Fairy Tail 2 is shaping up to be an excellent RPG | Hands-on preview
Games based on popular anime come in all shapes and sizes, and it can be hard to figure out which upcoming ones are going to be enjoyable. Back in 2020 I had no idea what Fairy Tail was, but when I saw it was being developed by JRPG royalty Gust I had to play it. I’ll admit as someone who wasn’t a fan of the show I was a little lost at some points along the way, but with great combat and a lovely anime aesthetic I had a great time with it. Now four years later Fairy Tail 2 is on the horizon, and having forgotten almost everything I learned the first time around about Natsu, Erza, and the gang I’m ready for some more anime education.
Continuing on from the ending of the first game, Fairy Tail 2 begins on the advent of a great war. A kingdom ruled by a an evil and all powerful wizard called both Emperor Spriggan and Zeref for some reason is set to cause some havoc, and the kingdom is in disarray. The main town where you spent almost all your time building up the Fairy Tail guild in the first game is evacuated, and only our heroes remain waiting to repel this threat. I’m sure long-time fans of the series could correct me on some of these points (as this is the beginning of a major arc in the anime) but for this preview that’s what I managed to glean.
For this preview I was able to play through the prologue and first few chapters of the game, which began with a mission to save a merchant’s son from lizardmen. This led onto more of the invasion storyline where all sorts of powerful and unsavoury characters were fought, and I got to spend time with a whole host of familiar guild members that I had forgotten I liked so much. Jumping into a story that was already well under way was a little jarring even after playing the first game, but there are at least plenty of database entries for you to refresh your Fairy Tail knowledge before you head into battle.
Combat in Fairy Tail 2 takes place in real time but in a Final Fantasy active time battle-style, and involves all the flashy anime attacks you could hope for. By performing basic attacks as your character of choice you’ll build up the SP you need to start firing off the big moves, and these will target either one, some or all enemies. Each foe has a break gauge you can deplete to rank up the team and gain access to even more SP, and if you do this enough you’ll trigger a powerful team attack that will deal damage as well as buffing or healing the party. It’s fast paced and a lot of fun, with more depth to unearth as you go.
As well as breaking enemies, there are also certain enemies who will need to be stopped from unleashing massive attacks on your heroes. To do this you need to hit weaknesses of various weapon or elemental types, which different ones of your characters have access to. With a pretty massive party even in the early hours of the game there’s always someone you can tag in to manage this, although it takes a bit of getting used to each of their skills.
Outside of combat, Fairy Tail 2 features a massive world to explore, chock full of treasure and monsters. You’re really rewarded for going off the beaten track in every direction possible, and as you gain new characters for the party you’ll be able to use them to access new areas by using their abilities to break down barriers blocking the way. I really enjoyed exploring the beautiful setting of Fairy Tail 2 even in the early hours, and with how seamlessly battles blend into exploring without transitions it’s an easy world to get lost in.
Exploring will give you access to all sorts of new consumables and equipment that will strengthen your party, but you can also power up with origin points. These points are something you gain by levelling up, and by spending them in each character’s skill tree you can unlock new skills and stat boosts for them. It’s a satisfying system which results in a lot of power gain, and thankfully with the characters you use less you can set up auto upgrading so you don’t spend hours sat in menus.
Fairy Tail 2 is shaping up to be an excellent RPG and sequel to a game I really enjoyed in 2020, and will likely delight fans of the series. Jumping in without anime knowledge might make it a little bit daunting, but with fun combat and great exploration it’s looking really promising.
Fairy Tail 2 is coming to PC via Steam, PS4, PlayStation 5, and Nintendo Switch on December 12th.
