Fantasian was a simple sport to suggest when it launched in 2021. Developed by Final Fantasy creator Hironobu Sakaguchi’s Mistwalker studio, Fantasian was an approachable old-school roleplaying sport that had a variety of intelligent concepts, together with an cute aesthetic because of its world made out of hand-crafted dioramas. There was only one drawback: it was unique to Apple Arcade, so anybody who wasn’t a subscriber missed out. Now, that has lastly modified as the sport launches this week on PC, PlayStation, Xbox, and the Switch.
The new port is known as Fantasian Neo Dimension, nevertheless it’s principally equivalent to the Apple Arcade model, other than the very welcome addition of voice performing. (In a pleasant little bit of round storytelling, Neo Dimension is being printed by Final Fantasy maker Square Enix.) In some ways, Fantasian is basic Final Fantasy in all however identify. It stars a hero named Leo, who — with the assistance of a tricky princess, a mysterious magic wielder, and a grizzled ship captain — will get pulled right into a quest that spans a number of realms, as they try and thwart a mechanical infestation led by a tall, darkish, and harmful villain.
There’s lots that Final Fantasy followers will acknowledge: the amnesiac lead character, the playful love triangle, a world that blends fantasy and sci-fi, related spells and gadgets, and a fantastic soundtrack from famed composer Nobuo Uematsu. Hell, there’s even a personality named Sid. The foundation of Fantasian is Sakaguchi and his group working with the framework they know however constructing on prime of it in fascinating methods. So you’re left with a rock-solid RPG that makes some good tweaks to the method.
The most evident distinction is the visible model, which is sort of a hand-crafted tackle the outdated prerendered backgrounds from PlayStation-era Final Fantasy. It lends the sport a really tactile aesthetic, and it’s surprisingly versatile; there are heat and comfortable forests and cabins but in addition chilly mechanical areas made from steel and outdated circuit boards. And whereas the sport has its origins on cellular, it nonetheless appears sharp and clear on console. I’ve been replaying it on the Switch, and the one situation has been the often lengthy load time earlier than a battle.
Fantasian additionally makes some tweaks to the turn-based RPG method that make it each extra approachable and fewer irritating. The first is a enjoyable twist on fight that allows you to purpose a lot of your assaults, which may be extremely satisfying whenever you line issues up good and hit an entire bunch of enemies in a single shot.
Even extra helpful is the awkwardly named characteristic Dimengeon — a portmanteau of dungeon and dimension — which takes the sting out of random battles. When you’ve gotten it switched on, these pesky monsters are zapped to a different dimension, the place you possibly can battle them at your leisure. The twist is that they accumulate. So when the system fills up and you need to lastly battle them, you will get right into a battle in opposition to an entire bunch of dangerous guys directly. These fights have a strategic, nearly puzzle-like really feel.
Those seemingly refined tweaks are greater than sufficient to make Fantasian a simple advice for those who’re on the lookout for a basic RPG. Much just like the latest remake of Dragon Quest III, a big a part of the attraction of Fantasian is how conventional it’s, whereas smoothing out the tough edges that may make the style really feel clunky and tedious. And as Final Fantasy itself continues to develop in several methods, Fantasian is a comforting look again at how issues was once.
Fantasian Neo Dimension launches on December fifth on PC, PlayStation, Xbox, and the Switch.
