I bought this a couple of years ago after reading the manga but have only just got round to starting it today. I'm absolutely loving the gameplay loop. I've played it for 3 hours straight today, which is absolutely not like me, I mostly play for an hour max and then move on to doing other things. I just got hooked and couldn't stop playing. I had a similar experience a few years back with Shining Resonance Refrain, which was another game that was objectively not that great a game, with similarly mixed reviews, but again there was just something about its questing loop that I found really addictive. If someone's played both and understands what 'that thing' is that they both do, I'd love some recommendations for other games.
This is probably the first game based on an anime I really like that I’m actually excited to play. Normally they don’t interest but the fact that this is a turn based game really speaks to me. I’ll have to wait for a sale but I’ll be getting this on Switch for the portability hope they come out with a few patches to improve performance in the meantime.
I doesn't think this one as the first based anime game cause I've been playing Digimon Adventure on PSP before. But sure, gonna get this as my collection for Swicth.
This is one of my favorite anime/manga, to see it come to life is a joy. This game is great I would agree for fans. Especially since it helps to know the story outside what the game does provide you. Because they have cut a bunch of corners like the character portraits or even showing some characters altogether. I’m going to play this title to 100% with pleasure. Also my switch copy ran very well with no issues, though I am sure PS4 and Pc are better frame and such.
Tip: Don't have any of the Dragonslayers wear any other outfits aside from their default one. For some reason, if you do, when they activate their Dragon Force or any other Awakening that causes a visual change, it won't show the visual change, even in cutscene. Gildarts has a really good theme.
@@TheGamingShelf No worries. I unfortunately did know this as I learned from my friend, but forgot and ended up making the scene where Wendy achieves Dragon Force very awkward, as she just had a purple Aura and no other visible changes.
7/10 game, not bad, COULD HAVE BEEN AMAZING, a lot of lazy things though, lack of enemy uniqueness, no dub, some of the battle animations are too long, Still a good game.
Pretty much my exact thoughts. If they had a bigger budget and/or more time I think they probably could have fixed a lot of the issues. COVID certainly didn’t help either.
@@TheGamingShelf koei tecmo is also known to be quite cheap on his multiplatform project. Dubbing seems to be out of the question for their games, and the overall lack of polish is present most of the time. Only when the project is finance by either sony or nintendo did they go the extra mile, see nioh and hyrule warrior for reference.
I honestly didn't even realize Meredy didn't have a model until a really awkward moment with Wendy and Porlyusica who also didn't have a character model
@@TheGamingShelf I'd even go as far as saying it's the most glaring flaw of the game. I feel like they could've handled it better, like having two different kinds of cutscenes
I'm about 15 hours in and am having so much fun! I've watched the entire anime and read the manga too so my opinion my be a bit biased. I was pleasantly surprised with the amount of effort was put into some of the animations for the attacks/spells and it was so fun to see them in video game form. One little nitpick I had was that the character portraits never changed during dialogue. I wished they could have thrown in some hapy/mad/crying faces to match the dialogue. I plan to platinum this game and thank Gust for staying pretty true to the source material.
I recently beat the game, and I agree with you that a some corners were cut. Especially when it came to introducing/mentioning some characters. Like you said, a bunch of characters are off screen and do not have anyone voicing them, and many characters were cut out despite having a role in the story. I thought showing an image from the anime would at least have been a simple solution for showing players who was being introduced like in the later portion of the game. Another thing is that the playable characters' faces just seemed so stiff (Especially Happy). Even when showing a funny expression, you could see that those faces were just pasted on. There is the ability to jump, but it's really just there with no purpose. A couple of important battles didn't make it into the game which was probably my biggest disappointment such as some battles with Tartaros. Aside from those things, I still had fun playing the game. The battle system was really fun and got better the further in the story you got. The animation for battle and cutscenes were really good. I really am a sucker for completing checklists and upgrading, so those kept me busy. The voice actors that were able to work on the game did a great job. The bond events and character specific quests were a fun way of seeing how characters interacted with one another. Another thing which I appreciate is the addition of a post game which dabbles a little bit in the final arc, and gives you some really challenging quests. In the end, even as a big fan of Fairy Tail, I can only give this game a 7/10. It's fun, but doesn't really do the anime/manga justice. It kind of felt like playing a mobile game if I'm being honest. And oddly enough, I felt as though this game would've done better if it was its own original world rather based off of Fairy Tail's if that makes any sense. It's a fun game don't get me wrong, but for a Fairy Tail fan, it might seem lacking.
