I've spent two weeks with Fantasy Life (3DS) and here's what I think of it so far

The copy of Fantasy Life I pre-ordered months ago and have longed for ever since has been in my hands--or, rather, crammed inside my pink-and-white 3DS XL--for just about two weeks now.

In those 15 or so days, I've spent more than 45 hours with this Level-5-made title. (In fact, nearly 12 of those 45 hours occurred during my first weekend with the game.)

Given that, you might assume I consider Fantasy Life to be the greatest thing since sliced bread (or whatever the gaming equivalent of that would be). It's not, of course. Oh, it's a pretty stellar game overall, no doubt about it, but it's also got its share of flaws--with its sluggish start and subsequent wordiness being the two biggest.

My character, Lenna, early on during my playthrough.

Aside from those unfortunate niggles, though, I've found Fantasy Life to be an absolute joy to play thus far. As for why that is, here are what I hope to be a few pertinent thoughts:

Job number one--There's no question that, for me, the main draw of Fantasy Life was its vaunted job system. Specifically, the ability to spend my time in this game as a blacksmith or carpenter or cook--or all three, along with any of its other nine occupations--was something I considered too enticing to pass up. And you know what? Doing just that is even more fun than I thought it would be. Granted, some of the jobs aren't entirely what you may have imagined them to be--as a cook, you don't really help run a restaurant, for instance--but even so they're quite a bit of fun. (Note: I've only worked on five "classes" so far: angler, blacksmith, mercenary, miner and woodcutter--though I plan on trying out carpenter, hunter and tailor this weekend.) The best part, in my humble opinion, is that whenever you tire of one occupation, you can simply switch to another until you're ready to give the original one another shot.

Fishing is, by far, my favorite "job."

How can they be baddies if they look so goodie?--I doubt anyone is going to describe Fantasy Life as the most attractive 3DS game they've ever come across, but that doesn't mean it's not pretty darn easy on the eyes. That's especially true of the multitudes of enemies that players encounter while traversing its overworld. A healthy percentage of them wouldn't be out of place in a Dragon Quest game--and I mean that in the best possible way. Lumbering dragons, loping panthers, swooping owls and even shuddering trees (palm trees, in fact) abound, and all of them are admirably--and amusingly--constructed and animated. (One of my favorites is the blue bear who cartoonishly pirouettes upon being slain.) Oh, and the many men and women (and other creatures) who tend to accompany players on their journeys are similarly impressive from both a design and animation standpoint.

Although I also enjoy exploring caves.

The soundtrack of my life--Although I'm sure renowned composer Nobuo Uematsu has his detractors, I've never been one of them. As such, it shouldn't be too surprising to hear me say that I'm fairly enamored with Fantasy Life's soundtrack. The tunes that resonate with me most are those that are subtle and atmospheric--like the shimmering one that kicks in at the top of Mount Snowpeak or the one that's present while exploring Cacto Cove. The rousing, bombastic ones--like the jaunty overworld and boss-battle themes--are nice, too, don't get me wrong, but I tend to prefer the softer, more lyrical ones.

I told you I like fishing.

Whack-a-mole? More like whack-everything-in-sight--Another area of Fantasy Life that's really dug its claws into me so far is its battle system. Actually, it feels kind of funny to call what's present here a battle "system," as it isn't all that different from what's found in games like The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds (or A Link to the Past before it). Still, the combos and charged attacks that are included in Fantasy Life add just enough depth to the proceedings for them to seem fresh and fun--or at least keep them from seeming like brainless hack-and-slash affairs. Anyway, all that really needed to be said here is that, even after more than 40 hours of play, I still get a kick out of fighting this game's enemies--and that's not something you can say about a lot of RPGs these days.

Easily one of the prettiest areas of the game.

I know the above doesn't cover all that Fantasy Life has to offer, but I hope it covers enough to give interested parties an idea as to why I've enjoyed the game so much to this point--and why I'm not planning on putting it away anytime soon.

I'll do my best to share additional thoughts in an upcoming post or two (or maybe even--gasp!--a "Great Gaymathon" review), but in the meantime I'd like to hear from any of you who also are playing through this adorable RPG. What do you think of it so far? Which parts of it do you like best--or least?