Info about FANTASY LIFE i: The Girl Who Steals Time:

Official game description:
Pre-order Bonus
\-----
Jumpstart your adventure in Reveria with the New Adventurer's Pack!
This special bundle includes the Flutter Charm, an accessory that boosts your experience gains, plus 9 types of useful consumable items to help you on your journey!
\-----
This bonus is only available to those who purchase before 14:59 on May 21st, 2025 (GMT).
**Step into this Slow-Life RPG where you can freely switch between 14 unique jobs, so called "Lives," and enjoy a carefree life in a fantasy world.**
**Fish, cook, shape the island to your liking, or team up with friends to battle monsters across the vast world.It's up to you to choose what kind of Life you'll live!**
**■A Dragon Guides You to a Mysterious Island**
You are an adventurer who sets sail with the archaeologist Edward and his team.
Following the light emanating from a dragon's fossil, you discover an uncharted, deserted island.
A vast abyss, a dragon made of bone, and a girl's message that begs you to save the world...
Travel between the island that thrived 1,000 years ago and the present-day island to unravel the mystery of its downfall!
**■14 Unique Lives to Make Yours Brighter**
In this world, a "Life" is the equivalent of a job.
Each has its own characteristics and provides various ways to enjoy yourself.
Collect ingredients or materials with Gathering Lives, create weapons or cook dishes with Crafting Lives, or fight monsters with Combat Lives. You can switch between any Life at any time, creating a life that's uniquely yours.
**■Shape the Island! Create Your Town!**
Use Lives to gather materials and restore the island to its former glory!
Not only can you place houses and objects, but you can also alter the landscape and draw rivers and roads to create a truly unique island.
Expand your house, place some furniture, and decorate the interior however you like!
**■Embark on an Open-World Adventure!**
Freely explore the largest continent in the series!
Climb ledges, swim across rivers and lakes, or ride on mounts - With these new actions you can explore the world without limits!
**■Endless Fun with Multiplayer!**
Enjoy multiplayer with up to 4 players!
Invite friends to your island, explore dungeons, or find your own ways to have fun together!
If you have two controllers, you can also use the 2 Player Family Co-op feature where one player can join the adventure as your travel companion without needing to connect online!

Release date: May 21, 2025

Categories: Action RPG, Life Simulation, Character Progression, Crafting, Resource Management, Base Building, Open-World Exploration, Cooperative Multiplayer


- Hardware Profile: No data
Feature extractions:
- Community Price: No data
- Playtime Metrics: No data
- Time-to-fun: No data
- Player Archetypes: No data


Below are summaries of things people say about the game per category.
Each point is assigned a weight that represents how often it is mentioned across all reviews.
What players like:
- Seamless life/class switching (weight 0.95): The game features numerous quality-of-life improvements, most notably the ability to seamlessly switch between lives (classes) on the fly. This eliminates the tedium of returning to a guild or menu, streamlining gameplay and encouraging experimentation with different roles.
- Vastly improved over predecessor (weight 0.91): The game improves upon its predecessor in nearly every aspect, offering more content, better quality of life features, and enhanced gameplay mechanics. It retains the charm of the original while providing a more polished and expansive experience. This makes it a worthy successor for fans and newcomers alike.
- Fun, addictive, and relaxing (weight 0.67): The game is enjoyable, addictive, and relaxing, offering a perfect blend of action RPG and cozy life simulation elements. Combat is simple yet engaging, and the game provides a wealth of content to keep players occupied for hours. The crafting mini-games are fun and rewarding, adding to the overall charm of the experience.
- Blends genres, evokes nostalgia (weight 0.62): The game successfully blends elements from various popular titles like Animal Crossing, Zelda, and Rune Factory, creating a unique and engaging experience. It retains the core essence of Fantasy Life while incorporating new mechanics and features inspired by other genres. The game also evokes nostalgia for the original 3DS title, with familiar characters, music, and story elements.
- Cute and appealing art style (weight 0.27): The game features a cute and appealing art style, with charming characters and a colorful world. The graphics are well-done and contribute to the game's overall cozy and relaxing atmosphere. The soundtrack is also well-designed and enhances the experience.
- Well-integrated genres, varied gameplay (weight 0.15): The game seamlessly blends different genres together, offering a variety of gameplay styles that complement each other well. The game's pacing is well-managed, and the ability to switch between lives prevents boredom. The game world is cute and colorful, creating a comfy atmosphere.
- Great for solo or multiplayer (weight 0.14): The game is well-suited for both single-player and multiplayer gamers, offering a variety of activities to engage in. The single-player mode has high replayability, and the game allows you to play at your own pace. There are infinite things to do even after completing the main story.
- Vast and impressive open world (weight 0.13): The game features a vast and impressive open world with a lot to explore and discover. The world design balances open space with compressed areas, making it feel less empty while still providing an open-world experience. The addition of an open world on top of the classic zone-based maps adds value.
- Charming writing and characters (weight 0.1): The game features quirky and enjoyable writing, with charming characters and humorous dialogue. The story is lighthearted and engaging, with well-developed plotlines and cause-and-effect relationships. The self-aware humor is always welcome.
- Engaging crafting and gathering (weight 0.08): Crafting and gathering are highlights, with the addition of buddies to aid in these activities and combat. The game includes a feature where buddies can aid in crafting, gathering and combat. Companions increase in affinity, giving buffs, and can help with tasks like woodcutting and mining.
- Lighthearted story, silly humor (weight 0.08): The game features a lighthearted and kid-friendly story with silly humor and unexpected moments. The game is accessible and easy to play even for those who are not proficient in the language it is in. The game is described as 'cozy' and 'braindead' in an appealing way.
- High-quality and enjoyable music (weight 0.07): The game features a high-quality soundtrack with many new music tracks that fit the game perfectly. The music and sound effects have improved quality. The music is enjoyable and enhances the overall experience.
- Lovely and heartwarming story (weight 0.06): The story is lovely, heartfelt, and engaging. The story is simple and easy to understand. The main storyline is simple but well-considered, with characters that have strong morals and appealing personalities.

