Fantasy Life

Pick a role-playing game. Almost any role-playing game (or RPG, if you prefer). Legend of Zelda? Skyrim? Tales of Xillia? Mass Effect? Whatever you went for, there's a pretty good chance it revolves around fighting and amassing loot. Well, Fantasy Life has gone for a different, and far broader, approach.

Sure, you can opt to be a soldier in Fantasy Life and do battle through the game's magical world. But you could just as easily be a tailor or an animal tamer.

You see, Fantasy Life revolves around the Life system (the clue's in the title, right?) That involves picking different 'Lifes' - namely occupations - and following that through the game. You might be a pilot, a fisherman, a treasure hunter, a mailman, an alchemist, a chef or, of course, a soldier. You can change Life at any point during the game and each choice will affect how the game is played.

Yes, there is a richness gauge, but there's also a happiness gauge in there. Your success in the game revolves at least as much around how you interact with in-game characters as it does how much wealth you acquire. In that, it resembles a sim-like game such as Harvest Moon as much as it does a Zelda title.

Developed by ex Square Enix vets over at Brownie Brown, Fantasy Life features a quirky art style and ending songs composed by Final Fantasy maestro Nobuo Uematsu.

For those looking to live a more peaceful existence - or at least try out an alternative to hitting everything in sight - Fantasy Life has a lot to offer.