Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time – A Parent’s Review

By a parent who games between coffee breaks and building towns out of Magna-Tiles.

Reviewed on: Steam Deck

Available on: PC (Microsoft Windows) / PlayStation 4 / Nintendo Switch / PlayStation 5 / Xbox Series X|S / Nintendo Switch 2

The Quick Take

Fantasy Life i is Life Sim/JRPG and what does that mean exactly? Well, it is a Japanese style role playing game where you can try 14 different jobs while out on an adventure. The game revolves around your character who befriends a time traveling dragon and go on quests to help villagers across multiple timelines.

The Parent Perspective

Fantasy Life i is great if you have a Steam deck. I’ve been playing this since launch and have run into no performance issues. This game is also available on the Nintendo Switch. PlayStation 4 & 5, and Xbox:

Can I play in short bursts? Fantasy Life has lots of places where you can play a few quests or side quests and then put the game down.
Can I pause/save easily? Yes, saving in this game is super easy. There is an autosave feature as well as a manual save option in your user menu.
Attention required: This one is tricky. There is a lot that goes on in this game that you can do. You can follow the main quest or just learn new jobs, or a little of both. Either way, you might forget some of the store if you set it down for a bit.
Stress level: I would say that it is not stressful at all. Your character just kind of goes with the flow and that is how I feel too while playing.
Content concerns: This is a action fantasy game so the violence isn’t bad. I will say that there is a scene where your dragon is chained up that might be a little extreme for some kids.

Kid-Friendly? Let’s Talk

Depending on your household rules and the age of your kids, this game may or may not make the cut. Here’s what I noticed:

Good for kids? I would say that this game is fine for someone 8+. It’s pretty mild in terms of violence. It has lots of text to read and understand and the game play mechanics can be a bit overwhelming if you haven’t played a game like this before.
Stuff they might love: It has archeology, dragons, action adventure, building your own town, farming, mining, and magic. There is something for everyone.
Stuff to talk about first: I would definitely talk about the treatment of animals before playing this game. Yes it is fantasy with dragons, but it is a great way to bring up the treatment of animals in general.

How It Fits Into a Parent’s Life

Works in 15–30 min chunks? I would say yes to this. Each quest you can complete fairly quickly so you could finish a quest or side quest and pause it.
Okay to step away mid-session? Yes, but you won’t because it’s a lot of fun to play.
Mentally exhausting or easy to sink into? Mentally, I would say that this is a pretty chill game. It has your typical fantasy enemies but nothing that is too difficult to beat as long as you level up.

Learning Curve & Controls

Easy to learn? The game is pretty easy to learn, though it throws a lot at you. Each job has it’s own way of learning the new skill and you have 14 possible to choose from. Plus all of the RPG parts that you have to remember. Luckily it’s not difficult, just a lot.
Control scheme: The control scheme is pretty simple and straight forward for a JRPG. If you’ve played them before you wont run into any issues.
Tutorial quality: I feel like the first few hours of the game is a tutorial and really guides you on how to play the game. It is super helpful and really guides you on how to play the different jobs that are available.

Vibe Check

Visual style: When my daughter first saw this game she asked if I was playing Pokemon. The game looks like a Pokemon game and a Dragon Quest game combined. Which makes sense since the game developer has made some of the Dragon Quest games.
Soundtrack: The soundtrack is good. Nothing that has really stood out but not annoying either.
Overall mood: The overall mood feels like an easy going fantasy JRPG. Think of a Pokemon vibe set in fantasy time line with a time traveling dragon.

So… Is It Worth My Rare Free Time?

Great for parents who love: Life Sims/ JRPGs.
Will I keep playing? Yes, this is a great game while on summer vacation. At 26 hours to complete the main story, I think this it totally doable.
Recommend to other parents? I would absolutely recommend this for any parent that is into JRPG’s. It’s super fun to play, doesn’t take itself seriously and doesn’t stress me out while playing it. It is also a game that if my daughter looked over my shoulder, that I wouldn’t have to turn off so she wouldn’t see anything that was not appropriate to see.

Parent Score

My very official, highly subjective rating:

☕☕☕☕/4 out of 5 cups of coffee – This is a great easygoing JRPG that checks so many different boxes.

Final Thoughts

When you don’t have a lot of time it becomes very difficult to choose a game that you’ve never heard before. Fantasy Life i was like that for me. I purchased it purely by looking at the trailer and reading the description. This was never on my radar and I’m so glad that I bought it.

If you’ve played Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time or have questions, drop them in the comments—I’d love to hear from you!