After a two-year delay, Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time appears to be on schedule for its planned April 2025 release date on the Nintendo Switch, though developer Level-5 notes suspiciously that it's been toying with "compatible platforms and new hardware."
That's why "there has been a slight delay in the release of major news," CEO Akihiro Hino says on Twitter, as translated by Japanese gaming site Gematsu. Hino doesn't expand on what new hardware he's been busy brawling with, though his announcement has a peculiar smell to it… it almost sounds like Fantasy Life i could maybe, possibly be an upcoming Switch 2 game.
But we have wiggle room for speculation. Game screenshots Hino attaches to his Twitter post indicate that he's using an Xbox controller, and Gematsu also reports that PlayStation leaks show Fantasy Life i could be coming to Sony's console, too.
While the game hasn't yet been announced on any console other than the Switch, Hino says in another loaded tweet translated by Gematsu that some additional screenshots he posts are "still from the Switch version" – implying other versions.
In any case, Hino more plainly shares a crucial milestone for the life-sim RPG: "The game content has become significantly more enjoyable."
The last and only other Fantasy Life game released in 2012 for the 3DS, so while, truthfully, any cute call back to that time in Nintendo's history would be enough to satisfy me, I'm glad to hear that Level-5's sequel will also have "enjoyable" content on offer.
Hino also boasts that Fantasy Life i's twee, rainbow cereal "visuals have evolved," and that, overall, the game is "shaping up to be an outstanding RPG."
"New information will be released soon," Hino shares, "so please look forward to it!"
Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time looks like the RPG take on Animal Crossing: New Horizons that I've been waiting for.
