Welcome to the Weekly Nintendo Corner! Every week as the weekend nears, Smashboards will be covering a title from the Nintendo pantheon. Most of the time, these are new releases or games that are coming out soon, but we’re not exempt from surprises – every once in a while, there may be an old classic or forgotten treasure thrown in! Check back every week for the scoop on the upcoming Nintendo games.
Fantasy Life
This week’s topic is Fantasy Life! Fantasy Life is a 3DS RPG from Level-5. These are the same brilliant minds that brought you the Professor Layton series, Dragon Quest 8, and the Dark Cloud series. Fantasy Life shares a lot of resemblances to many sim-life games, though it is more truly an Action RPG at heart.
The game features twelve life classes that can be changed at any time to access different abilities. The game itself features a combat system that has a lot of strategy to it. Combat happens in real time, and accessing different abilities, it’s possible to need to change to fit the situation.
The life simulation elements allow you to build houses and traverse the world as whatever class you desire. There’s both Combat classes and Gathering classes that do just about what you'd expect - but all of them end up complementing each other in one way or another!
Features
Challenges
Each of the Twelve lives offers unique challenges; these challenges are based off of getting more experience with said life. If enough starts are built, the life rank can go up, unlocking new skills. Many of these skills can still be used even with life switching!
Flutter’s Requests
Flutter, the butterfly that accompanies the player on their journey, may ask a request at various points in the game; by doing these, the player will gain Bliss, and with enough Bliss, Bliss bonuses will unlock useful powers – Bigger inventory, the option to have pets, and more!
Other quests are a bit smaller, but for CPU’s with symbols above their heads, just talk to them; they’ll give a task, and at least some experience points!
Multiplayer
Co-Op play is available both locally and online. Once a certain point is reached in the game, up to three people will be able to play together. Got two really good friends and itching for a great Role-Playing experience? Fantasy Life has it covered.
About the Team
Fantasy Life was developed by Level-5 Inc. Level-5 has quite the background, to say the least. The company started in 1998, over fifteen years ago, and has self-published and self-developed a lot of their own games in-house; with 280 employee’s, they’re a talented group, to say the least. Aside from Fantasy Life, they’ve also developed the following games: The Dark Cloud, Professor Layton, Inazuma Eleven, and White Knight Chronicles series along with Rogue Galaxy, Time Travelers, Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch, Jeanne D’Arc, Dragon Quest VIII & IX, and Yo-Kai watch! Take a look here to learn more about the studio.
Fantasy Life also had some help from 1-Up Studio Co. Ltd. 1 Up is a small company, but they’ve helped out on some big games in the past, including Mother 3, Magical Starsign, Sword of Mana, Blue Dragon Plus, and both Super Mario 3D Land & World. Check out more about them here.
Music
As some may recognize by his signature style, Nobuo Uematsu has lent his composing talents to this game! Take a listen below.
With mostly positive reviews so far, and given that this game is from experienced Action RPG makers, it’s definitely worth checking out if you're looking for new adventures on your 3DS. Fantasy Life releases this Friday the 24th - don't forget to pick it up!
Do you love RPGs? Excited to play this one? Got a friend or two ready for the grind with you? We would love to hear in the comments below!
Thethirdkoopa is a Game Producer, Gamer, and Collector who loves Smash and composing Music! He loves making these articles even more. He’d love to talk about any and all RPG’s with you on Twitter. @Thirdkoopa
This week’s topic is Fantasy Life! Fantasy Life is a 3DS RPG from Level-5. These are the same brilliant minds that brought you the Professor Layton series, Dragon Quest 8, and the Dark Cloud series. Fantasy Life shares a lot of resemblances to many sim-life games, though it is more truly an Action RPG at heart.
The game features twelve life classes that can be changed at any time to access different abilities. The game itself features a combat system that has a lot of strategy to it. Combat happens in real time, and accessing different abilities, it’s possible to need to change to fit the situation.
The life simulation elements allow you to build houses and traverse the world as whatever class you desire. There’s both Combat classes and Gathering classes that do just about what you'd expect - but all of them end up complementing each other in one way or another!
Features
Challenges
Each of the Twelve lives offers unique challenges; these challenges are based off of getting more experience with said life. If enough starts are built, the life rank can go up, unlocking new skills. Many of these skills can still be used even with life switching!
Flutter’s Requests
Flutter, the butterfly that accompanies the player on their journey, may ask a request at various points in the game; by doing these, the player will gain Bliss, and with enough Bliss, Bliss bonuses will unlock useful powers – Bigger inventory, the option to have pets, and more!
Other quests are a bit smaller, but for CPU’s with symbols above their heads, just talk to them; they’ll give a task, and at least some experience points!
Multiplayer
Co-Op play is available both locally and online. Once a certain point is reached in the game, up to three people will be able to play together. Got two really good friends and itching for a great Role-Playing experience? Fantasy Life has it covered.
About the Team
Fantasy Life was developed by Level-5 Inc. Level-5 has quite the background, to say the least. The company started in 1998, over fifteen years ago, and has self-published and self-developed a lot of their own games in-house; with 280 employee’s, they’re a talented group, to say the least. Aside from Fantasy Life, they’ve also developed the following games: The Dark Cloud, Professor Layton, Inazuma Eleven, and White Knight Chronicles series along with Rogue Galaxy, Time Travelers, Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch, Jeanne D’Arc, Dragon Quest VIII & IX, and Yo-Kai watch! Take a look here to learn more about the studio.
Fantasy Life also had some help from 1-Up Studio Co. Ltd. 1 Up is a small company, but they’ve helped out on some big games in the past, including Mother 3, Magical Starsign, Sword of Mana, Blue Dragon Plus, and both Super Mario 3D Land & World. Check out more about them here.
Music
As some may recognize by his signature style, Nobuo Uematsu has lent his composing talents to this game! Take a listen below.
With mostly positive reviews so far, and given that this game is from experienced Action RPG makers, it’s definitely worth checking out if you're looking for new adventures on your 3DS. Fantasy Life releases this Friday the 24th - don't forget to pick it up!
Do you love RPGs? Excited to play this one? Got a friend or two ready for the grind with you? We would love to hear in the comments below!
Thethirdkoopa is a Game Producer, Gamer, and Collector who loves Smash and composing Music! He loves making these articles even more. He’d love to talk about any and all RPG’s with you on Twitter. @Thirdkoopa