I'm really enjoying the game but I would love the game even more if it had an English Dub. I love the dub cast and even got into the series through watching the dub anime, even seeing the first few episodes premiered at NYCC years back with the cast there too, I even got to meet the English voice of Natsu, Todd Haberkorn which was awesome during the NYC premiere of the 2nd Fairy Tail film so yeah, it was a bummer that this game didn't get dubbed. Other than that I'm enjoying it. I still haven't gotten to the Grand Magic Games so I probably have a good amount of hours to go before I beat the game. ^_^
Great review! I think every anime games should have an RPG one like this, especially when every character has plenty of moves to show off. If only we have Naruto like this one too
One thing you missed was the lack of bond dialouge between a ton of characters. This really annoyed me and pulled me out. Ffs Sting and Rouge do not have bond dialouge between them when their bond rank increases, these two should have tons to say. In addition the DLC and Season pass are horribly overpriced. 40$ US for swimsuits on steam. 60$ for season pass with 4 characters, 1 dungeon and 1 new diffficulty. I love fairy tale but wait for a sale on this even if a fan.
Ah yes the classic Koei Tecmo. Let's nickle and dime our consumers and inflate those prices. Just look at Dead or Alive 5 and 6 DLC. Koei Tecmo has a history of BS pricing for DLC
I love Fairy Tail so much and was so hyped for this when it was announced. Kinda disappointed with the performance of the game though, especially when made by Gust I had high expectations considering how Ryza was on the Switch. Though unlikely I really hope they release a performance boosting patch sometime soon.
Finally, a review that does this game some justice. Other negative reviews mostly focus on the negatives, namely, the poor performance (which is undeniable especially on Switch). Midway through the Grand Magic Games arc this game was a 7/7.5 for me but it gets much better towards the end of the arc. Currently 16 hours in I can see this game ending with a 8/ 10 score from me maybe even 8.5 (we'll see). Ive seen review scores with 6/10, 6.5/10, and worse which is ridiculous.
Thank you Murat! If you don’t mind me asking what in particular did you find helpful with my video? I’m always trying to get feedback to make my videos better 😄
@@TheGamingShelf Just be like this man its enough for me.The other reviewers mostly like negative bombing the games or praises like a heaven or unnecessary jokes all over the places.Your reviews like congenial and honest.Ty again mate.
I loved this game. I only watched 1 episode of the show before playing this so I didn't really know who the characters were or what was going on, but it was still super fun!
2:51 to 2:55 OMG, it's LITERALLY a reskinned Atelier game! I picked up a copy of this more for the low print run than anything else (most recent Gust games seem to have VERY low print runs), but might give it a shot. Would probably be a good companion piece for a binge on the anime.
imo this is the best just anime based game period. granted the bar for good anime games is set extremely low because there's so many bad ones, but even with the like 100 dollar budget gust had to make this game they still did an amazing job. of course there are some issues like the adaptation of the story isn't great, hell honestly calling good might even be a reach, but it does the job, no english dub, bad optimization, Koei Tecmo's absolutely garbage dlc practices, but all in all it's a very enjoyable time if you're a fan of turn based rpg's or fairy tail
You didn't mention the best part of the game the thing about which when I heard was in the game I bought it that being: *LUCY* *KICK* !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It's a really good game but I'd like some things were different. Mavis grave should be located at the end of Tenrou Island and the same goes for Cait Shelter ruins. They are at the very beginning and would've be more rewarding to find those places after some time of exploration. And Tartaros lair, i know it was destroyed but it's a good location so it would've be nice if you can access it. And it's a shame we couldn't have the outfits used in the Tartaros arc.
