Fantasy Life

[The Shoemaker]

Another title I'm not seeing enough discussion on!

My copy came in the mail on Monday (good old Best Buy E3 deal), so far I'm definitely seeing the potential of the game. It starts off rather slow, way too much text - in fact the game makes fun of how much text it has. But with that said the writting is good, or at least just the right level of meta cheesiness to be up my ally. Once you get past the intial tutorials though the game opens up and throws you hundreds of quests that will give completionists nightmares.

The main premise of the game is picking a life (a job/skill) and mastering it, and then getting more lives(life's?) to further your abilities. They range from paladin to lumberjack to tailor - lots of variety. You can switch between lives whenever you want, and all of your skills carry over to whatever life you're using, but you get life specific stat bonuses for whatever life you currently have.

In reality it's all pretty standard RPG stuff here, but the main difference I see from this and something like Rune Factory is the depth of carrying out these skills. It's not just about cutting down a tree, but positioning yourself correctly and finishing off the tree with a special cut, or pulling in different directions while mashing A to reel in a fish, or timing everything just right and going as fast as you can when you're sewing. The gameplay mechanics, and the overall charm of the town, and scope of the world make this a really good experience.

Again, just started playing the game yesterday but so far it's looking like it could be a good time sink. Might even pick up an extra copy for mutliplayer.

[SkyPikachu]

I have this on my birthday/christmas wish list and look forward to playing it. Looks like a really fun game that I can put tons of hours into.

[slangman]

This one is on my wishlist and the concept has me intrigued, but have not got around to buying it yet, as Wii U is taking up all my time and I have FAR too many 3DS waiting to be played (my copies of Tomodachi Life, BD, PLvsPW and ToG are still sealed).

[Kong Wen]

I've gotta say, I'm staying far, far away from this one. Not that it looks bad or anything. I just haven't been able to get into any of those "routine" RPGs like Rune Factory, the later Harvest Moon titles, Animal Crossing, etc. They just don't trip the right progress switches that trigger entertainmentpleasures for me.

[Niahak]

I liked Rune Factory 4, so I was looking forward to this title, but it was down to this or the new Civilization game and I was looking forward to Civ more. I'm reading impressions and so far it sounds mostly positive, so it'll probably be on my holiday wishlist.

Really glad to hear it's more nuanced than Rune Factory. In RF many of the tasks (especially fishing and crafting) are incredibly boring. I've also heard the combat in this one is more varied than RF which amounts to button-mashing.

Does it feel like progress comes easily? That was my biggest problem with all the console Rune Factory games, but I get the impression this game doesn't gate progress in quite the same ways.

[pdSlooper]

I've been sinking my time into this one, too. I don't like how nearly half of the lives (5 out of 12!) are reliant on the same terrible crafting minigame. I don't know who thought a mindless minigame would make the crafting lives more fun -- maybe they felt like the lives needed more "substance," but I think hunting down the right materials is substance enough. The 4 fighter classes are similar, too, when it comes right down to it (you progress in all of them by "Go to X and kill Y" type missions), but I find them a lot more fun to progress in because it's different fighting as each one. That leaves the Woodcutter, the Miner, the Angler. I like those, they have unique quest lines each. I wish all the jobs were as unique as they were.

I don't know if folks noticed, but apparently the art is by Yoshitaka Amano and the music is by Nobuo Uematsu. The art doesn't look like Amano's at all! I wonder if he designed one piece and they credited him for the game's art, or if he's just flexing his art muscles. As for the music, it's memorable (downright earwormy), but not what I'd consider Uematsu's best. I'm probably biased there, but I think his best work in on older machines.

Niahak - The main quest progresses as quickly as you want. Progress in your life comes easily at first, but more slowly as you gain ranks. Progress in crafting lives feels incredibly slow because most of what you're doing is the crafting minigame, although it's probably faster than progress in the fighter classes...

Fishing is much nicer than in Rune Factory 4. There's no hunting for a spot, trying to get your bob near a fish, waiting for a fish to notice you, or hitting A at the right time. You have to pay attention to your surroundings to notice fishing spots (it can be surprisingly easy to overlook them as part of the scenery, especially in the ocean), throw your line in at a set location, and do a Legend of the River King-esque minigame to pull the fish in (push A to deplete the fish's HP, relax your line when it's fighting -- it's quicker and more fun than in LotRK).

[The Shoemaker]

I liked Rune Factory 4, so I was looking forward to this title, but it was down to this or the new Civilization game and I was looking forward to Civ more. I'm reading impressions and so far it sounds mostly positive, so it'll probably be on my holiday wishlist.

Really glad to hear it's more nuanced than Rune Factory. In RF many of the tasks (especially fishing and crafting) are incredibly boring. I've also heard the combat in this one is more varied than RF which amounts to button-mashing.

Does it feel like progress comes easily? That was my biggest problem with all the console Rune Factory games, but I get the impression this game doesn't gate progress in quite the same ways.

Yeah the combat is much better, button mashing isn't advised because it actually cancels out some of the combos you can do. I haven't "mastered" a life yet so I can't say whether or not it goes to quickly or slowly - but right now it seems to be going at just the right pace where I level up here and there and complete quests towards my life regularily.

