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Fantasy Life I: The Girl Who Steals Time is the latest title in the Fantasy Life series that started as a Nintendo 3DS game back in 2012. If you played the original, you’ll feel right at home here, but if this is your first time in the Fantasy Life world, you’re in for a treat. The series has always been about giving players a lot of freedom to enjoy whichever life that they want.You’ve got 12 different job classes, or in this case, “Lives” to choose from, and each one plays differently.
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Want to be a sword-swinging mercenary? you may do that here. Prefer to be anangleror a miner? That’s also an option. The game doesn’t care what you want to do, which is both awesome and terrifying when you’re staring at thatjob selectionscreen. I remember spending a good 10 minutes just thinking about which life would be a good start.
The thing is, unlike most RPGs, where blindly picking a class that isn’t going to be your vibe down the line means restarting all over, Fantasy Life lets you switch jobs whenever you want. But here’s the catch:some Lives are way easier to start with than others, especially if you’re new to the series.
First, let’s take a deep dive into the Life system and then see which Lives are actually worth picking up when you’re just getting started.
The heart of Fantasy Life is the ability to switch between Lives, and you can’t remain in just one throughout. It’s this main core mechanic that essentially created the franchise. However, switching Lives isn’t as simple as changing outfits. You’ll need to get to at least Fledgling rank before moving on to another Life. That’s why choosing the right starting Life is important, because your choice may spell the difference between enjoying the game or getting frustrated with roadblocks early on.
What is the Life System in Fantasy Life I: The Girl Who Steals Time?
Before we give you the recommendations, let’s break down how the Life system actually works. Fantasy Life I: The Girl Who Steals Time features twelve different Lives that serve as the game’sclassor job system, but with a little more flexibility than your typical RPG.
The twelve Lives are divided into three main categories:
Lives Available
Paladin, Hunter, Mercenary, and Magician
Miner, Woodcutter, Angler, and Farmer
Cook, Blacksmith, Carpenter, Tailor, Alchemist, and Artist
Each Life has its own skill tree, equipment, and level up progression system.You level up each Life separately, meaning that your Paladin or Mercenary progress won’t affect or share your Tailor or Miner level.The best part about it is that Lives are interconnected in a way. For example, a Miner is the only job that can gather ore, while a Blacksmith is the only job that can refine that ore and eventually craft a weapon with it so that it can be used by a combat class character. This is why you can’t simply stick with one Life, and will regularly switch between them.
The Best Starting Life: Paladin or Mercenary
The Paladin or Mercenary are the two best starting Lives for new players.Both are combat-focused Lives that handle the early quests really well.
Weapon Type
Sword and Shield
Guild Master
Guild Location
Guild Hall (Eternia Village)
The Paladin is hands down the easiest Life to play. It’s perfect for players who want a simple and forgiving combat experience. You’ve got your basic sword attacks, shield blocks, and other special attacks that can be unlocked as you level up.
Greatsword
Inn (Eternia Village)
The Mercenary is a melee class that offers a more aggressive experience, by ditching the shield and trading it for a two-handed weapon.Mercenaries have a slower swing motion than a Paladin, but they hit a lot harder. Unlike the Paladin, you won’t have any shield blocks to reduce or block incoming damage, so you have to rely on dodges to keep you alive when you’re facing multiple enemies.
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Honorable Mentions: Hunter and Magician
While the Paladin and Mercenary are my top bets for any beginner starting out Fantasy Life I, the other two combat Lives will also work well, despite being a bit fragile and taking a little bit of getting used to.
Southwest of Eternia Village. Near Daiku and the Shepherd Boy.
The Hunter is your best choice for a basic ranged character.As you level up and increase your rank, you’ll have access to different types of arrows which induce different status ailments. If you’re someone who loves to place debuffs or status effects on your enemies, the Hunter is the way to go.
Beside the Goddess Statue, north of the Guild Hall (Eternia Village).
As a Magician, you’ll be equipped with a Staff as your weapon and both single target and AoE (Area of Effect) spells.As your rank and level go higher, you’ll have access to Arcane Arts, healing spells, and other elemental spells. Personally, I’ve had so much fun playing the Magician Life, since it has all the complexities that you expect from this job class but the combat remains fun, simple, but very engaging.