Happy is by far the funniest character in the anime. The anime is so good. I’ve watched it at least 10 times all the way through. I just bought a switch and seen the game. Oh and everyone’s in to that
Im both a gamer and anime watcher but i rarely mix both. But i enjoyed Fairy Tail alot for its light humor and likable characters. Might give this game a look
Im just surprised anyone who never saw the show or manga at all are able to connect to the characters at all. Ass a fan my biggest criticism of this game is it starts halfway through the overall story with no context as to who anyone is or how they know each other. While dropping in some of the most important plot points for the overall story.
People that aren't into fan service probably shouldn't watch Fairy Tail, read the manga or play this game. Fan service is probably one of the reasons it has such a huge fan base. And there's NOTHING wrong with it. I'm enjoying the game.
Thats not true. A lot of people like me watch fairy tail primarily for the story and characters as some of the arcs are definitely worth the watch ( Tartaros arc for instance). I tend to skip the fanservice parts and will likely do so in this game.
Finally nice review) Also best graphics in Steam version (4k), of course, if PC can afford it - GTX 1060 6Gb 30+ fps with max settings. During fight animation it can be 10 fps)
hey Taylor! I just spotted this game on Playstation Store with a price drop. I was on the fence about buying it.... and actually just decided (on impulse) to buy the Digital Deluxe Edition!! although i have never watched the anime, I've been looking for an RPG to dive into, having finished Tales of Arise and Chrono Cross remaster. Granblue Fantasy ReLink is coming out soon, too, I think im gonna get that one when it drops!!
My only problem with the game is that it doesn't have a dub, I watched the anime dubbed so the game not having one Is a huge disconnect for me, it's the reason I haven't bought the game yet
I'm not the kind of person to say if the game doesn't have a dub I'm not going to buy it, I'm a huge fan of the yakuza games and the majority of those games don't have dubs but unlike the fairy tale game, the yakuza series doesn't have an other piece of media that is dubbed
Great video. Ive not seen the anime but the game did interest me. Shame about the Switch version looking a bit rough as thats my preferred platform atm.
Glad this game was done well as for anime rpg, Id recommend Dark Cloud 1 and 2 on PS2 and also the amazing rogue galaxy, not to mention Nino Kuni 1 and 2. So pause on the first good anime rpg good Sir. :) Otherwise outstanding stuff here.
Are you recommending PS2 games instead? ... Those aren't even available outside emulation. Unless you're suggesting we purchase an actual PS2, which is an even... wierder idea.
Funnily enough, I love fan service, but...I honestly can't stand Fairy Tail. This game does look compelling as the character models really pop! But probably gonna be a pass for me. Still, happy for fans of the series! Looks like they got quite a good game on their hands
While the game itself looks promising, the anime and manga were both huge disappointments, Hiro Mashima should only be allowed to do artwork and not story writing. Also had no idea Gust was the developer for this game, really loved the Atelier games.
@@TheGamingShelf it didn't grab me. Even other "typical" battle shounen like Naruto or bleach have surprising depth and compelling characters that I got sucked into. But after trying it a couple times(I wanted to give it a fair shot. I gave it more chances than I've ever given any anime I didn't like initially) I just couldn't care. Even the fanservice wasn't enough to keep me interested.
@@ericp631 It was a much more laid-back series that the creator didn't imagine would be even six times the length he first guessed it would be. That's why the focus is more on characters hanging out and making gags than any kind of overarching plot, which is pretty scattershot when you really look at it as a whole. It's also why the best part about this game isn't the retelling of the manga's story arcs, but the creator-overseen side content where the characters talk, reflect, breathe, and generally just shoot the shit for a minute or two. It's just a shame the channels that upload these scenes always make sure to put the characters in swimsuits first. :P
I wanted to play this so bad but they had to go and censor it and i refuse to play any games that are censored for any reason. If they had a problem they should have made it that way instead of patched it. all censorship is wrong
Is the Switch version still playable at least? For various reasons I cant get the ps4 version. If I should wait f9r a sale thats no problem since I need to watch the anime. Only on ep. 10.
I guess it depends on what you consider playable? I spliced one some Switch footage so you can see how it runs. I would watch Switchup’s full review if you want more details.
