The Playstation 3 console continues to stay alive and kicking, especially when there continues to have new games being released for it. Most recently, Fairy Fencer F adds to the list of contributors of breathing life to this console. How will it turn out at the end of it all?
The plot behind Fairy Fencer F really draws you in from the start. You have the main character named Fang who happens to be in jail. With his obsession being solely towards eating and sleeping, it seems that there is a turn of events when he comes across a magical weapon. He then finds himself working in partnership with a fairy named Eryn as he ends up into the world of Fencers. As such, Fang must commence in gathering other enchanted weapons, which are called furies. Additionally, the duo must embark on their quest along with other Fencers in hopes of reviving a goddess.
As for its gameplay, Fairy Fencer F plays out as a typical turn-based RPG. You have quite the extensive degree of customization when it comes to implementing your battling strategies. Characters have their standard acquisition of new abilities and spells. Furthermore, you are able to swap your characters during battles as well as edit your combo attacks. By constantly keeping players on their toes during the vast number of battles that occur, Fairy Fencer F never has a dull moment in this realm of gameplay.
The battle system is very intuitive especially when thorough explanations are being provided. This way, it makes the game feel very accessible and straight forward without being at risk of ending up lost and confused. Every new element attributed to the battle system gets introduced in a gradual fashion. Hence, Fairy Fencer F increases in difficulty whenever you learn something new. But this is very gradual and fair.
Typically, improvements in levels for characters in RPG type games like this translate to increase their attributes. On top of that though, their abilities will also come from leveling up your fairy with the use of the weapon points. In particular, you can affect such things as range of attack, length of combos executed, fairy skills, and magic abilities. Considering that there are other characters that join your team later on during the game and story, that means that you’ll have to choose wisely as to who you want to specialize in certain aspects. In other words, you may have those who are focused on attacks, in which case you’ll want to increase their strengths, while for others who you want to act as healers, you’ll want to dedicate your weapon points on spells for these particular characters.
The dungeon crawling aspect of Fairy Fencer F is not as enjoyable as the combat unfortunately. Journeying to each specific location (each having their own theme) is carried out via the in-game menus, which is not as exciting or thrilling. Essentially, you are simply traveling from one room to the next and thus taking out any enemies you run into. The camera viewing is also frustrating since the perspective is zoomed out too far, thereby making it difficult to make your attack accordingly.
There are a variety of side quests you can engage in, thus adding to its 20-hour plus content. These mainly involve finding extra furies before you actually get to select the next party member required to actually complete the particular quest. While Fairy Fencer F can feel pretty diverse, it can also feel really unfair with the difficulty when you come across the bosses. Since they turn out to be a lot more difficult than the regular enemies you run into, it can come to a very unhappy surprise to discover such a difference in challenge.
Speaking to its presentation, Fairy Fencer F can be described as being a high-detailed graphical game that incorporates the Japanese anime style. That said though, the 3D modeling of the characters do lack the perfection as one would expect. Additionally, the environments don’t seem to have that lasting impression with its lack luster appearance. On the other hand, the music keeps things lively and exciting making it worthwhile to say on the battles and gameplay.
Fairy Fencer F is a fairly decent title for the Playstation 3. It may not sit well with everybody, but for fans of either the JRPG genre and/or anime style can really appreciate what this game has to offer.
