My Fantasy Life: Forced Back Into The Story

It’s been a couple of days since I last wrote one of these Fantasy Life diary installments. In my last collection of organized ramblings, I talked about how Fantasy Life gets to me in the same way Skyrim did. I enjoyed pursuing my own path, ignoring the story in favor of leveling up jobs, aiding neighbors, and essentially pursuing personal glory.

Well, that dream (temporarily) died. I was forced back into Fantasy Life‘s narrative. See, some of the story quests provided by Butterfly act as an ongoing tutorial. It’s because of this that my entrance into the next town, Port Puerto, was barred. I can understand controlling progression via quests, but for some reason it really irked me in Fantasy Life. Perhaps it was because I had been given such leeway prior to this incident, and it was as though my freedom was being infringed upon.

Also, the story quest ended up changing the appearance of a rather prominent character when she would go on adventures. I was a bit upset about that as well. (Her hairstyle personally offends me.)

I suppose I was also feeling a bit hurt, as I’d had to abandon my prized profession. I had to leave the Tailor Life. While all of the other Lives I had been pursuing were leveling up regularly, my role as a Tailor was stagnating. It was all because of seashell buttons. Seashell buttons are needed to make two kinds of clothing, and I needed the experience from making those two tops to complete two quests to go to the next level. Even after entering Port Puerto, I couldn’t find them in shops. I suppose I’ll have to wait for a Bliss upgrade to the Port Puerto shops, but it’s left me feeling quite melancholy in the meantime.

On the plus side, things have been going much better since acquiescing to story missions and opening up the new town. My character purchased a new home, for example. It’s a pleasant house beside a lake, in the southern suburbs of Castele. Admittedly, I chose it for its location, rather than its niceties. Fantasy Life allows players to fast travel. Since I’m usually pursuing the Life of some kind of craftswoman, that means my Master is in the Artisan’s district. The Guild Office is in the town square. So now, I have a fast travel spot that puts me right at the exit to town, and adjacent to airship ports. Location, location, location.

I’m also loving my new duds. See, Fantasy Life has a password system. Nintendo will be doling out the various words and phrases that will bestow extra outfits and furniture upon the player. Except, well, I cheated. I used the magic of Google to discover tons of passwords already available online, and applied them to my game to make my character and new home pretty. Because I needed a better outfit and cozier dwelling, and I had to sell everything I was making to get lots of Dosh!

I mean, exploring and vacationing in Port Puerto can get expensive. I want to buy some materials, visit every shop, fight zombie pirates, rent a turtle to ride, get my hair done at the beautician nearby, and have some fun. I can’t do that if my avatar is broke. Each area in Fantasy Life is so distinct from each other, and you want to be sure you have the necessary equipment and items. You have to get the most out of Reveria explorations.

Also, I wholeheartedly recommend taking the Miner, Woodcutter, Carpenter, and Blacksmith Lives. These level up so quickly. There’s wood and ore everywhere, and I think it would be impossible to not reach the Adept level by the time you’ve unlocked Port Puerto. I’d also suggest the Paladin job over the mercenary, as the Paladin has faster attacks and the special skills seemed more useful in the field. But then, that’s just me.

In short, Fantasy Life still has me captivated, even when it’s forcing me to actually play through the storyline quests so I can strike out on my own again.