The game is a cashgrab for Gust.. if you want the full game, season pass, and all fashion items you'd have to dish out more or less $200 dollars... It doesn't make sense that you have to pay for 4 characters that's already within the game.. I dunno if they will add new arcs with the season pass but there are only 2 arcs in the game and which are not even supposed to be back to back if you've read the manga... There's supposed to be an arc in between which was just shoved off via exposition... I am a fan of the franchise and I was so excited for this coming out... But as a massive fan of FT, I just feel Gust wants to milk the franchise's fanbse with this game... Massive disappointment for me...
Sounds like a $15 PS4 buy or a $5 Switch buy. The bad I have heard far outshines the good. How is it a top 5 anime rpg if the difficulty is below easy?
I think it's totally worth $40. It has some cut corners but I still had a lot of fun with it. And easy doesn't equal bad. These games are targeted at people who watch the show and may not play a ton of games.
@@TheGamingShelf You played it so you would know more than I would. From what I hear, it is not just that it is easy, it is that you can be getting beaten pretty bad by an enemy that is obviously much more powerful than you are, however, before wiping out, the game just pulls a Macguffin > trope out of it's butt and suddenly your team is hitting for a ton more than you ever have before and the enemy just get's destroyed thanks to the game pretty much cheating for you in order to fulfill the plot / power fantasy. That is disturbing to me because while yes, I am a gamer before a Fairy Tail fan ( 1978 started gaming, F.T. came out when? haha ) I just wish things of that nature would only exist on a difficulty based around someone who just wants to enjoy the story. At some point I might get this. However, with PS5 right around the corner, I might not =/ If someone wants to toss a code my way, I will gladly play it with an open mind. As to the top 5 Anime RPG comment, come to think about it, Hell, I can't think of a ton of them that are available in NA so . . . yeah... The S.A.O. games are all flawed in their own way. Some are just meh, others have some really good things, brought down by the Sword Artidness of it all. Hell, that describes pretty much every Anime game, and as far as Anime RPGs go, it pains me to say this, but Pokemon is the closest to good I can think of. Not the newest one obviously.
The base game + season pass + 3 different sets of dlc outfits already cost more than 250$. The base game already cost 70$ here in my region (Asia) . I dont understand how people are okay with what Koei Tecmo is handling with the ridiculous price tags. Will wait for a sale for sure.
It depends...have you gotten your fill of Animal Crossing? Do you like the Fairy Tail show? If you do absolutely everything there's probably around 40 hours of content. If you're on the fence and not super into the show I would probably wait for it to drop to $40. I think that's the perfect price for it.
Let’s see 🤔 - 40+ hours of content - Over a dozen playable characters, all with unique move sets - Tons of costumes for each character - Crisp art style - Good humor - Addicting game loop I tried my best 😆
Oh yeah. I love your content and it’s well formatted. A good try for certain. You’re getting me excited. Likely will be an impulse buy a day before the game comes goes on sale.
il be honest. the thing that scared me the most initially about this game was the fighting...because an action RPG would serve it better. but after playing the game, i admit that the combat is its best feature, it is well made and fun. but the game suffers from a few things.....and i am gona atribute it to the lack of funding/time. as Gust is not a big developer and relies on yearly atelier game releases to survive. Sometimes the graphics look bad.... some items in town look bad. barely any variety on npcs.... but as a anime looking game this can be overlooked. its bigest offender is story. the story has terrible pacing and alot of its contents are reaaaly booring and meaningless. overall id rank this game a 7. if you dont know fairy tail id say stay away from it...as the story will frustrate you. if you know the series i recomend you get it, as it is enjoyable overall. but it is a sale bin game. 20-30 bucks worth
@@ray5330 Exactly, it's still 70 euro's on steam even a year later. While it does look like a pretty fun game, 70 bucks is way overpriced for what it is at the end of the day. To put that into perspective, dark souls 3 gets sold on steam for 60 bucks. And Dark Souls 3 is probably one of the best games ever. Since I'm still a fan of the anime I'll buy it eventually though, I hope it gets a discount during the upcoming winter sales.
Honestly it's not even that I dislike turn based (Fire Emblem one of my all time favorite series) but I was kind of expecting Fairy Tail to be an action hack and slash type of game.
Chikipichi true I see your point, but if it went that route it could have became another musou clone and we all don’t want the genre to become more saturated
