Level 5’s Epic Return: New RPG Blends Animal Crossing Charm with Multiplayer Combat!

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The iconic Level 5 games from Ni No Kuni series are back on Xbox, marking their first independent publication in two decades.

Title Announcement: The Girl Who Pilfers Timeheads to Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, and Windows PC! This upcoming adventure is a follow-up to the cherished Fantasy Life from the 3DS console, offering an immersive sequel experience.

Fantasy Life, often referred to as a “leisurely RPG,” shares similarities with popular games such as Animal Crossing. In this game, cultivating farms, fishing expeditions, crafting homes, and nurturing relationships serve as the core activities for players.

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In contrast to Animal Crossing, Fantasy Life delves into a more conventional role-playing game (RPG) territory, incorporating action-packed battles as well as a richer narrative. Additionally, Fantasy Life: The Girl Who Steals Time supports cross-play and cross-progression with up to four friends, offering a touch of multiplayer online gaming experience along with collaborative combat. This title appears to be among the most captivating upcoming games for both Xbox and PC in 2025.

FANTASY LIFE i: The Girl Who Steals Time should be a great ‘Animal Crossing’ alternative for Xbox and PC players

The Ni No Kuni series from Level 5 was recently made available on Xbox Series X|S and Xbox Cloud Gaming, thanks to Bandai Namco’s porting efforts. Notably, Level 5 is now self-publishing Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time, which represents the first Level 5 game published on Xbox in a considerable span of time.

  • FANTASY LIFE i: The Girl Who Steals Time is coming to Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, and Windows PC.
  • It’s a so-called “slow life” RPG reminiscent of Harvest Moon and Animal Crossing, albeit with deep story elements and multiplayer combat.
  • Your character joins eccentric archaeologist Edward on an adventure to an uncharted island in Reveria to study fossilized dragons. Perhaps some of those dragons aren’t so fossilized after all. (Also technically, that’s palaeontology not archaeology, but we’ll let it slide.)
  • You will create your own character, build your own island home, decorate your house, and pick from 14 “Lives” which include combat classes such as Paladin, Mercenary, Magician, and Hunter, as well as gatherers like Angler, Woodcutter, and professions like Artist and Blacksmith.
  • You’ll be able to battle monsters, craft weapons and items, gather materials, and dungeon crawl.
  • The game also sports cross-play and cross-progression, with multiplayer for up to four people, alongside 2-player couch co-op.
  • Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time launches on May 21, 2025.

Seeing Level 5 support Xbox is an unexpected and welcome surprise

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In terms of Xbox, it seems that the renowned studio has been silent about it for quite some time now, with my research indicating the last reference was made several years ago during an interview with Gematsu. Back then, Level 5 was developing a Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game (MMORPG) specifically for the original Xbox, but Microsoft decided to cancel it. The CEO of Level 5, Akihiro Hino, expressed his desire to create such an MMO in the past, stating, “I have always wanted to make one. Whenever I get a chance, I want to create one. Yet, I still feel the regret from having to cancel True Fantasy Live Online.” This cancellation has been a point of discussion among fans of Level 5 games, with many suggesting it as the reason behind Level 5’s decision to avoid developing RPGs for the platform in recent times.

Microsoft brought on board Mena Sato Kato, a former PlayStation executive, a few years ago to strengthen Xbox’s developer relationships in Japan. Since then, we’ve observed the return of many games that previously overlooked Xbox, with notable ones like Final Fantasy included. In the past, it was common to see games such as Fantasy Life skipping Xbox entirely, but Xbox enthusiasts of Japanese games now have much to rejoice about. Here’s hoping that Cygames and Nihon Falcom will join the Xbox community in the future, and if possible, I’d appreciate a port of Monster Hunter Stories from Capcom too!

The game titled “The Girl Who Steals Time: Fantasy Life i” will be released on May 21, 2025, available on Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, Windows PC, and Nintendo Switch. Many thanks to Jaber Altarrah for the heads-up!

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2025-02-14 18:09