I'm thirty hours in, I'm sure I'll put another thirty hours in, and I just completed the main storyline.
I just thought I'd come in here and mention that the story missions in this game are unfathomably horrible. I'm absolutely floored that the game hasn't been critically savaged for forcing this heinous, clunky mess onto people who might otherwise enjoy the game. I can't believe the amount of time I've spent looking at the mini-map while chasing red dots to satisfy the game's stupid "Go talk to X!" missions, and then mashing the shit out of the A button in an effort to make it all go away.
Before I say more about just how fucking brutally awful the story missions are, I should emphasize that I like many things about the game. There's a reason that I've endured the stupidest game design in recent history. I think the world looks great, and I've found it very fun to explore on my own time. I think the player interface (menu system, etc.) is clean and tight. The mini-games and the combat are repetitive and easy, but they're both inoffensive. And I've been really, really hooked on everything that goes into fulfilling the Life missions for the gathering and building classes. Really, it's the hunting, collecting, crafting, and buying/selling (mixed with a world design that makes that process fun) that's kept me coming back.
So, in order to enjoy what's good about the game, I was willing to suffer through the story/bliss missions. Now that it's all over, I'm totally baffled about what series of decisions or indecisions led to the fucking mess found in Fantasy Life. Who the fuck wants to read tens of thousands of words of meandering dialogue, told eight words at a time, while running your character from one end of the game world to the other? What would have been lost if the dialogue was halved (or more than halved)? Who would have had less fun if they weren't forced to run from Jimmy in Whereverthefuck to Suzy in Fuckmeville to talk about whatever stupid shit?
Part of the reason the story missions are so dry, I suspect, is that the developers tried to make the story missions to someone who isn't focusing on combat. With this goal in mind, the story missions can't, by and large, involve combat or any other particular skill. But rather than giving us a short-and-sweet narrative that provides a rough framework for people to explore the various Lives/Roles, they forced us to read the world's worst novel, where turning the page requires slamming the A button seven hundred thousand times. The story itself is an atrocity. But I'd hardly have noticed the atrocity if it were 20% as long or involved. The majority of game stories are terrible. I normally don't complain.
If these fine artists couldn't handle cutting down the text or mindless running in their riveting epic, they could have at least made it optional. If I wasn't forced to complete the inane bliss missions to open up new parts of the world, I also wouldn't have complained. But, no. The developers made sure that in order to be able to progress as a Tailor, I had to read every fucking word of their miserable trash. And, adding insult to injury, they prohibited changing Lives/Roles during the story missions. What?!?!
Fantasy Life is great at many things, but does its best to ruin it all. What an absolutely ridiculous experience.
I will now return to the parts of the game I enjoy (of which there are many). But I'm curious to see if anyone else has come away with feelings like mine.
