Swords, fairies, furies, gods, goddesses, anime, dungeons and a really quirky and interesting cast make Fairy Fencer F a title to look out for among RPG enthusiasts. And the best news: it’s now available for PS3. This is the newest RPG published by NIS America for PS3. Compile Heart, (the people who brought us Hyperdimension Neptunia) developed it, and it shares some gameplay similarities to those earlier games.

Fairy Fencer F follows Fang, a food obsessed kid who pulls a sword from the ground in the hopes of having a wish granted (for food obviously). Now I know this sounds cliched; but what makes the plot of Fairy Fencer F so enjoyable in my opinion is the tongue in cheek approach they took to dialogue. I found myself laughing out loud in response some of the banter which thanks to solid voice acting really lends personality to the characters.

For a dungeon crawler, don’t come here expecting lush overworlds and flying machines to whisk you away to your next plot point. The game is mostly menu based when in town and choosing destinations. Which to some might sound like “bleeech, I want a game with mountains and valleys, and trees, and rocks that I can waste a bunch of time climbing over!”

Fairy Fencer F is not about that life, the game is about battle, and grinding. Simply put, this is one of the most enjoyable dungeon crawlers I have ever played (outside of the Shin Megami Tensei: Persona) series because I didn’t feel like I was just harvesting EXP to get to the next level. With weapon points, fairy levels, fury gathering events, there’s always a goal in sight.

Which, in my opinion is one of the strengths of this game, you don’t have a two to three hour gap where you need six million exp to get to the next stat boost or ability. The upgrade tree is designed so that you are constantly achieving something and this also means that you can build you characters how every you like in battle as you level.

This paired with a battle system that is simply a blend of mechanics from other RPGs that is executed wonderfully. With battles starting exactly where you encounter enemies in the world, load times are cut greatly, and because you can skip almost all the action if you desire. A battle that would in some games take 45 seconds, can be cut down to 15 (with judicious use of the L2 button). The game also utilizes a fusion system with your partner fairy (it’s kind of like going Super Saiyan) called Fairize, which while boosting all your stats the cinematic can also be skipped.

For a dungeon crawler, don’t come here expecting lush overworlds and flying machines to whisk you away to your next plot point.

Once you enter a dungeon, everything zips along, loading times are blisteringly fast, and many transitions are nearly seamless. There are some frame rate issues when some monsters appear. Then again, that might be the cost of pre-loading most of the enemies in a dungeon for snappy battles.

Combat is very enjoyable as physical attacks are mapped out in pre planned routes you can set before battle. and by mixing sword, axe, bow, and gun, etc. massive damage can be done. It was reminiscent of Zell’s “Duel” limit break skill in Final Fantasy 8 but toss in the Avalanche attack that functions kind of like Resonance of Fate’s Triangle  Attack mechanic except that it’s on a single target. Damage is plentiful and if you level up well enough you will cleave through your enemies with ease.

Almost too much ease in my opinion, the side missions have some difficulty but you can go long distances without feeling challenged in the main story. But then again, I did grind pretty hard in the beginning so I guess your mileage will vary.

With a solid cast of characters, good voice acting, solid graphics, a well developed level tree, and a cliched, but well-executed plot. Follow that up with a snappy and upbeat soundtrack composed by Nobuo Uematsu. I would definitely recommend Fairy Fencer F to RPG enthusiasts and gamers who want a game that they can really put some time into without it feeling stale or drawn out.