All Game, No Filter

Image Credit: Steam Store Page

Playtime: 50 hours (Story around 20-25 Hours without post game)
Completion: Story Finished
Platform: Steam
Genre: Life Sim / RPG / Adventure
Played: 2025 / Reviewed: 2025
Final Score: ★★★☆☆ (6.5/10)

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🧠 First Impressions

Fantasy Life i immediately hooked me with its charming visuals and nostalgia factor. As someone who loved Maplestory 2, this game scratched a very similar itch — colorful worlds, relaxing but engaging gameplay, and a wide variety of activities. The first 40–50 hours, especially the story-focused portion, felt like an absolute treat. Combat is fluid, the “Life” job system is fun to explore, and the sheer amount of customization kept me playing.

But… the longer I played past the main story, the more the cracks started to show.

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⚙️ Gameplay & Progression

This is a cozy RPG with crafting, combat, gathering, and exploration all blended together. But while it nails that variety in the early game, the end-game grind is where the fun begins to fade.

• The Good:
  • Fun, fluid combat
  • Diverse “Life” classes to try
  • Charming, colorful art and atmosphere

Image Credit: In game

• The Frustrating:
  • Overly grindy rank-up system in Ginormosia (150,000 points per area!)
  • RNG-heavy Treasure Groves with repetitive, low-value loot
  • Buddy upgrades tied to random chance instead of player choice

The lack of meaningful challenge is another sticking point — dying has virtually no penalty, which makes the grind feel even less rewarding.

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🌍 World & Multiplayer Potential

The single-player charm is undeniable, but the multiplayer system is dated and clunky. Instead of a seamless shared world like Sky: Children of the Light or a Skyblock-style MMO hub, multiplayer is just… joining random lobbies. This means you might accidentally walk into a group of friends mid-session and feel like an intruder.

A more open, persistent multiplayer world with player interaction hubs could completely change the long-term replayability.

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🎵 Music, Art, and Atmosphere

This is where Fantasy Life i shines — vibrant environments, relaxing music, and a tone that makes you want to keep playing “just one more quest.” It’s exactly the kind of cozy escapism I wanted from a life sim RPG.

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📝 Category Breakdown

🎮 Gameplay: 7/10 – Fun, but loses steam in the grind phase
🧠 Difficulty: 5/10 – Too forgiving, no real sense of challenge
📖 Story: 7/10 – Enjoyable, but overshadowed by side content
🎵 Music: 8/10 – Fits the mood perfectly
🌍 Multiplayer: 5/10 – Needs a total rework

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✅ Final Verdict

Fantasy Life i is a charming time sink with strong early-game content but frustratingly repetitive end-game systems. It’s worth playing for the story and early grind, but I sincerely hope the developers address the multiplayer design and late-game grind before players burn out.

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🔥 Clay’s Take

“If you loved Maplestory 2 like I did, this is the closest you’ll get — for better and for worse. The core is great, the grind is not. Still, I can’t deny it stole MY time.”

Final Score: ★★★☆☆ (6.5/10)
Recommended? Yes — but only if you’re okay with a lot of grind after the main story.

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