"Harsh" Feedback Leads To Fantasy Life i Overhaul After Mega Man Creator's Departure

A new blog post from Level-5 has confirmed that Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time has seen a massive overhaul over the past several months, following "harsh" feedback and the departure of Keiji Inafune from the Japanese company.

Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time was announced over two years ago and is the successor to a popular RPG for the Nintendo 3DS, where players could take on different jobs within a fantasy world. This follow-up has been delayed several times. It originally had a 2023 release window, but now won't be coming out until May 21 of this year. Level-5 CEO Akihirio Hiro has now publicly discussed the development difficulties Fantasy Life i has encountered.

He revealed that producer Keiji Inafune left Level-5 last summer amid "harsh" feedback from internal playtests. Inafune is well-known for his storied history working on franchises like Mega Man at Capcom and spearheading the now-infamous Kickstarter game Mighty No. 9. Level-5 acquired Comcept, Inafune's company, around a year after the critically bashed release of Mighty No. 9. Inafune has served on a producer of several Level-5 projects since then, including Fantasy Life i.

Inafune's departure and poor playtest feedback allowed Hiro to accept that "major revisions were necessary" to improve Fantasy Life i. Hiro explains that development on the project shifted to include Level-5 studios from all across Japan, not just the Osaka studio that was initially working on the game. The addition of features like open-world exploration, parkour, cross-play, and cross-save to Fantasy Life i followed, according to Hiro. The UI, story, and progression systems of the game have also been refined.

Now, Level-5 believes that it "enhanced what was already great about the game, making the experience significantly more enjoyable" and has gotten more positive feedback from internal testing. As a result, Hiro confirmed that Fantasy Life i is now in "its final stage of development" and should make that May release date. Level-5 will slightly delay the release of Inazuma Eleven Victory Road due to the "ripple effects" of what has gone on with Fantasy Life i, but will reveal its release date during a livestream on April 11.

Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time will be released for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and Nintendo Switch on May 21.