Fairy Fencer F: Advent Dark Force

Developed and published by Compile Heart in 2014 originally for the PS3 this updated version was released for the PS4 in 2015. PC versions of both games were also released. The graphics in this game are updated from the PS3 original and have an anime-type ascetic. Final Fantasy Alum Nobuo Uematsu is a composer for this game as well. FFF:ADF is an RPG (Role Playing Game) that follows the protagonist “Fang” and his fairy partner “Eryn” in a quest to revive the Goddess that fought the “Vile God” to a stalemate forcing both into a deep sleep.

Most of the characters are very well fleshed out and are pretty likable. Fang is a slacker to say the least and treats the whole quest as a bother and a challenge. His fairy partner Eryn tries to keep him on task often with amusing or dramatic interactions with him and the rest of the main cast. The story moves at a quick pace, though the game does seem to take its time more in the second half of the game.

The overworld is pretty much non-existent. Instead, you get a small map of the area and you move your cursor to the zone you want to enter. Once in the zone, the terrain is incredibly varied; with a mix of obstacles and fearsome beasts to overcome. The zones themselves are not very large until much later in the game when you start climbing towers so getting lost is rarely a problem, if you do there is a handy map!

The battle system, to be honest, is nothing special, in fact you can skip with the L2 button; something I found myself doing quite a bit. You get your standard sword and sorcery weapons and can tie them together in to combo strings or you can enter your magic/special attack screen and choose an at times over-the-top special attack. You can direct these attacks to maximum effect which is good since the game can be a bit of a grind at times. At the end of the battles, you get your standard exp and gold but also WP which can be used to buy upgrades to your personal fairies.

Overall the game itself is a slightly above average RPG with some fun characters and multiple potential storylines that was fairly well received. The gameplay is overall solid and the difficulty could be a bit better balanced but you shouldn’t have too much trouble overcoming the game's array of challenges. In the end, if you like RPG’s and Anime then this game should provide hours of entertainment and is worth the effort. 8/10