Common complaints:
- Slow start, repetitive grinding (weight 0.57): The game suffers from a slow start, excessive dialogue, and repetitive grinding, especially in the early hours. Unlocking key features like multiplayer requires significant time investment, and the gameplay loop can become monotonous. This may deter players seeking a more engaging and less repetitive experience.
- Restricted, time-gated multiplayer experience (weight 0.52): Multiplayer is heavily restricted, time-gated, and lacks essential features like story progression, quest completion, and life challenges. The co-op experience feels like an afterthought, limiting shared adventure and progression compared to single-player mode and previous titles. This severely impacts the game's appeal for players seeking a cooperative experience.
- Poor camera controls and perspective (weight 0.28): The game's camera system is poorly implemented, with limited vertical movement, awkward angles, and a narrow field of view. This makes exploration and combat difficult and uncomfortable, often leading to disorientation and visibility issues. The lack of camera customization options further exacerbates these problems.
- Subpar keyboard/mouse controls (weight 0.12): Keyboard and mouse controls are poorly optimized, feeling clunky and unintuitive. Many reviewers recommend using a controller instead, indicating a lack of proper PC porting and consideration for PC players. This makes the game less enjoyable for those who prefer or are limited to keyboard and mouse.
- Generic, uninspired storyline (weight 0.11): The game's story is generic, predictable, and often childish, with forced humor and weak plot points. Many reviewers find the storyline unengaging and tedious, serving mainly as a pretext for the gameplay. This detracts from the overall experience for players seeking a compelling narrative.
- High price point is unjustified (weight 0.09): The game's high price point is a concern, especially considering its flaws and lack of innovation. Some reviewers feel the price doesn't match the content, and the game is not worth the AAA price tag in its current state. This makes potential buyers hesitant, especially given the availability of other indie games at lower prices.
- Lacks depth, feels lifeless (weight 0.09): Compared to previous games, the world feels emptier, towns are less detailed, and some features are missing or poorly implemented. The island building aspect lacks depth, and the game doesn't capture the same cozy vibes as similar titles like Animal Crossing. This leads to disappointment for fans of the original games and those seeking a more immersive experience.
- Frequent crashes and launch issues (weight 0.09): The game suffers from frequent crashes, launch issues, and unstable online connectivity. These technical problems make the game unplayable for some users, leading to frustration and lost progress. The issues affect both single-player and multiplayer modes, indicating a lack of proper optimization and testing.
- Unreliable, awkward combat targeting (weight 0.06): Combat targeting is unreliable and awkward, requiring manual selection of enemies and precise character facing. The lock-on system is poorly designed, making it difficult to target enemies and often causing disorientation. These issues make combat feel clunky and frustrating, especially for ranged classes.
- Unnecessary Easy Anti-Cheat implementation (weight 0.05): The game's implementation of Easy Anti-Cheat (EAC) is seen as excessive and unnecessary, especially given the limited multiplayer functionality. EAC causes slow startup times and conflicts with other software, frustrating players who prefer to avoid kernel-level anti-cheat systems in non-competitive games. This is a significant drawback for privacy-conscious users.
- Various graphical issues and glitches (weight 0.05): The game suffers from various graphical issues, including small black bars, an overly green color palette, and a blurry effect around the screen. These visual problems can cause eye strain and detract from the overall visual experience. Resolution glitches and UI issues further exacerbate these problems.

