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Fantasy Network Review
By Justin D Williams
Fantasy Network is the kind of indie game that immediately grabs your attention with its colorful presentation and unusual social media-inspired concept, but after spending time exploring Holua, I found that its greatest strength was not necessarily the story it tells. What kept me interested was everything happening around that story. Raven Travel Studios has created a world that rewards players who stop, explore, talk to people, and interact with its different systems instead of simply rushing from one objective to the next. The central narrative itself is fairly basic, and characterization is one area where I think the game could have gone further. There are interesting personalities scattered throughout Holua, but the story does not always spend enough time developing them for its emotional moments to become particularly memorable. The narrative does its job of moving Lyn through the world, but I was rarely playing because I desperately needed to know what happened next. I kept playing because I wanted to see what else Holua had waiting for me.
Where Fantasy Network becomes much more interesting is through its worldbuilding. A lot of the history and personality of Holua comes from simply exploring, talking with NPCs, and interacting with the game's different systems. Characters discuss locations, rumors, history, and other people in the world, and those conversations can sometimes point you toward something worth investigating. One example comes through the social media system, where a conversation about whether people could be converted into paintings references a painting inside the Venner museum. Little moments like that give the world a more believable feeling because information is not constantly handed to you through exposition. If you rush from objective to objective, you are probably going to miss some of the things that make Holua interesting.
Graphically, Fantasy Network is gorgeous. The colors are bright and vibrant, the hand-drawn characters fit naturally into the environments, and the different locations have enough personality to make traveling around the world enjoyable. Areas such as Ruralia, Venner, Marsea, Ice Peaks, Vulcan Valley, and Mushroom's Forest all have their own visual identity, and the overall presentation has an almost animated television quality that fits the playful tone of the game. I played Fantasy Network on my Dell G16 7630 running Windows 11 Home, with a 13th Generation Intel Core i9 13900HX, 24 physical cores, 32 logical processors and 16 GB of RAM. Performance was extremely smooth throughout my playthrough. The frame rate remained stable during exploration, combat, and minigames, and I did not run into any major technical problems that distracted me from playing.
One of the best ideas in the game is Lyn's phone, which acts as much more than a traditional menu. It contains apps such as Fantasy Network, Note Writer, WindRose Maps, Exposte, ScreenTime and Instaheart, along with tools such as the Exit Feather and Torch. The Fantasy Network app lets you read conversations organized around topics such as books, fashion, food, games, movies, music and sports, while the Note Writer tracks objectives and WindRose Maps handles navigation. There is also Exposte for sharing photos and selfies, while ScreenTime functions as Holua's fictional streaming service, complete with shows such as Eclipse and Swords of Reigns.
None of these systems are incredibly deep by themselves, but together they give Holua a real sense of culture. People here have entertainment, social media, games, movies, hobbies, and interests that exist outside Lyn's main adventure, and that helps the world feel more alive.
Another detail I really liked was the connection to Raven Travel Studios' 2023 release, Holua's Arcades. Arcade cabinets scattered throughout Fantasy Network let you play games such as Don't Mess With Rick, meaning something that previously existed as a standalone collection now physically exists inside this world as entertainment people in Holua can actually play.
It is a small touch, but it adds another layer of continuity. Players who never touched Holua's Arcades can simply enjoy the cabinets as minigames, while anyone familiar with the earlier title gets an additional piece of worldbuilding.
The weakest part of the gameplay for me was the platforming and combat. Neither is bad, but both can feel a little stiff, especially when the game asks for more precise movement. Lyn has normal attacks, projectiles, blocking and different umbrella attachments, so there is enough variety mechanically, but transitioning between actions does not always feel as fluid as I would have liked.
The control presentation can also become somewhat busy, especially with keyboard and controller prompts appearing together. Everything becomes understandable once you spend time with the game, but the interface could have been a little cleaner.
Fortunately, these issues never became frustrating enough to take over the experience. Fantasy Network moves between exploration, combat, minigames, social media, stores, and other activities frequently enough that there is almost always something different around the corner.
Fantasy Network is not a game I would recommend because of a deep story or unforgettable characterization. Those are the areas where I think Raven Travel Studios could have done more. What makes the game work is everything surrounding that narrative. Holua is colorful, creative, and surprisingly fun to explore. The social media systems, fictional streaming service, shops, equipment upgrades, museums, arcade games, NPC interactions, and environmental lore all contribute to making the world feel like more than a collection of levels. The graphics are beautiful, performance was excellent on my Dell G16, and the variety of activities kept me interested even when the platforming and combat occasionally felt stiff.
Fantasy Network is at its best when you allow yourself to get distracted. Talk to people, read the posts, explore the museums, play the arcade machines, and investigate the places the main objective is not immediately sending you toward. The central story may be simple, but Holua itself has enough personality to make the journey worthwhile.
For that reason, Fantasy Network earns a LEVEL UP on the Power Up Bar. It is an excellent, engaging, and rewarding experience that falls short of Max Power Up because of its lighter characterization and occasionally stiff platforming and combat, but there is still more than enough here to make it a hidden gem worth checking out.
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