One of the best perks of choosing the Magician Life is early access to healing once you reach the Apprentice rank. You can always buy a Healing Potion from the Materials Store, but healing yourself using SP can save youmuch-needed Dosh(in-game currency).
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If You Don’t Want to Start With a Combat Life: Any Gathering Class
Look, I totally get it. Maybe you picked up Fantasy Life I because you wanted to play like a Harvest Moon character and avoid all the sword-swinging as much as possible.If you absolutely refuse to start with any combat class, then any of the Gathering Lives can work, but you’re definitely choosing the harder route.
The main reason why I recommend choosing a combat class more than anything else is that the main quests early on involve fighting monsters, a lot of them. If you choose a class other than a combat-focused one, what you’ll end up with as your fighting persona is the “Brand-New” Life -it’s essentially what your beginning character is when you’re first stranded in Eternia Village and your weapon is none other than a branch, which, as you may have guessed, doesn’t do too well in damaging monsters.
So, now that your mind is set on choosing a Life that’s not in the combat category, you should choose to be a Miner, Woodcutter, or Angler,because at least you’ll have a stock of materials for when you eventually switch to a crafting class. If you choose a crafting class right at the beginning, you’re in for a very difficult route since, for example, a Blacksmith needs ore but only a Miner can collect them, and while you can buy raw materials at the Goods Store, cash can be tight during the early game.
Here are all the Gathering Lives available in Fantasy Life I The Girl Who Steals Time:
Tools Used
What This Life Does
Western side of Eternia Village
Collect ore and gems from deposits.
Woodcutter
Northwestern side of Eternia Village
Chop down trees.
Fishing Rod
Pier (Eterna Village)
Fish in any body of water.
Farmer (Unlocked in Chapter 4)
Faraway Island
Grow crops to be used by a Cook as a food ingredient or to sellthem directly for profit.
Hardest Life to Start Fantasy Life I: The Alchemist
In my opinion, starting with a Gathering Life is already putting you at a disadvantage. Even more so if you choose a Crafting Life. That’s because these Lives are basically the final step in a production chain, and without the raw materials from Gathering Lives, you’re going to be stuck for hours in the early parts of the game.
That said, it’s actually still possible to start this game in a Crafting Life with the Alchemist.
Alchemist Guild. Located beside the Tailor’s Guild (Eternia Village).
The Alchemist is viable for the early game, given the need for HP and SP Potionswhile you’re still under-leveled (the ingredients for those are just Healweed and Vitalweed, which can be gathered anywhere in Eternia). It may be the only crafting life that can have an impact early on, apart from the Blacksmith, but you’re going to need a Miner for that. It’s this inter-dependency and connection between Lives that make up the core of the game, and it is this unique mechanic that makes the game fun and worthwhile.
It’s still your choice to pursue a Crafting Life from the beginning and then choose and play all through the other lives, but just remember that it will be a steeper climb since Miners provide ore forBlacksmiths, Woodcutters provide wood for Carpenters, and Anglers or a Farmer provide ingredients for the Cook. Getting an end of the assembly line class might not be such a good idea.
Here’s all the other Crafting Lives and what they do:
Frying Pan
Restaurant (Eternia Village)
Cooks food that can buff or heal your character.
Blacksmith
Hammerhead
Blacksmith Guild and Shop beside the farm (Eterna Village)
Forge weapons and armor.
West side of Eternia Village
Build furniture and tools.
Tailor’s Guild beside the Alchemist’s Guild (Eternia Village)
Create new clothing to be used as an outfit or as armor for the other Lives.
Artist (Unlocked in Chapter 5)
Paintbrush
Tropical Isles
Creates home decorations such as a painting or a potted flower.
At the end of the day, the perfect starting life is the one that gets you excited about playing the game.But if you’re genuinely unsure, go with either Paladin, Mercenary or Magician. Choose Paladin or Mercenary if you want straight-up, basic combat so you can focus more on the gathering and crafting lifestyle. Otherwise, choose Magician if you want a complex combat system and some healing early in the game.
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