Fantasy Life i Is Perfect For The Steam Deck

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Fantasy Life i was provided by LEVEL5 / Kadokawa for review. Thank you!

I never played the original Fantasy Life when it was released in 2012, but I had heard great things about it, and that's why I was so excited for Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time's release. I've only had the game for a couple of days so far, but I am already overwhelmed with tons of different activities from building my own island out in the present time to liberating parts of Ginormosia, all while leveling up and upgrading one of the 14 different life paths. It's way more addictive than I expected, and I am looking forward to diving into see the rest of what the game has to offer.

I haven't had the game long enough for a full review, though I love it so far, but I did want to touch on Steam Deck performance a bit. With the game having been released, there may be people who are on the fence about getting it for their Decks and are curious how it runs, so I wanted to address that here for those who are on the fence. This is going to be more of an overview instead of an in-depth look, which will be part of our full review. After playing for 5 hours, I feel confident that Fantasy Life i is going to be a great game to play on the go.

Sticking with the default settings, which is a mix of medium and low, I was able to keep the game at 50 FPS with some very minor dips down to 48. It stuck at the framerate in the past, present, and Ginormosia lands, while fighting large groups of enemies and running through the lands as fast as I could on foot and on mounts. There are some spikes in battery drain when in the past and present surrounded by tons of buildings and people, but it still held at 50. It also held when running around Ginormosia when playing with someone else.

The minor drops below 50 primarily came from cutscenes, but these didn't last long at all. At the default settings, it looks, runs, and feels fantastic, so it's hard to complain. Based on this, I would say that the entire game should be pretty great on the Steam Deck, since I can't see it getting more performance-heavy in general. There may be spots here and there that are tougher, as well as some cutscenes that drop further than 48 FPS, but I can't see it interrupting general gameplay.

Because of the settings, I could easily see a 30 FPS lock with much better visuals, and possibly even lower settings to hit 60 FPS. It may be hard to hit a consistent 60 FPS, but with some compromises, including lowering the resolution and using SteamOS FSR, it's definitely possible. The 30 FPS should also limit battery consumption as well, which will be perfect for those longer trips where you need to conserve battery as much as you can.

I am also happy to see that HDR is supported as well, so those who are playing on an OLED Steam Deck will have the choice to play with or without it enabled.

Still, regardless of the minimal testing, I would consider Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time a great game to play on the Steam Deck. It feels right at home on the go, and I couldn't be happier playing it this way. I still have a ways to go for my full review, and with Summer Game Fest around the corner, it will be two weeks or so before I have my review done, but I can't wait to play it on my flight to LA.

Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time is available on Steam for $59.99 and is rated Steam Deck Verified.

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