Fairy Fencer F

 PlayStation 3
Metascore
65

Mixed or average reviews - based on 31 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 8 out of 31
  2. Mixed: 21 out of 31
  3. Negative: 2 out of 31
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  1. Play UK
    Nov 16, 2014
    43
    You know those value brands that you often find in the big supermarkets? Fair Fencer F is the JRPG equivalent. With so much else around, it's not one we can recommend. [Issue#250, p.70]
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  2. Game Revolution
    Sep 22, 2014
    40
    There just isn’t anything of note really in Fairy Fencer F. It looks outdated, feels “meh” at best and “Seriously, really?” at worst.

Awards & Rankings

46
#46 Best PS3 Game of 2014
44
#44 Most Discussed PS3 Game of 2014
44
#44 Most Shared PS3 Game of 2014

User Reviews

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User Score
7.4

Mixed or average reviews- based on 54 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 36 out of 54
  2. Mixed: 9 out of 54
  3. Negative: 9 out of 54
  1. ryuzaki57
    Sep 19, 2014
    7
    Last year, Compile Heart established a special label called Galapagos RPG for, as they say «true JRPG fans». Being a great fan of the genre,Last year, Compile Heart established a special label called Galapagos RPG for, as they say «true JRPG fans». Being a great fan of the genre, such hyperbolic declaration made me curious and I thus threw myself on this curious mixture of classic JRPG and fan-service JRPG.

    Fang, a lazy guy focused on sleeping and eating, suddenly sees himself turned into a Fencer after stumbling upon Alyn, a fairy. He reluctantly embraces his new job and goes in search for «furies», mystic cards that are the key to awaken the acient gods. All this under the threat of mega corporation Dolpha, sort a Shinra lead by some greedy man and 4 professional Fencers. Although the story setting is pretty classic, Fairy Fencer F (FFF) is in practice closer to Hyperdimension Neptunia than Final Fantasy. I mean that FFF will rely much more on humor and fan-service than on anything epic. While the devs tried to make it sound epic, FFF has hardly the means to be so : still screens and dialogs between 2D characters are not the way you do it, an the story isn’t anything special to begin with. The game felt also quite shorter than average (30-40h, maybe more for completionists).

    While FFF misses his self-proclaimed «true JRPG» title, it’s re-using Neptunia assets with some genius. It’s a constant flow of hilarious jokes, with a character design that goes real far into delirium. For this new label, Compile has let its imagination go beyond all the boundaries a bizarre : between Tiara the masochist Tsundere, Harler the mad scientist completely out of touch with the real world and Pinpin the unidentified greenish creature with some blade stuck in his head, you’re in for some good laughs. All this wouldn’t of course be complete without some kinky artworks : even though they’re not very inventive, FFF sure has them.

    What about Nobuo Uemastu and **** Amano then? Both Final Fantasy artists took part in FFF to give this aura of classic JRPG. Let’s get this straight : Tsunako (illustrator of Hyperdimension Neptune) and Amano, those styles don’t really get along. It’s like putting Neptunia characters in Final Fantasy IX : it’s wierd, kinda unnatural, but the juxtaposition of both styles has something fascinating in it. Amano doesn’t do much (essentially the Goddess and the Evil God designs) but it does make a nice change of atmosphere. Uemastu had a much bigger influence and makes FFF’s OST one of the best that has reached my ears this generation. Orchestration are fabulous and will make you instantly forget Compile’s awkward melodies. In short, FFF is a Neptunia in even stranger put into a FFIX frame. Personally, I enjoyed FFF just for Effole, who is a taciturn and kawaii assassin.

    FFF’s gameplay is actually dense. Battles are based on fully customizable combos with a heavy emphasis on aerials. Skills, magic and transformations inherited from Neptunia are also available. Everything including combos is learned and chosen by the player as the characters grow up, in a rather rich progression system. The game keeps the challenge system from Neptune V in which you gain stats bonuses by doing some actions (jump a certain number of times, getting a certain number of victory poses, etc.). Your characters will also equip the Furies that you collect in your adventure. Those ones possess passive skills and elemental affinities (the characters have some base affinities too). More than that, you can add passive skills each time you take off a seal in the divine world. It is quite hooking because you can build and optimize your game : you can prioritize physical/magical attack, experience gains, an element type or an attack type, etc. You have literally the cards in hand to make a strategy of your own. The problem is that FFF is too easy in its first half : you’ll have to wait some time before having to establish battle plans. Careful of the silly, useless and seriously tiresome platforming sequences (not that many thankfully).

    FFF’s graphics are really sub-par. It doesn’t match Neptune V which is 2 years older, or even Neptune Rebirth on PSVita! 3D models are kinda poor, but the worst lies in the terrible frame rate. It is so lame that it caused me headaches. I finished FFF last month and there was no patch to correct it.

