Aug 192024
The Nintendo Direct in February 2023 had a huge number of exciting announcements, including the great return of Level-5 with DecaPolice, Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time, and Professor Layton and the New World of Steam.
Fantasy Life i was eventually delayed to 2024 and given a Summer 2024 release window, and then at this February’s Nintendo Direct, it got a release date of October 10.
The delay made me a little nervous…
…and now it’s been delayed again.
The announcement says they’ve decided to “change the release date,” which I was faintly hopeful about since it doesn’t actually use the word “delay,” but Nintendo of Europe tweeted about it and called it a delay. So I doubt this is one of those rare cases of a release date being moved up.
More information will come at Level-5’s live stream, which was originally planned for April but was itself delayed to summer and still has no specific date.
As a Level-5 fan, I was so happy to see their big return, but now I’m getting worried. Maybe Fantasy Life i’s new delay is a strategic one, to avoid it being released on top of highly-anticipated games like Metaphor, but it doesn’t feel good that all of the games announced last February still seem to be in limbo. Plus, as a Professor Layton fan, I can’t help but worry this will push New World of Steam even further out.
On the other hand, I don’t want Fantasy Life i to be rushed, either. Here’s hoping that when it does come out, it’ll live up to its predecessor.
In unrelated news, Silent Hill 2 got a new story trailer that looks pretty good (although it’s uncanny to hear lines that are word-for-word the same as in the original but being said with new voices) and Final Fantasy XVI is coming to PC on September 17. Gamescom is tomorrow, so we might get some new announcements there as well. There’s a lot of great games coming out, so I hope Fantasy Life i will be one too when it has its time to shine.