Gameplay feedback:
- Diverse job system with progression (weight 0.25): The game features a robust job (or "Life") system with 14 diverse classes across combat, gathering, and crafting. Each Life has its own skill tree and leveling progression, allowing players to customize their playstyle and switch between them freely without losing progress. Leveling multiple lives can make the game too easy.
- Combines RPG with life simulation (weight 0.16): The game blends RPG elements with life simulation aspects, including island building, home decoration, and villager interactions reminiscent of Animal Crossing. Players can terraform their island, craft furniture, and recruit villagers, adding a layer of customization and progression outside of traditional RPG mechanics.
- Large world with distinct areas (weight 0.1): The game features a large world divided into distinct areas, including a past, present, and a large open-world zone called Ginormosia. Ginormosia offers exploration, events, dungeons, and item farming, with progression systems tied to completing activities and leveling up the area.
- Cooperative multiplayer for expeditions (weight 0.1): The game includes a multiplayer mode focused on cooperative expeditions for item hunting and level grinding. While story content is not available in multiplayer, players can team up for open-world quests and dungeon crawling, enhancing the social and cooperative aspects of the game.
- Simple but functional combat system (weight 0.07): The combat system is described as simple and accessible, with mechanics and skills unlocking through progression. While not overly complex, the combat is functional and enjoyable, with fluid animations and some challenging boss fights.
- Extensive post-story content available (weight 0.07): The game offers a significant amount of content beyond the main story, catering to both casual players and completionists. New features unlock even after many hours of play, and there are activities to engage in after the ending, ensuring a long-lasting gameplay experience.
- Heavy resource farming and crafting (weight 0.03): Resource farming and crafting are significant time investments required for game progression. The core gameplay loop involves repetitive tasks such as grinding materials, leveling up, completing quests, and clearing dungeons.
- Crafting system improvements and features (weight 0.03): The crafting system has been reworked to show material locations and quest items. It involves creating various items, including weapons, armor, and furniture, and ranking up unlocks new recipes.
- Local co-op lacks meaningful gameplay (weight 0.02): The game features local co-op, but the reviewer found it lacking in meaningful gameplay, describing it as simply being able to move around. The game is very dialog heavy and has a slow burn progression.
- "Lite" multiplayer companion mode (weight 0.02): The game features a "Lite" multiplayer mode where a second player can control a companion character to assist the main player. This companion can help gather resources, recover stamina, distract enemies, and assist in combat.
- Crafting involves engaging mini-games (weight 0.02): Crafting involves engaging mini-games, with slightly different inputs required for certain lives. These mini-games add an interactive element to the crafting process.
- Added Gacha Dungeon (weight 0.02): A Gacha Dungeon, which is a random dungeon, has been added. This provides substantial post-story content.

Performance notes:
- Excellent performance and optimization (weight 0.3): The game generally exhibits excellent performance, running smoothly on various PC configurations and especially well on the Steam Deck. Many reviewers reported high frame rates, short loading times, and a lack of significant bugs or glitches, indicating good optimization.
- Customizable graphics, no DLSS (weight 0.03): The game offers some graphical customization options, such as disabling depth of field and motion blur. However, some reviewers noted that the game lacks DLSS upscaling and has limited resolution options.
- Extremely fast loading times (weight 0.02): Multiple reviewers have praised the game's exceptionally fast loading times. Some even noted that the loading screens are so brief that there isn't enough time to read the tips displayed.
- Steam Deck resolution fix (weight 0.02): There were initial reports of resolution issues on the Steam Deck, but these appear to have been addressed by a patch. Workarounds were also available to force specific resolutions.
- Enemies/bosses respawn (weight 0.01): Enemies and bosses respawn, which may affect gameplay balance or player experience.
- Well-implemented HDR support (weight 0.01): The game features well-implemented HDR support, enhancing the visual experience for players with compatible displays.
- Ultrawide monitor support (weight 0.01): The game generally displays correctly on ultrawide monitors, although some users may need to make adjustments to ensure proper resolution and display.
- Console-oriented control design (weight 0.01): The game's controls are designed with console platforms in mind, offering features like map navigation, camera control, combo skills, omnidirectional movement, and vibration.

