Developed By: Compile Heart, Idea Factory, Sting
Published By: Idea Factory
Category: RPG, Adventure
Release Date: 07.29.25
Price: $49.99
*Game Download Code graciously provided for the purpose of review
If you’ve never heard of Mado Monogatari, I wouldn’t blame you. I was in the same boat until just a few months ago. I never played any of the previous games in the franchise and I had no idea that Puyo Puyo was part of the franchise. But boy am I happy that I gave this game a chance.
At its foundation, Mado Monogatari is a dungeon crawling series. Fia and the Wondrous Academy goes a step beyond by crossing over into turn based and action RPG. Personally I wasn’t too excited for the gameplay loop, but Fia surprised me with its writing.
Fia is a young girl who is randomly selected to attend a prestigious magic academy. She believes this is her first step towards her dream of becoming a great mage. Unfortunately she causes mass chaos at the opening ceremony.
Even before I entered the battle tutorial, I was hooked by the writing. For me, this opening scene was captivating, and it was what got me really interested in seeing it through. This opening scene wasn’t trying to take anything serious, it was all about pure enjoyment.
I loved the editing and pacing, the frantic silliness of the characters and visuals, and the sound design. They were all perfect. I had so much fun listening to the characters freaking out and seeing how they interact with one another.
Once the ceremony is over and Fia is placed in a sort of misfit class, her career as an apprentice begins. She attends classes and takes on assignments, which are basically quests inside of the dungeon. Exploring the dungeon was fun, but the combat was a bit much for me.
When in combat, you can freely use your standard attacks. But you also have a turn gauge that allows you to use bigger moves. I know it’s easy to do, but I didn’t like having to go back and forth between looking at Fia and the enemy, and the turn gauge. I just stuck to spamming the simple attacks because of that.
Completing an assignment gives Fia the right to take promotion exams, bringing her closer to her dreams. While the dungeons were fairly fun, I found enjoyment in the other areas, which were similar to the opening scene.
All the characters that made the opening so much fun were present throughout the entire game. There’s Will who really wants to be a hero and Professor Rivan who’s just trying her best at her job. All the characters are charming and both their dialogue and personalities were a huge reason that I kept playing.
The storyline and writing is very silly, making me think back to games like Disgaea 7 and Mugen Souls when it comes to humor and writing. Add in the wonderful sound design, and this was a wondrous experience.
I keep bringing up the fact that I didn’t like the combat too much, but I’m fairly certain this is the most fun I’ve had out of a 2025 game just from the humor and characters alone. At first I didn’t think I’d like the game too much because I never played the series before, but Fia quickly became a favorite.
Plus there’s so much more to the game than just dungeons and humor. There’s a giant schoolyard that allows you to do things like mini games and cooking, and there are lots of mysteries too.
At $49.99, Fia and the Wondrous Academy is a bit pricey. But it’s loads of fun and can keep you occupied for dozens of hours. Personally I think it’s a great contender for top 10 switch games of 2025 and way more people should be playing it, especially if you’re a fan of dungeon crawlers.
9/10
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