A Beautiful, Exciting Fans Only Game!
I really want to root for Fairy Tail as it is a franchise that has an established manga, anime, and a couple of games. However, no matter how much I try, it just doesn’t resonate, most specifically the story.
A reason for this could be that one of the biggest faults with the first Fairy Tail game was that the in-game story skipped over so much detail found in the manga. Even the Fairy Tail fans couldn’t enjoy the moments they were looking forward to in the game, let alone those like me who have never read said manga. So, moving on to Fairy Tail 2, has this changed? No, not really.
The game does all it can to excite new and old players alike with fantastic, vibrant, and detailed artwork of the Fairy Tail world, which has a third-person semi-open world to explore. The character models really pop alongside a varied colour palette. One thing the developer Gust is extremely capable of is making gorgeous-looking games. That said, because the game has also been made for the last generation of consoles, specifically the PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch, the overall look of the game still appears a bit dated on a PlayStation 5. There is little in the way of particle effects, rendering, or fine detail. Being made to copy the look of an anime, you can argue that this doesn’t matter, but still, it would be nice if the developers started utilizing the power of the PlayStation 5 with its features.
The combat is where the game truly excels. Ripped straight from the later Atelier Ryza games’ systems, Fairy Tail 2 has a real-time, turn-based combat system. How that works is there are timers before each character can make an action, and when their turn comes, they have various options. And once the characters have made an action, there is a very short cooldown period before they can make their next action.
In combat, players will be able to use basic attacks that build up skill points, and when enough points are collected, the player can then unleash a skill that uses up said collected points. Despite being turn-based, the timer is very short, and each character has different timers, so the action is very fast and frenetic but not too overwhelming. There are generally three members on your team, and you can quickly change mid-battle between them.
As there is a small platoon of 16 playable characters in the game, you can chop and change your party to try out new members, which can add a lot of variety to your gameplay. This keeps the gameplay loop very fresh and interesting. Add to this there are special co-op moves for different combinations of characters, combined with each character having special elemental attacks to use against enemies that are weak to them, this ultimately means there’s no shortage of variety to the gameplay.
This delicious gameplay mix, the flashy and exciting visuals of the characters’ attacks, spells, and special moves means each of the many combat encounters was a new and thrilling visual feast if trying new characters, even though the enemy type might be the same.
However, all this variety does come at, what I think, is a huge cost, that being you never really get much depth from the story because none of the characters are in it long enough to really shine. Additionally, a lot of the girls and boys have the same tropes. The boys are ripped, angry, gruff, or far too excitable. The girls all have massive chests, long hair, and an overly optimistic “let’s do our best” joyful look on life. It was the few characters that didn’t fall into these tropes (like the kickass warrior girl Ezra or the slight Wendy) that I found to be much more interesting.
The story itself is serviceable and follows the anime and manga, but it does have a few slight, game-specific changes that I won’t spoil here.
The in-game audio, especially during combat, is fantastic, with multiple effect sounds for the different weapons or spells being used. The game also has a great soundtrack that picks up the beats well when the story or occasion needs it, but it also calms you down well with melodic medieval vibes when around your hub world guild.
Unfortunately for some, the dialogue is only voiced in Japanese but is subtitled in English. This only becomes an issue during combat when your eyes are focused on the action, not the in-game character chatter peppered throughout.
Finally, the game’s presentation is excellent. Gust does know how to make games really well, and it’s easy to navigate around the game with clear text, menus, and systems to find what you need.
Summary
A great game if you are a fan well versed in the Fairy Tail 2 universe and story. It is fun to play as your favorite character, but if you are new to the franchise, a lot of the exposition and nuance of the game will be lost. Therefore, it’s hard to score the game because it really depends on which of the above two you are.
Be that as it may, the game is still a very enjoyable one as the combat is fast, fluid, and exciting, alongside energetic visuals and wonderful artwork and audio. I recommend playing the first Fairy Tail game before launching into Fairy Tail 2, but this is by far the better game.
Developer: Gust
Publisher: Koei Tecmo
Platforms: PlayStation 4/5, Nintendo Switch, PC
Release Date: 13th December 2024
Gaming Respawn’s copy of Fairy Tail 2 was provided by the publisher.
