by RootSec
Hironobu Sakaguchi is best known as the creator of the Final Fantasy franchise with what is now Square Enix, but since the mid-2000s, he has been creating new IP with his own studio, Mistwalker. Since its inception, Mistwalker has delivered a number of old-school JRPG experiences, ranging from traditional titles like Blue Dragon to mobile games like Terra Battle, with varying degrees of success. Sakaguchi may be retiring soon, and one of his last games may very well be Mistwalker’s latest, Fantasian, which is yet another classic-style JRPG, but with an interesting twist.
Fantasian‘s main gimmick is that its game world is meant to look like a diorama, which gives Fantasian a unique art style and lends itself well to some rather breathtaking views. Honestly, it’s almost a shame that the game is restricted to Apple Arcade and will mostly be played on devices like iPhones and iPads because the smaller screens don’t do the game’s gorgeous art justice. Hopefully, Fantasian eventually makes its way to other platforms.
Even when playing the game on an iPad, though, Fantasian still looks fantastic and it would be great to see this kind of art style used in other JRPGs down the line. It’s also one of the only things about Fantasian that feels original. Fantasian is about as generic as it comes by pretty much every other metric, featuring a setting that’s a blend of sci-fi and fantasy elements like most Final Fantasy games, and a spiky-haired, anime protagonist with amnesia.
While it’s a largely derivative experience, Fantasian does do some things to set itself apart from other turn-based JRPGs, like with its Dimengeon Battles. Dimengeon Battles in Fantasian are unique in that they allow players to collect monsters that they find in the field (instead of fighting them in a random encounter like usual) and then fight them all at once in a separate dimension in exchange for various rewards. This is an interesting, fun idea and certainly one aspect of the game that helps it stand apart from the many other JRPGs out there.
The Dimengeon Battles in Fantasian offer something new, and the game also manages to do some new things with the actual combat as well. Generally speaking, most of Fantasian‘s combat is standard turn-based JRPG fare, but the game occasionally makes use of touchscreen controls for some clever inputs. For instance, early on in the game players will have a magic user join their party, and they are able to curve their spells to hit multiple enemies at once. This makes the familiar turn-based JRPG battles a little more interactive than they usually would be, and that in turn makes the minute-to-minute gameplay more fun.
Fantasian players will spend a lot of time fighting random encounter enemies in turn-based battles, but when they’re not fighting off enemies, they will be exploring the game world, talking with characters, and collecting quests to complete. Navigating the world can feel a little slow at times with the touchscreen controls, but otherwise the touchscreen setup works great in Fantasian. Instead of having to pause and sift through menus, Fantasian players can simply swipe the world map over from the side of the screen, and there they will find all kinds of information they need in one spot. They can also click on specific areas of the map to make the characters walk straight there, which reduces the tediousness of manually walking around the game world.
Fantasian sticks pretty close to the classic JRPG playbook but adds a couple of original ideas of its own to make it all more exciting. But while playing Fantasian is a generally fun time, players may find it difficult to get invested in the story. Fantasian‘s plot is a combination of JRPG tropes that longtime fans of the genre will have seen all before. There’s an amnesiac protagonist, a brooding mysterious villain that is clearly inspired by characters like Final Fantasy 7‘s Sephiroth, and the fear of a cataclysmic event on the horizon. And with a second part already planned, Fantasian players likely won’t feel satisfied by the way the game “ends.”
The cutscenes are few and far between, with much of the story conveyed through dialogue between the characters. Occasionally Fantasian players will stumble on “Memories” that offer a deeper dive into certain events and character backgrounds, delivered through bite-sized short stories that call to mind Mistwalker’s Lost Odyssey. The Memories are well-written and tend to be more interesting than the main plot, though it’s easy to see how others will be less enthusiastic about having to read short stories instead of actually playing the game.
Despite the generic plot, Fantasian is a completely serviceable JRPG that checks all the boxes, plays with some interesting new ideas, and has a gorgeous diorama world for players to explore. It doesn’t feel like the proper last big hoorah for legendary game developer Hironobu Sakaguchi or composer Nobuo Uematsu (who does a tremendous job with the soundtrack), but it’s still a decent, familiar JRPG experience and one of the more interesting games currently available on Apple Arcade.
Fantasian is available now, exclusively on iOS devices through Apple Arcade.