    Fairy Fencer F lands far from the initial promise, it cannot go beyond its status of niche game. It won’t surpass Hyperdimension Neptune, but stays a good alternative.    … Full Review »
  2. TheDestroyer
    Dec 15, 2014
    8
    I am The Destroyer. I will break games, complain about the littlest detail, and tell you whether or not the game is worth buying. A lot ofI am The Destroyer. I will break games, complain about the littlest detail, and tell you whether or not the game is worth buying. A lot of things to say here, but can't due to the 5000 character limit.
    Finally! A JRPG game worth phrasing on the PS3! The critics are talking out of their a$$ to give it a 65. Fairy Fencer F is worth any JRPG gamer's time.

    1. Story
    Rather than describing the character you play as, I'm going to describe the main focus of what the story has you doing. The world is scattered with little creatures called Furys. Your job as the player is to go capture them all, so that you can bring them back and use their power to revive the Goddess, and have your wish granted. As your quest proceeds, more characters will be inclined to join your cause, and rivals will of course be inclined to take you down. That's all you need to know. Now, go out there and collect them Furys!

    2. Voice Acting
    Accepted. Not much else to say.

    3. Graphics and Visuals
    There are very little cut-scenes in this game with animation. Instead; the character portraits of whoever is speaking will face the screen, as if it were a theatre play. The portraits themselves will blink, breathe, and even show emotion on their face.
    As far as the actual animations and graphics for stuff like the city you live in, the dungeons, overworld, and battle animations, there is no lazyness here in it's design. Detail can be seen everywhere.

    4. Gameplay
    Gameplay refers to combat, customization, and various areas you can explore within the game. Put it all together and it's Above Average!

    -Battle System-
    The game's battle system follow a turn-based tactical style. Touching an enemy will begin the battle scene. From there, you move your character to a position on the field (or not at all), choose the move you want to do, and then the turn ends. It then becomes the next character's turn. Knock an enemy's HP down to 0 and you win. Now here is where the perfect 10 begins to crumble: there is a massive difficulty spike halfway through the game, where boss enemies suddenly get 3 times the amount of health as the previous boss. Another criticism is that cut-scenes removes your power-ups from any boss fight you start, making you having to waste more SP to cast. Also; character lines are fairly limited - you wind up hearing the same 1-liners over & over * over again. "My turn!" "Let's do this!" "New data!?"

    -Customization-
    This game allows you to customize your character's physical attacks and magic that you use during battle. However, some physical attacks will result in the same damage, even the moves you spend that hard-earned WP on. Outside of magic, the variety is just in it's animations, as you'll only need to stick to a few choice moves. The real customization comes from the Furys you can equip. Each character in your party can equip one Fury, and each will come with their own little attribute stat buffs & special abilities.

    -Exploration-
    The worst part of the game! Later dungeons are blanted cookie-cuts of ones you'll have already played, with the only changes being the enemies, immovable objects being placed elsewhere, and having a different dungeon name slapped on. This kind of practice may have been acceptable on previous consoles, but is not acceptable for the PS3 generation. It's also disappointing that there is no exploration anywhere outside of dungeons. The exploration is non-existent.

    5. Soundtrack
    Most of the music itself is really good; but feels unbalanced for a JRPG. You hear techno in one dungeon, fantasy opera in another, and then suddenly it plays rock music in one of the menus. It's almost as if its unsure as to what itself wants to demonstrate. Perhaps the developers will find a way to turn this into a new trend.

    6. DLC
    The original game itself is $64 canadian on disc. Adding all the DLC on top of it equals to around $106... You can clearly see that it's just a way for the company to earn that extra buck past the $60 limit, all for costumes & attachments that you'll probably only use for 2 to 3 battles before switching back. The only DLC worth looking at is the "Surpass Your Limits" sets, which increases the level cap and gives you another dungeon to play... and of course the free DLC.

    7. Personal Enjoyment
    I managed to get my moneys worth out of the 35+ hours it took for me to complete the game, but I can see how this game wouldn't be meant for everyone. But it's good enough for a sequel. I hope the developers address all the issues listed in this review so that they can make the next Fairy Fencer F game an even bigger success. It's battle system and creative stories has the ability to go a long way.

    8. Overall Verdict
    My verdict on this game is an 8 out of 10, barely good enough to be saved. You are not a true JRPG gamer if it isn't in your stack of games.    … Full Review »
  3. CzarIndustires
    Nov 18, 2014
    8
    I found the game enjoyable. Yeah it's not going to blow your socks off, but for a silly JRPG it gets the job done. I found myself coming backI found the game enjoyable. Yeah it's not going to blow your socks off, but for a silly JRPG it gets the job done. I found myself coming back for more.… Full Review »
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