Fairy Fencer F – Advent Dark Force: Too late to the party

 

This game sucks for me, but it’s not a bad game per se.

The problem is, I’ve played nearly every single Compile Heart game released on the systems I own; because of that, FFF feels stale and déjà-vu. There is not a single mechanic here that I haven’t see in another C♥ game, sometimes in a better and more streamlined form.

To make matters worse, the parts that are unique to FFF are pretty mediocre. Dungeon graphics are fuzzy and so devoid of originality that you’ll forget them as soon as you’re out of the dungeons. As for character designs: the Fairies look awesome, but the Fencers look generic as hell–like, how many times have I encountered a female character dressed like a French maid in Japanese RPGs in general, and in Compile Heart offerings in particular, already? Way too many bloody times for somebody who doesn’t hold a French maid fetish, let me tell you that. Unfortunately, you don’t play with the Fairies, but rather with the Fencers –and that’s a shame. I’d rather play with lively Eryn and cool-as-ice Karin than with childish Fang and stuck-up Tiara, let me tell you that.

Also, I bought an edition including all the DLC ever released for the game. Said DLC comprises a set of late-game legendary accessories –or at least, that’s what I assume, based on the ridiculous efficiency of said accessories. We’re talking about stuff that raises your defence to impossible levels, making combat entirely pointless in the process. Sure enough, I could fight without that stuff; but it’s hard to resist Super Gear temptation, even though it only highlights how tiny and simplistic dungeons really are when you don’t spend half of your time in them fighting.

Because of how derivative and bland FFF is, I stopped playing it after two hours. No ragequit or anything –my Switch Lite kinda “dropped off my hands”, as we say in France. I quietly erased the game and my save file, never to play again.

Even after that, I still feel a tugging desire to go back to FFF! I know it’s not to be taken seriously, though. This is just a relic from my past as a 90’s young European gamer, who had neither the funds nor the knowledge not the address to secure awesome games through importation and roaming dedicated video game shops. I don’t really want to play FFF; I’m just loath to ditch a game, especially a Compile Heart game –for some unfathomable reason, these guys are one of my favourite developers. Anyway, this is just my past as a starved gamer having to make do with a single game for months on end that speaks here–way too loudly for the times. I have to soothe my Inner Child Gamer, and remind them that we now have enough games for the rest of our life and can dispense from holding onto stuff that is less-than-stellar.

Goodbye, FFF! I had two lovely hours with you, and I’m now sailing towards more thrilling shores!