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Games of the Decade: Expansion Pass #13/Blog a Day #18

Hello everyone, how are you?

The 3DS is/was home to some of the best handheld games out there, You had the main staples like Mario. Pokemon, Zelda, Kirby and more. The 3DS was also home to a wealth of rpgs and Japanese developers made some of the best games on the system. Today's game might be one of the most ambitious games on the 3DS, the only 3DS game on this list to be exact. Today we are going to take a look at Fantasy Life.

 

                                       The music in the game is really relaxing

This is going to be another case of having heard of a game but never got around to pocking up, which is a common trend here if you've noticed. I have always heard so much about it but I never really did bother to buy it. While I loved my 3DS, I just didn't have too many games for it. I think back in 2014 my 3DS library of games consisted of maybe 10-12 games. Probably less. Years later a good friend of mine told me about how good the game was and coincidentally enough my brothers got me the game for my birthday. So after all these years was the game worth the wait?

Ever wanted to know what your life would be like if you chose a different job or path? Fantasy Life answers that question. Not literally but you get the idea. I'll try not to spoil the story too much. At the start of the game you can create your own character and the character creator is really robust with what you can do with it. The game takes place on the world of Reveria which has generally been peaceful, but one day that comes to an end when meteorites fall from the sky and land all over the land. These meteorites are causing all sorts of problems and you are sent to investigate to see what's going on.

The game has various classes to choose from known as Lives. Maybe you want to take the path of a Mercenary and hunt monsters. Or maybe you prefer to make food and be a cook. Perhaps you want to be near the water and be an Angler. The best part? You can swap/change your Life at any time without there being any penalties to the progress of your previous Life. So if you get tired of a certain Life and want to experiement with another, you can do that freely without any penalties or anything. And yes each Life has its own set of quests to do so you are never doing the same thing twice on any Life.

                            

                        You can pretty much fish all you want without a care in the world

Each Life has their own set of skills and abilities that you learn upon ranking up and one of the best parts is that some abilities stack on other Lives as well. Say you want to switch over to a Paladin but you are currently a Cook, well you retain the ability to cook food and so forth as a Paladin. You can pretty much make a versatile character with different sets of skills. The only thing that doesn't tranfers are Special Skills which are certain skills that are related to specific Lives, like say special attacks with weapons and so forth.

One thing I loved about the game was the world and the overall look of the game. It really makes the game pop and gives it a certain charm to it with its stylized look. The game is pretty much an open world and you'll be traveling between grassy plains, mountains, caves, cities, and more. It has a great variety in terms of locations you can visit and explore. I think I have yet to see all the areas in the game for myself.

But Captain N, where can I play this game?" On the 3DS. If you are planning on picking it up then good luck finding a copy. The game has been out of print for quite some time and my brothers said it was hard finding a new copy at a decent price. So finding a new copy will be a challenge. It's still available on the eShop so you can just get it there if you don't mind going the digital route. The game also has dlc that adds even more content to a game that was already packed with content. I haven't bought it myself so can't comment.

                              

                              This is just one of the environments that you'll be exploring

Final Thoughts: Fantasy Life is one of the best games that I've ever played on the 3DS, The game is just packed with content and things to do that you'll never run out of things to do. Fantasy Life in many ways feels like an MMO but without all the grind from a MMO in the palm of your hands. I'm really impressed and surprised that a game like this is on the 3DS and to me it feels like one of the most ambitious games on the handheld. It's quite an underrated game.

My favorite part about the game is that the game never forces you to choose a Life due to the story or forces you to do a Life that you don't want to do. You can pretty much just ignore the main quest if you want and just play at your own pace and do the things you want to do as you go. It's great since with the game being structured like this you can experiment with what you want to do, which is something that I loved doing.

In many ways, in both the story and the features, feels just like Dragon Quest lX on the DS  which is another favorite game of mine. I think that's why I loved the game. It shares similarities but the game has its own unique charm that separates it from DQ9. But I feel that Fantasy Life is a much easier game to get into and that's great for those who normally don't try JRPG's due to them being complex to people who don't play rpgs much or at all. I think this game is perfect if you want to begin playing a JRPG that isn't Pokemon, since the relaxed pace of Fantasy Life makes it easier for someone new to rpgs to get into. I hope one day we get a port or a remake of this game on the Switch.

                                

                                                   You almost did since it was fun

Many have always wondered what life would be like had you chosen a different path. You may or may not be living your best life. But one thing is for sure is that you still have your life. You are still alive and that's the important thing.

That's it for this one. For the next one we are going to tune into Night Springs and see what episode they are airing. Thanks for reading and remember...

 

*All images were taken by my 3DS and my copy of the game*