Recommendations:
- Highly recommended, worth the price (weight 0.94): The game is overwhelmingly recommended, especially to fans of the original 3DS title and those who enjoy cozy RPGs or life simulation games. Reviewers praise its engaging gameplay, addictive nature, and overall quality, often deeming it worth the full price and a must-buy. Many consider it a Game of the Year contender and express excitement for future content.
- Great for cozy, relaxed gameplay (weight 0.21): The game is well-suited for players seeking a relaxing and casual experience with elements of RPG, crafting, and exploration. It's recommended for those who enjoy slow-paced gameplay and the freedom to progress at their own pace, but may not appeal to those seeking intense action or a compelling storyline. Reviewers emphasize its 'cozy' nature and suitability for unwinding.
- Desire for future DLC/updates (weight 0.04): Reviewers express hope for future content updates and DLC expansions, drawing comparisons to the first game's DLC. They desire additional story content, events, and features to further enhance the game's world and replayability. The sequel is considered a significant improvement over the original.
- Best played with a controller (weight 0.02): The game is generally recommended to be played with a controller for the best experience. Some reviewers specifically suggest using a Switch Pro Controller or Steam Deck. Playing with a keyboard is not recommended.
- Potentially better on handheld devices (weight 0.02): Some reviewers suggest that the game may be better suited for handheld devices like the Switch or Steam Deck due to the limited field of view on PC. They also hope for improvements to the camera system to better appreciate the character designs. Playing on PC is considered more comfortable by some.
- Good entry point, watch gameplay (weight 0.01): The game is recommended for newcomers to the series, but those unfamiliar with the franchise should watch gameplay videos to see if the fantasy world appeals to them. It may not be suitable for those who dislike repetitiveness. The game is described as cheesy and cozy.

Other player notes:
- Epic Games account required (weight 0.04): The game requires an Epic Games account and installs Epic Online Services, including Easy Anti-Cheat, regardless of the purchase platform. Some reviewers found this intrusive, especially given the game's availability outside the Epic Games Store. The presence of anti-cheat measures in a primarily PVE game also raised questions.
- Deluxe items offer minimal benefit (weight 0.03): Deluxe and pre-order editions offer cosmetic items and minor stat boosts that quickly become irrelevant. While these bonuses provide a slight early-game advantage, they don't significantly impact the overall player experience.
- Untested multiplayer, unclear features (weight 0.03): Some reviewers noted they did not test the multiplayer features. Some reviewers questioned the purpose of the 'little blue bear' feature, especially in a PVE game.
- Nostalgic elements from previous games (weight 0.02): The game reuses music, monsters, and items from the original 3DS game, creating a nostalgic experience for returning players. Cameos and references to previous titles add familiarity without disrupting the story for new players.
- Slow start, delayed development (weight 0.02): The game's development faced delays, and the initial playtime may feel slow due to the game's large size and content. It is not suited for players seeking fast-paced action from the start.
- Character customization and layering (weight 0.02): The game features character customization options, including skins and a layering system for equipment appearances. The player character appears gender-neutral, with clothing options not restricted to specific gender themes.
- Expansive, explorable world map (weight 0.01): The game features enormous maps and an expansive continent to explore, providing a feeling similar to the original Fantasy Life with added features. This contributes to substantial playtime and a sense of freedom.
- Island-building base customization (weight 0.01): The game incorporates an island-building element similar to Animal Crossing, allowing players to customize their base. This system includes island residents and daily tasks, adding a layer of customization and progression.
- Multiplayer item exchange, varied activities (weight 0.01): The game features a multiplayer system where players can exchange items via presents. It also includes a wide variety of activities such as crafting, combat, and resource gathering.
- Development challenges at Level-5 (weight 0.01): The game's development involved a change in director and a move to Level-5's main office during its final year. Level-5 is not a very large company with limited manpower, which may explain the game's shortcomings.
- Steam Deck resolution fix (weight 0.01): Some players have provided instructions to modify the game's .ini file to set the resolution to 1280x800 on the Steam Deck. This involves navigating to the 'compdata' folder and altering the 'game ini' file.
- Autosaving, cross-save functionality (weight 0.01): The game includes autosaving functionality and is available on PC, Switch, and PlayStation at release with cross-save (backed by EpicGames).
- Uncertain long-term replayability (weight 0.01): One reviewer reached level 36 and expressed uncertainty about long-term replayability, hoping for DLCs and online events to keep the game alive.

Emotions:
No emotions}