Welcome to our review of my most anticipated title of the summer 2020: Fairy Tail!
A game based on the popular “FAIRY TAIL” is available on Nintendo Switch™ for the first time! Play as powerful mages from different guilds. A total of 16 playable characters! Various characters from guilds other than “Fairy Tail” appear! Also, the game includes an original episode.
Magic battles, Fairy Tail style, Familiar moves from the source material such as Unison Raid and Extreme Magic can be performed! There are also Unison Raids that are original to the game.
Aim to become the No. 1 guild: The town of Magnolia and inside of the guild are fully depicted. Complete missions that appear on the request board, raise your guild’s rank with your comrades, and aim to become the No. 1 guild!
I have said this before, I love manga possibly more than I love games. I follow One Piece since its debut 23 years ago and I admit to being a real lover of the author of Fairy Tail: Hiro Mashima. I went as far as to get my hands on a meet and greet where he even signed one of my Japanese Rave manga.
While I have met more than a handfull of manga authors, none have been so successful over the years as Hiro Mashima. Most go for 2 or 3 major titles that define their careers but this man is on a different level. I got to know his work thanks to Groove Adventure Rave and I think I currently own more than 140 of his manga.
Fairy Tail is probably his most important work and I have to admit I love it as well. Sadly when I think about a beloved anime getting a game adaptation, I also expect a below-par game that is either a bleek Musou game or quick money grabbing game.
This game breaks that mold completely and gave me a true adventure!
Fairy Tail is one heck of an RPG. I am rather surprised by its most powerful opening sequence and how incredibly smooth this game looked in handheld mode. Both during its gameplay and its interludes, the game feels like you are part of the Fairy Tail Guild and well, I am still in awe at what a well-balanced game we got, especially in accordance with its lore.
First of all, everybody is present, from Wendy to Gajeel to Makarov, Acnologia, …. They are all there, voice animated and all. The level of detail in its design is on par with the anime and I admit that I have given some anime games some flack regarding their animation choices. Fairy Tail incorporates it just that little bit better and at times you feel that you are watching the anime.
As an RPG, you know what to expect. Epic fights with monsters, boss fights, … All handled by the input you chose, defend/attack/magic/… There are no real surprises to be had aside from maybe the unison combos that are exclusive to the game.
In the game, you do start right in front of the big battle that will decide all! It is a bit of a misleading maneuver as you end up time-traveling 7 years into the future. The Guild has dropped to the very last place on the board and you need to work your way back up the ranks in order to get money in your pocket to survive.
Some running jokes about the gang being broke were made and well, they were funny! So the crew sets off to embark on their quest to become number one again. You will be accepting quests that end up rewarding you and they do further the story to the logical conclusion but without spoiling, it is more than you’d expect.
The lore of the series is very well preserved and respected and as a fanboy, I may be positively influenced by that fact. I love the game, I love the genre. I had so much fun with the game and despite some grindy parts, the game provides a real kick for the fans.
In conclusion, Fairy Tail might be a sleeper hit for some, but for me, it was just damn awesome to play a great RPG that is easy to understand with the lore of one of my favorite mangas as its red thread throughout the game. If you like RPGs and Fairy Tail, this is one for you! My score might be high, but I honestly feel it was this good!
