Is Fantasy Life i A Game of the Year Contender?

Unfortunately, I think the answer to this question is an emphatic “NO!” and that has nothing to do with personal preference. If I was handing out awards, baring some crazy surprises we don’t know about, I would be putting this experience right up there with the best of 2025, and for good reason. Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time, while not perfect, is a phenomenal game that is going to rob me of over 100 hours of my life. That’s saying something.

I’m not sure if it is the colourful world that gets me, the variety of different life’s to explore, or the “collect them all” philosophy here of finding all the monsters, finding all the fish, getting all the crops, etc. that excites me most. Even as I cross the 50 hour mark in my game, I’m constantly turning on the game and finding something new to do. Not every session of play time is super long. I’ve played this game for hours straight, and I’ve picked it up for 10 or 15 minutes. But regardless of the length, I walk away with a smile on my face and some progression in my game.

Level-5 announced 500,000 sales of the game already – and that number has almost certainly climbed by now – and I’m so incredibly excited to see this game doing so well. Both myself and our Nintendo writer Daniel are busy playing the game (me on PlayStation 5 and PC, Daniel on Nintendo Switch), and we could not be more excited about the time we are having. Let me share this from Daniel’s latest column:

“Let me tell you something: this game is super addictive. It is Animal Crossing meets Dragon Quest meets the Legend of Zelda. Honestly there’s probably more Zelda in this game than anything else. There are some parts that are obvious homages to the Legend of Zelda series. Also its so cozy. Its so cute. It makes me so happy.”

And that is the crux of it, isn’t it? Happiness. Like with Animal Crossing, Fantasy Life it brings me that sense of happiness and joy that I haven’t really felt in a cozy game since Animal Crossing. Even with all the monster slaying, and evilness in the world I’m exploring, there is something friendly and warm about the entire experience. Arguably, Level-5 has brought a game style like Animal Crossing to the masses by giving players something non-existent in on that cute tropical island: combat. Even just a taste of combat, even as simplistic as it is here, is enough to draw more and more players into the realm of cozy gaming. And I’m here for that.

Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time is a fantastic experience that shouldn’t be missed. If you enjoy cozy gaming, with some light combat and puzzle solving on the side, then this long-awaited sequel from Level-5 is a must own in 2025. And with a Nintendo Switch 2 version on the horizon on June 5th, I feel like I’m about to spend quite a bit more time in this outstanding world!