I went into Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time without any nostalgia for the original 3DS game, so I feel like I was able to look at it with unbiased eyes. While it’s charming on the surface, the more I played, the more I felt like it didn’t live up to what it could’ve been.
At first, the game seems packed with content, you get to choose from a ton of jobs (called “lives”), and it gives the impression that there’s going to be so much to do. And technically, there is, but it’s a bit repetitive and a lot grindy. For the average player just following the story, it might not feel like there’s much incentive to dig deeper. I never really felt compelled to try everything — even though it sounds fun on paper, I just didn’t want to.
The gameplay loop revolving around leveling your jobs gets repetitive fast. I usually don’t mind a bit of grind, but this felt more tedious than satisfying. Leveling up jobs and buddies takes time, and I can’t imagine having to do it for multiple different jobs. Side quests are mostly fetch quests or basic monster fights, and the story, while cute, doesn’t have much depth to keep you hooked.
The game doesn’t really guide you outside of the main story either. It drops you into this side world (Ginormosia) without much direction, and I often found myself wondering, What am I supposed to be doing right now, and why does it matter?
Some features — like farming, terraforming, and building up your island — are locked behind certain story parts, which kind of interrupts the whole “play your way” vibe. And even though the game tries to make day/night cycles and time travel feel meaningful, the NPCs mostly just say the same things no matter when you talk to them. It’s hard to care about a world that barely reacts to you.
Visually, it’s cute and colorful, but for a full-priced game, some of the graphics and animations feel a little dated. And I really wish there had been voice acting, at least in the cutscenes. The dialogue can get long, especially early on, and without voices, it just drags.
You might enjoy this game:
If you love slower-paced, grindy life sims where you set your own goals and don’t mind repetitive gameplay. But if you’re looking for a cozy game that also feels rewarding — with a satisfying story, character depth, or meaningful progression — this might leave you disappointed.
