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As you set sail for adventure inFantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time,you’ll quickly risk feeling overwhelmed by all the choices you’re able to make in your new life as a jack-of-all-trades, time-traveling hero. The game’s plethora of tutorials do a fine job of explaining many individual systems within the broader framework, but there’s so much to do, and plenty of tidbits that require firsthand experience before you’ll feel confident with them.
Given that we’ve spent dozens of hours in Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time, we’ll gladly share some things we wish we knew with the following tips.
Get A Gathering Life…
GatheringLives are handily some of the best that Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time has to offer. Gathering nodes -trees, rocks, and fish- are absolutely packed in nearly every non-settlement in the game. You’ll also need quite a few materials for other Lives.
As such,we strongly recommend picking up at least one Gathering Life right near the startof your adventure.
The choice is yours, of course, but we went withWoodcutterfirst, and you can make serious cash on stuff like Elder Pine Logs, right from the get-go.
…But Get A Combat Life, Too
That said,it’s downrightimperativethat you pick up a Combat Lifealong with it. Even if, for some reason, you don’t want to snag anything for Gathering or Crafting early on, this one’s a must.
Battling isn’t optional in Fantasy Life i, and indeed, there will be plenty of scripted encounters. Later on in the story, there will even be proper boss fights.
While youcanfight in yourBrand NewLife, you’re at so many degrees of disadvantage that it’s frankly one of the worst choices you could make! No skills to learn, no weapon specialties, zilch; don’t do it.
Chat Up Those Towers
Thetowersin Fantasy Life i are sentient beings. Ginormosia, the game’s open-world region, isfilled with towers which help you to uncover various parts of the map. Unlike other open-world classics, however, these towers talk.
Speak with the towers several timeswith the ‘Talk’function. You’ll gethints on shrine locations and other good-to-knowsgalore. What’s more, it’s mandatory that you do so whenever you want toraise the enemy level rangein a zone.
Only Crank Up That Level Range When You’re Comfortable
Speaking of which,you gain the option to raise the range of the enemy monsters in each zone as you earn points for completing tasks therein. The incentives are rich, asraising the range increases the following:
That said, while the reaped rewards are steep, remember thatmany foes will attack you on sight. You’re either going to need to be an expertly sneaky sort of player, or you’ll be murdered multiple times in a row while attempting to make the most out of an area.
As such,keep your own Combat Life levels in mind before cranking up the Area Rank. Besides,you’ll need your Gathering Lives’ own levels up high enough to take advantage of all of this, anyway.
Climbing Is Good
You’re introduced to theclimbing mechanicright near the start of the game, but it’s a bit deceptive injust how good it is. We went a couple of hours without realizing thatany ledge with the telltale “look” is climbable, even if it’sverytall.
Indeed,climbing is the only way you will reach many of the highest points in Ginormosia and abroad. The sooner you realize this, the better off you’ll be!
Enter Caves Even If You’re Not A Miner
Caves are primarily there for ore, and it’s easy to make the mistake of skipping over them if you’re not engaged in theMiner Lifejust yet. Check one out, and you’ll swiftly see, it’s ore for days, and little else.
But that’s not always the case. In fact,many caverns contain treasure chests, as well as precious gathering stuff like mushrooms and shells. The golden rule here is:if you see something that you’re able to enter while traveling, always enter it.
Get Through The First Three Chapters Swiftly
Aton of Fantasy Life i’s systems only unlock after the conclusion of the first three chapters. It’s only at this point that you’ve gotten your first taste of so many mechanics, includingthe ability to fly between time periods, and your very own burgeoning town to build.
We can’t overstate just how much more there is to do in Fantasy Life i once all of this is taken care of.
Plus,you’re going to hit some harsh caps on enemy and gathering node levels, as well as Life Quests which you can complete for rank-ups, if you’re isolated to the confines of the early game.
While you shouldwork on raising your Combat Life levela bit, and get some gathering in while you’re at it, you’ve got to push through the first three chapters before the game really gets rolling.
You Won’t See Multiplayer Mode For A While
Lastly, and linked to the above tip,multiplayer availability is locked until you get started with your town in late Chapter 3. If you’ve got friends who have also purchased Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time, and your goal from the start is to play together, that’s not going to happen for several hours!
Yet another reason to clear the first few story chapters, becauseyour co-op adventure can only begin once you’ve been introduced to all the fundamentals.
Furthermore,the story quests themselves can’t be tackled via multiplayer, nor can you bringPhantomswith you outside of Ginormosia. You’re on your own for these, as it’d really nuke the gameplay balance, otherwise.
