Should You Play Fantasy Life i: Girl Who Steals Time? [My Review]

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It’s been over a decade since the original Fantasy Life released on Nintendo 3DS, and cozy gamers everywhere are hungry for a sequel. Once again published by Level-5 and producer Akihito Hino, Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time released for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Steam and Xbox Series X/S on May 21, 2025. There are already plans to port it to the Nintendo Switch 2, too.

Fantasy Life i Summary

“We’re in for a bumpy ride. But, hey—that’s part of the fun.”

Have you ever wondered what it would be like if Animal Crossing and Breath of the Wild had a baby? Wonder no more, as the answer lies in the action-packed exploration and life sim Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time.

In Fantasy Life i, you’ll find:

Tons of combat ranging in difficulty levels (some encounters optional, some not)
Over a dozen specialties (“Lives”) that you can become proficient in—from sewing to sword-swinging
Free exploration across three distinct regions
The ability to develop and populate your own hamlet, including home decorating and landscaping
Quests, quests, quests galore
Equal parts crafting, exploring, and fighting
Online and couch co-op modes available

My Fantasy Life i Experience

Hours played: 35 hours
Rolled credits: Yes
Coziness rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time opens as any good adventure should: you and a crew sailing across the seas in search of adventure and discovery. Following the guidance of scientist and archeologist Edward, you (the player) become quickly entangled in dragon battles in the sky, time-traveling gates, and a mysterious cavern that delves deep into the earth.

Fantasy Life i is a cozy game that doesn’t pull any punches when it comes to loading you up with tasks to do and places to explore right off the bat. Not only will you have a home base island reminiscent of Animal Crossing: New Horizons’ setup, but you will have multiple islands and towns in the past you can visit, a wide open-world-lite adventure zone called Ginormosia that gives Breath of the Wild vibes, randomly-generated dungeons called Treasure Groves, and even a colosseum challenge arena.

In fact, there is so much to do that I had to make liberal use of the in-game guides and tutorials to get my head on straight. I was a cool 15 hours into the game before I had a true handle on how things worked. The complexity created a lot of repetition, experimenting, and getting hella lost—and I loved every second of it. The mark of a great game is when even grinding is fun.

The story is simple, punchy, and packed with a genuinely delightful cast that includes both optional and story-connected characters from around the realms. Jumping between worlds and realms, you’ll uncover a plot to destroy the world as you know it. You’ll be tasked with putting an end to the scheming, going up against a furious spirit, a wrathful god, and a colossal dark dragon in order to do it.

But how?

You’ve probably heard of the titular “Lives” at the center of Fantasy Life i. Consider these specialties or classes. The list includes: Paladin, Mercenary, Hunter, Magician (these 4 are the Combat Lives), Miner, Woodcutter, Angler, Farmer (these 4 are the Gathering Lives), Cook, Blacksmith, Carpenter, Tailor, Alchemist, and Artist (these 6 are the Crafting Lives).

After reading that list, you are probably thinking: What Life should I pick in Fantasy Life i? The good news: It doesn’t matter! Your first Life is basically a tutorial into the concept of Lives—how they work, what a Master is, and the kind of activities that open up to you in each category. But you will very quickly be allowed to unlock every life, and switch between them to your heart’s content. In fact, it’s essential that you do.

The only Life “choice” that makes a huge impact on your game is what Combat Life you choose, as you most likely will want to stick to leveling up just one of them to keep pace with the game’s difficulty slope. I picked Mercenary because I like hittin’ things—but there are a lot of Mercenary NPCs in the game early on, so feel free to pick a squishier Life if that’s what you enjoy.

All the other Lives play a critical role in gathering materials and building up your equipment and camp, so you will switch between them liberally. There are some Lives you can’t progress without (like Miner and Woodcutter) and others are more so for flavor (Angler and Artist). But you’ll need help from each one of them in order to save the world from a “total reset” by a vengeful god.

To strengthen each Life path, all you need do is use it. This will allow you to level up your skill, unlock skill points, and flesh out a skill tree for each specialty. You can complete Life-specific quests and report to your Life Master/Mentor in each area for added bonuses, too. Wandering the world map(s) will uncover many opportunities to mine, chop, fish, and farm. When it comes to the “crafting” lives, you can make use of a crafting bench at your home base or in any populated area.

For stuff like alchemy, carpentry, artistry, and sewing, a small button-mashing mini game will determine your level of success. Don’t worry if you have a bad case of butter fingers, though, because there are plenty of ways to make the game easier. First, you can upgrade your gear: get a better paint brush, hammer, or saw! Second, you can make the mini games slower and easier in your Life skill trees. And third, you can recruit artisans from around the map to help you craft—adding their level bonus to your own.

Some artisans are unlocked naturally as the story progresses, but you can also spend your time combing through Ginormosia looking for shrines. Shrines will offer various challenges, from combat to puzzles to gathering resources within a time limit; if you are successful, you’ll obtain a “strangeling.” Strangelings are people who have had their Life energy drained from them, and thus have been turned into objects like hats, statues, helmets, and swords.

By offering a gift to the goddess statue at your home base, you can convert these inanimate objects back to their former selves. They will then join you at camp (and even move into a house if you build them one), and can come with you on your adventures or add their skill bonus to crafting activities.

With so many dynamic ways to “level up,” I never felt like I was stuck or couldn’t progress. If my level was too low, I could practice my Life abilities until the skill tree opened up. Or I could hunt down a friend within a shrine to make activities easier with their help. Or I could collect rare materials and craft better equipment. There were so many ways to progress and keep things from feeling stagnant.

There are also quests galore. You can help people on your island, fetch things for folks around the map, complete Life-specific tasks and report back to your mentors, complete daily activities for stamps, do area-specific projects listed on job boards in each town, or chase interesting icons on the world map for special discoveries and challenges.

You’ll never be bored in Fantasy Life i, I can promise you that!

Fantasy Life i Final Thoughts

Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time is everything I look for in a cozy adventure game. Yes, there’s combat (lot of combat), but it’s not too hard. You spend equal amounts of time fighting, exploring, solving puzzles, gathering resources, making friends, helping people, and generally just hanging out. It’s hard to get bored when there is so much to do, and there wasn’t a single task, activity, or job that I disliked.

Overall, I’d recommend Fantasy Life i to players who like staying busy, carving their own path, and taking on new challenges using both strength and wits.

Should you play Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time?

Fantasy Life i is…

A great game for people who like cozy games like Stardew Valley: cozy, busy, combat-heavy
Perfect for gamers who like resource collection and management
Animal Crossing fans will appreciate the “home base” island, which you can landscape and decorate
Won’t be fun for folks who aren’t interested in combat elements in their cozy games
There is also post-credits content, so the fun lasts!

Stay cozy, gamers!

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