There are games you pick up and think, “Just an hour before bed.” And then suddenly you’re watching the sun rise through the gap in your curtains while your character is still mining ore, chopping trees, cooking omelets, and pondering the moral implications of time travel — all at once. Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time is, quite frankly, that kind of trouble in an adorably silly disguise.

A game that exudes Love.

If you’ve ever lost whole weekends to the original Fantasy Life like I did in my teenage years you know exactly the what to expect: a bright and comfy world where you can swap professions at the drop of a hat, fill your backpack with more fish than water exists in the ocean, and play hero, woodcutter and artist all in the same play session! In this newest installment, the fun is even dialed up to eleven — there’s an archipelago brimming with secrets, time-hopping hijinks, and a cast so cutely designed they could melt the heart of a Napdragon. (❁´◡`❁)

The core loop remains absurdly sticky: pick a Life, grind up your skills, craft or gather so many trinkets and resources your storage cries for mercy, then swap to a new Life because, well, being a Paladin and a Tailor and an Angler all in one afternoon feels just right in this game. The writing also has that something special Level-5 is known for: wholesome humor, a little mystery, and an ever-present undercurrent of “Wow, Edward should not be alive right now...” (jkjk I love Edward) q(≧▽≦q)

And the world! Oh, this world is so lovely. It’s so big that wanderlust and curiosity kicks in like crazy the first time you step foot in Ginormosia, but cozy enough to know your way around without a minimap stapled to your forehead. Every corner has something to be mined, fished, foraged, simply heaven for gathering goblins like me! The people at Level-5 have so much mastered that satisfying loop of “Just one more quest… okay, just one more tree… fine, one more recipe…” until you look up and realize you haven’t touched the Main Story in two hours.

Multiplayer mishaps, not-so-easy fixes.

But. And it pains me to say because I absolutely love this game, but good grief, good grief — the multiplayer.

On paper, it sounds perfect: hop online, gather with friends on one island, show off your ridiculous hats and overpowered pickaxe, then conquer dungeons or harvest rare stuff together. In practice? Trying to herd cats would be easier. The process to hop onto multiplayer feels like wading through a swamp of menus and contradictory instructions, and once you’re in, coordinating with a friend without being in the same room or on a Discord call can be a clumsy dance that sometimes makes me wish I were just back to solo adventring. It’s like organizing a surprise birthday party for an eldritch horror: theoretically possible, but expect sudden existential panic and lots of awkward silences trying to make heads or tails of the situation.

So, my verdict? Solo: a deeply comforting, dangerously engaging slice of fantasy life where the hours vanish and your to-do list never feels like a chore. Multiplayer: a noble idea shackled by clunky systems that made me, a certified Fantasy Life addict, hesitate to jump into multiplayer with my friends as often as I wanted — because friendship shouldn’t come with a side order of technical frustration and arcane lobby codes. (〃￣︶￣) If you loved the original Fantasy Life or just want a cozy RPG that lets you live out your fantasy daydreams while time traveling and befriending dragons, this is an easy recommendation. Just treat the multiplayer as a “nice bonus when it works,” not the main course.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have six more boss fish to catch, a bunch of furniture to craft, an island to terraform and a timeline to mess with.

See ya' in Reveria!! —Elligeist ( •̀ ω •́ )⏳🐉✨