I must have spent half an hour customising my "virtual" body size, face size, eyes, hair, eyebrows, mouth, nose and facial features until she looked exactly the way I wanted her to look. You can make face parts bigger and smaller, move them up or down, and add facial hair. The number of choices, especially the colours for hair and eyes, means that there is a huge scope for individual and unique characters. Lastly, you have a modest selection of voices to choose from. I went with the least "moe" option. Not even the acclaimed Animal Crossing has this much customisation.
The graphics are adorable, all of the characters have a real life vibrancy to them. Even the monsters move around with their own flair, and so it becomes a game of learning their movements and attacks in order to avoid them. I'm playing through as the witch/ magic apprentice, so evasion is even more necessary. The main city and surrounding fields have the same quality of animation I've come to expect from Level 5. Some of the foliage stands out on purpose, because they are harvestable, much the same as in Harvest Moon. You can also shake trees for apples and honey.
During the game you can choose to spend your "bliss", obtained from completing quests, on certain perks. One of these perks is to get a soundtrack in-game from the comfort of your room. You'll definitely want to do that, as the music so far has been a delight. Other perks include getting a pet, increasing your bag storage size and inventory in local shops. There are some quests a novice character won't be able to do, but once you get into the habit of switching "lives" up and learning different skills, the game should become a lot more fluid. I particularly like the various aspects of your character you can improve. Not only does their main level go up, but you can earn life points to increase your life skills. I started as a "fledgling" witch, and now I am a "novice". Hoo-rah!
Though this game has the day-to-day feel of a simulation game, it is definitely an RPG with a simulation twist. You can move house and decorate your home, play through an intriguing main story while taking part in mini quests and buy clothes for your character.
The battles are in real time, and so far they consist of using one button for main attacks, and another for targeting multiple foes. Depending on whether you tap or hold the buttons down, the attack will be different. Also, by selecting the right arrow on the directional pad, you can choose from your character's various skills. So using my witch as an example, when I press the right arrow four elements appear. I choose fire and tap a, and my character lets out a short burst of fire. If I hold the same button down, my character will charge the attack, making it more powerful. If I hold down x, she will charge a different fire attack, that targets all enemies. The y button switches between enemies, and if you advance far enough into your chosen life, you will receive a special attack that charges up as you attack. It can be unleashed once when charged by pressing the x button. I can also use a dagger as a backup, though you can just wait for your SP (magic power) to restore over time. If I want to switch to another element, such as Earth for healing, I just tap the right directional arrow and choose Earth, and then the attacks switch. This makes you think about what to use on which enemies and when not to approach. I quite like it, simple but engaging.
Making money is straightforward enough, but will take farming if you want as much as you can get early on. The "bounty enemies" that you take to the guild respawn quickly, and since you can take three with you, you can farm them for "dosh". They follow behind you and can be attacked by foes until you trade them in, so you'd best protect them until you can get your reward. Moving around the world without bounties is easy, since the maps are well drawn. Later on you can rent horses, which are adorable to gallop about on. You can also quick jump to a few locations, like the guild, your room and the entrance to the first plains, as long a you don't have a bounty with you.
When your character levels up, you can choose to spread extra status points where you like. Since my character is a witch, I choose to increase intelligence and focus. Your characters skills also level up the more they are used, and more content becomes available to you. There's so much more to do in this game, like owning a horse and travelling to other lands, finding out about my haughty butterfly companion and making my character strong, that I know it's going to keep me occupied for months. There's even some promising looking DLC on the title screen for when you've finished the main game, with extra areas to explore and more quests. This is something else for me to look forward to.
This game is like a cross between Dragon Quest, Final Fantasy, Harvest Moon and Animal Crossing. And it works. What would make this game better? No boys/girls clothing. I'm a tom boy, so I like to wear male clothes, yet in this game girls have to wear apparently "girly" clothes, which is so far a couple of cutesy skirts. No thanks. Secondly, it would be nice if the battles were a bit more complicated, but this game is aimed at children first, and adults second, so it's simplicity is understandable.
Graphics: 9/10
Music: 9/10
Character Customisation: 10/10
Battles: 8/10
Content: 10/10
Overall: 9.5/10
Most Helpful First | Newest First
23 of 24 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Fantasy Life, another Level 5 gem., 27 Sep 2014
By Miss Samantha Capes "The Star Ocean Geek." (UK) - See all my reviews
= Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars
Verified Purchase(What is this?)