I've been sinking my time into this one, too. I don't like how nearly half of the lives (5 out of 12!) are reliant on the same terrible crafting minigame. I don't know who thought a mindless minigame would make the crafting lives more fun -- maybe they felt like the lives needed more "substance," but I think hunting down the right materials is substance enough. The 4 fighter classes are similar, too, when it comes right down to it (you progress in all of them by "Go to X and kill Y" type missions), but I find them a lot more fun to progress in because it's different fighting as each one. That leaves the Woodcutter, the Miner, the Angler. I like those, they have unique quest lines each. I wish all the jobs were as unique as they were.

Fishing is much nicer than in Rune Factory 4. There's no hunting for a spot, trying to get your bob near a fish, waiting for a fish to notice you, or hitting A at the right time. You have to pay attention to your surroundings to notice fishing spots (it can be surprisingly easy to overlook them as part of the scenery, especially in the ocean), throw your line in at a set location, and do a Legend of the River King-esque minigame to pull the fish in (push A to deplete the fish's HP, relax your line when it's fighting -- it's quicker and more fun than in LotRK).

I've only tried the tailor job, disappointing to hear that it's a similar mini game for the other jobs. I've only tried Mercenary, Angler, Woodcutter and Tailor so far, really taking my time. The one thing that bugs me is that I can't cut down every single tree I see :p I can understand trees that make a path, but I really should be able to cut down any tree that's in the middle of a field!

I like the notification system; whenever you complete a quests or do something notworthy a little notice pops up on the top screen. It gives a good sense of progression without getting in your way.

An interesting thing I noticed is that the save slates are tied to your SD card rather than the game card. On my 3DS I can access my save file, but on my family's 3DS only their save file is there. So I guess you could potentially make 3 different characters per SD card and swap them out if you wanted.

[pdSlooper]

Yeah the combat is much better, button mashing isn't advised because it actually cancels out some of the combos you can do. I haven't "mastered" a life yet so I can't say whether or not it goes to quickly or slowly - but right now it seems to be going at just the right pace where I level up here and there and complete quests towards my life regularily.

I think the combat is very similar. Both have you executing 3-hit combos and you can charge up attacks by holding down the attack button. There are some differences. RF4 has special Rune Abilities unique to each weapon and FL has X charge attacks. Also, FL has a kind of leap-attack (press C-stick toward the enemy and press A button, you'll leap toward the enemy and get a hit in); this can throw you off your 3-hit combo if you aren't prepared for it, but if you are, you can get in a leap-attack and then a 3-hit combo then back away before the enemy gets a chance to counter.

I like the combat in FL, but in a way it's easier than the combat in RF4. Unless you are playing in the easy difficulty in RF4, enemies your level and above your level have attack patterns you have to learn, while in FL you approach every enemy is the same -- leap attack, 3 hit combo, back away and circle until the enemy attacks, then leap in again. In both games you can mash buttan to defeat early game enemies.

I like the notification system; whenever you complete a quests or do something notworthy a little notice pops up on the top screen. It gives a good sense of progression without getting in your way.

The notification system is nice, and another nice thing -- you can complete quests you haven't officially been given yet. I think I first discovered that as a Mercenary as a Fledgling, as I was out killing monsters and suddenly got a quest clear for killing some monsters -- I checked, and I had cleared an Apprentice quest. This is particularly nice for those quests that involve bounties, because those can be a pain to drag around.

[pdSlooper]

So I've tried the last 2 jobs, Mage and metalsmith (can't think of the actual name off the top of my head), and I've a few more thoughts/revisions.

The Mage class is completely different from the melee classes but surprisingly workable. So I take back the bit about 4 of the fighters being the same.

There are more dissimilarities between the fighter classes than I originally thought, but in large part that relies on you using the right weapon for your class. The Paladin has the sword/shield, the Mercenary has the greatsword, and the Hunter has the bow -- each of these has their own charge attacks, the Paladin has a 3-hit combo and the Mercenary has a very slow 5-hit combo, if you can pull it off. But nothing stops you from using a sword/shield as a Hunter (instead of a bow) or, for that matter, as a Mage. And if you equip the "wrong" weapon, you can't use all of the charge attacks. I think it's the X charge attacks that you can only use in-class.

I put some more time into the crafting classes. I think the Cooking and Alchemist classes work best because they stand alone. The Woodworker, Tailor, and Metalsmith all rely on each other for materials, which makes crafting in any of those jobs an annoying exercise in swapping between stations. The Tailor and Metalworker class are my least favorites because the Tailor it's the only one whose minigame is divided between "hold down A/tap A at the right time/tap A at the right time", and Metalworker's "hit A rapidly" seems 'sticky'.

My favorite classes are Paladin and Angler. I might like Mage if I get into it a bit more, but starting it late means everything else is so much better than it is.

[The Shoemaker]

The combat isn't anything revolutionary, but I do think it's a big step up from something like Rune Factory. Mainly because of the lock on feature, and also because feel like the slower gameplay works better. You focus on dodging more and making little combos in this game while in Rune Factory fighting feels a little "spamy" and just wailing on something until it dies. But again, nothing revolutionary here.

I think I like the mercenary better than the paladin though, granted I haven't given paladin much of a chance. I like the stronger hits with mercenary basically

I tried out alchemist a little bit, not sure how much I'm going to like constantly playing that mini game but the bonus of making multiple of concoctions is nice.

I've never heard of the composer but I do like the music in this game. It seems rather simple and perhaps even forgetable the first time you hear it, but I find myself humming the quirky tunes.