The big Nintendo Switch 2 reveal gave Tomodachi Life fans the announcement they've wanted for more than a decade, but their Animal Crossing companions across the pond were left hungry for news on what's next for their life sim obsession.
Wander a bit further in the valley of life and social sims and you'll find more good news. I've been eating like a king for months because Level 5's new life sim RPG, Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time, is finally coming after 11 years.
A new trailer for Fantasy Life i, the first non-mobile installment in the series since 2014's underrated 3DS banger Fantasy Life, was released earlier today (in Japanese but with English subtitles), and this long-awaited follow-up looks better every time I see it.
It won't be a native Switch 2 game, but Fantasy Life i is coming to Switch, PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC on May 21, ahead of the June 5 Switch 2 launch. I'll probably end up playing it on my Switch 2 anyway to help justify spending a small fortune (now a slightly larger fortune, with Switch 2 accessory prices rising in the US) on a console that has one exclusive game I'm actually interested in.
As a reminder, Nintendo Switch 2 pre-orders now open in the US on April 24, and the base price of the console is holding at $449.99 in the region.
The Fantasy Life bug has slowly been spreading around the GamesRadar+ office, with my comrade Anna joining me in despairing over its repeated delays.
There's something about this series' – which is to say, the previous game's – mix of crafting, gathering, and combat skills that hits my brain in a way no other life sim has. It's more adventurous and goal-oriented, and quests and progression systems loop back on each other in a way I found irresistible all those years ago.
The new trailer spotlights the cycle of accepting a quest to craft a specific item, sourcing the materials out in the wild (sometimes by courteously escorting monsters or skill bosses into the afterlife), and then crafting up a storm back at the carpentry desk.
Fantasy Life i lets you change jobs as needed out in the field, increasing your options and reinforcing the synergy between different life paths. A good Carpenter can make good bows to use as a Hunter, for example, while a skilled Angler will find it easier to make better dishes as a Cook.
I've always described Fantasy Life as a life sim moonlighting as a Zelda game, and the latest entry looks like an expanded, spruced-up version of that. Enlivened by a Japanese narrator describing these life paths with the energy of a MOBA esports moderator shouting "pentakill," the new trailer communicates that same charm.
This one can't come soon enough.