This review is from: Fantasy Life (Nintendo 3DS) (Video Game)
I wasn't convinced by the trailer to this game, which was just an opening sequence with cute anime characters running around. It was charming and funny, but showed little of what the game had to offer, which is actually a LOT.
I must have spent half an hour customising my "virtual" body size, face size, eyes, hair, eyebrows, mouth, nose and facial features until she looked exactly the way I wanted her to look. You can make face parts bigger and smaller, move them up or down, and add facial hair. The number of choices, especially the colours for hair and eyes, means that there is a huge scope for individual and unique characters. Lastly, you have a modest selection of voices to choose from. I went with the least "moe" option. Not even the acclaimed Animal Crossing has this much customisation.
The graphics are adorable, all of the characters have a real life vibrancy to them. Even the monsters move around with their own flair, and so it becomes a game of learning their movements and attacks in order to avoid them. I'm playing through as the witch/ magic apprentice, so evasion is even more necessary. The main city and surrounding fields have the same quality of animation I've come to expect from Level 5. Some of the foliage stands out on purpose, because they are harvestable, much the same as in Harvest Moon. You can also shake trees for apples and honey.
During the game you can choose to spend your "bliss", obtained from completing quests, on certain perks. One of these perks is to get a soundtrack in-game from the comfort of your room. You'll definitely want to do that, as the music so far has been a delight. Other perks include getting a pet, increasing your bag storage size and inventory in local shops. There are some quests a novice character won't be able to do, but once you get into the habit of switching "lives" up and learning different skills, the game should become a lot more fluid. I particularly like the various aspects of your character you can improve. Not only does their main level go up, but you can earn life points to increase your life skills. I started as a "fledgling" witch, and now I am a "novice". Hoo-rah!
Though this game has the day-to-day feel of a simulation game, it is definitely an RPG with a simulation twist. You can move house and decorate your home, play through an intriguing main story while taking part in mini quests and buy clothes for your character.
The battles are in real time, and so far they consist of using one button for main attacks, and another for targeting multiple foes. Depending on whether you tap or hold the buttons down, the attack will be different. Also, by selecting the right arrow on the directional pad, you can choose from your character's various skills. So using my witch as an example, when I press the right arrow four elements appear. I choose fire and tap a, and my character lets out a short burst of fire. If I hold the same button down, my character will charge the attack, making it more powerful. If I hold down x, she will charge a different fire attack, that targets all enemies. The y button switches between enemies, and if you advance far enough into your chosen life, you will receive a special attack that charges up as you attack. It can be unleashed once when charged by pressing the x button. I can also use a dagger as a backup, though you can just wait for your SP (magic power) to restore over time. If I want to switch to another element, such as Earth for healing, I just tap the right directional arrow and choose Earth, and then the attacks switch. This makes you think about what to use on which enemies and when not to approach. I quite like it, simple but engaging.
Making money is straightforward enough, but will take farming if you want as much as you can get early on. The "bounty enemies" that you take to the guild respawn quickly, and since you can take three with you, you can farm them for "dosh". They follow behind you and can be attacked by foes until you trade them in, so you'd best protect them until you can get your reward. Moving around the world without bounties is easy, since the maps are well drawn. Later on you can rent horses, which are adorable to gallop about on. You can also quick jump to a few locations, like the guild, your room and the entrance to the first plains, as long a you don't have a bounty with you.
When your character levels up, you can choose to spread extra status points where you like. Since my character is a witch, I choose to increase intelligence and focus. Your characters skills also level up the more they are used, and more content becomes available to you. There's so much more to do in this game, like owning a horse and travelling to other lands, finding out about my haughty butterfly companion and making my character strong, that I know it's going to keep me occupied for months. There's even some promising looking DLC on the title screen for when you've finished the main game, with extra areas to explore and more quests. This is something else for me to look forward to.
This game is like a cross between Dragon Quest, Final Fantasy, Harvest Moon and Animal Crossing. And it works. What would make this game better? No boys/girls clothing. I'm a tom boy, so I like to wear male clothes, yet in this game girls have to wear apparently "girly" clothes, which is so far a couple of cutesy skirts. No thanks. Secondly, it would be nice if the battles were a bit more complicated, but this game is aimed at children first, and adults second, so it's simplicity is understandable.
Graphics: 9/10
Music: 9/10
Character Customisation: 10/10
Battles: 8/10
Content: 10/10
Overall: 9.5/10
