There’s magic in stories, especially tales that exalt the power of bonds and the different, wondrous forms love takes. Fairy Tail 2 wholeheartedly embraces that magic in an action RPG encompassing the final story arc of the hit anime/manga series and beyond. Fairy Tail fans might readily fall under the game’s spell, provided they temper their expectations.
I must preface this review by admitting I’m unfamiliar with Fairy Tail. While I’m no stranger to manga and anime and have enjoyed many a shonen title, this popular series eluded me for various reasons. I volunteered to review this game out of sheer curiosity, especially since I feel it’s a title several RPGFans might be interested in. A part of me now regrets my lack of prior knowledge, as I can see the shades of enjoyable writing and likable characters in this story adaptation, and I can only imagine how they come across in a less abbreviated version.
Fairy Tail 2 starts with the infamous Alvarez Empire preparing a hostile, genocidal world invasion. The only group with a chance of standing up against the mighty vanguards of the feared empire’s Spriggan 12 is the found family magic guild Fairy Tail. With support from various magic guilds across the land, does Fairy Tail have a hope of stopping the empire’s sinister machinations? And what can they do when a potentially deadlier foe awaits in the winds?
You progress through twelve chapters of the game’s main story, covering the final story arc of the anime/manga. These chapters are straightforward affairs, only broken up by mundane fetch side quests sprinkled throughout the area maps. These story beats seem condensed compared to how they probably came across in their original forms. If you’re like me and coming into this title without having played the first Fairy Tail game or with no exposure to the anime/manga, some things occasionally do “get lost in translation,” so to speak.
Still, it’s a testament to the series’ strengths that I came to like and care for several of the characters in Fairy Tail. Erza steals every scene she’s in, and I liked narrator Lucy’s earnest nature and the plot exploration of the kindhearted Mirajane and the often exasperated Carla. Heck, the romance fan in me even enjoyed the scenes and dynamics between Gajeel and Levy and Gray and Juvia! That said, you’ll no doubt appreciate the story and characters more if you have some knowledge and familiarity beforehand.
Unlockable character episodes at rest stops also help further flesh out the party and their allies, and I found these to be much more entertaining than trying to read up on the characters, lore, and terminology in the game’s provided database. To further entice those with prior exposure to a version of Fairy Tail‘s narrative, a bonus four-chapter epilogue opens up after the end credits. I won’t say too much to avoid spoiling things here, but Fairy Tail 2 expands quite a bit in the postgame. The epilogue’s conclusion is satisfying, though it’s relatively short compared to the game’s earlier portion.
Fairy Tail 2 isn’t a terrible game by any stretch of the imagination, and as a sequel, it seems much improved from its predecessor. The combat’s action RPG elements can be entertaining if not outright fun, as you see the high damage numbers you dole out fly across the screen. During the main story segments, you sometimes get into fights where you are required to play as a specific Fairy Tail member, but you often have free reign to choose from a wide and colorful assortment of characters to put in your three-team party, along with the ability to switch out for characters in reserve. This capability allows for a great deal of player choice. It helps cater to different player fighting style preferences, too: my main party consisted of Erza, Wendy, and Juvia, who proved to be a devastating trio!
In battle, you directly control one party character alongside two adequately AI-controlled teammates, chaining together combos from different equipped skills. Completely breaking enemy defenses allows you to perform a devastatingly flashy combination move with one of your allies, Unison Raid, which can turn the tide of combat. You can also call upon or summon NPC allies to perform unique moves throughout battles. Fighting is fast, fluid, and fun in short doses, though I wish the enemy’s HP pools were smaller, as my tendency to level grind and be several levels higher than the enemies meant fights seemed to drag on, especially by the game’s end.
Outside combat, you explore large open areas full of hostile forces and obstacles you can clear with special field abilities you unlock over time, such as jumping to higher terrain levels or using a charged attack to obliterate barriers in your path. You can attack enemies on the field, providing an advantage when combat initiates, or you can destroy low-level enemies without fighting them. You earn Origin Points as you raise in rank (in other words, level up), which you use alongside unique items to unlock or enhance skills in a three-pronged skill tree. Equipment comes from lacrima, providing stat boosts that sometimes allow you to equip various buffs and boosts to characters like a simplified materia or orbment system. They aren’t the most extensive systems, but they do the trick.
The game’s Switch version suffers from long loading times and clipping when a lot happens on screen, which I imagine isn’t as big a problem on the PS5 or a higher-end PC. However, Fairy Tail 2‘s graphics certainly won’t wow on those platforms, either. That brings me to one of the game’s most significant weaknesses: Fairy Tail 2 appears low-budget. The graphics are fine, but don’t compare to many other action RPGs. While I love the gorgeous visual novel-inspired CG illustrations used at pivotal points in the plot, they seem like a workaround to avoid higher-end cutscenes or animations. Scaling for the narrative’s war and fierce action sequences is also a struggle, as the game has a hard time conveying just how devastating the invasion and fights often are.
Having played Fairy Tail 2 on a Switch Lite, I found its UI very small and difficult to read. There are occasional grammatical and typographical errors in the script’s localization, too. Fans of the Fairy Tail anime English dub might be disappointed that the game only comes with Japanese voice acting, even if the actors do a fantastic job. I also found the soundtrack top-notch and dynamic, especially the battle themes.
Fairy Tail 2 is a decent action RPG in many respects, though the game’s appeal will probably be limited to shonen anime fans and Fairy Tail fans in particular. It’s a shame that the game’s scope is limited, because the content here shows a lot of heart and appreciation for the source material and its colorful cast. I’d still argue there’s magic burning in Fairy Tail 2, especially for fans of the anime/manga, but one could say it feels more akin to a candle’s flame than a bonfire.
