Apple Arcade’s Fantasian is launching on console and PC

Fantasian was a straightforward recreation to advocate when it launched in 2021. Developed by Remaining Fantasy creator Hironobu Sakaguchi’s Mistwalker studio, Fantasian was an approachable old-school roleplaying recreation that had a whole lot of intelligent concepts, together with an lovable 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 Swap.

The brand new port known as Fantasian Neo Dimension, nevertheless it’s principally equivalent to the Apple Arcade model, except for the very welcome addition of voice performing. (In a pleasant little bit of round storytelling, Neo Dimension is being printed by Remaining Fantasy maker Sq. Enix.) In some ways, Fantasian is basic Remaining Fantasy in all however title. It stars a hero named Leo, who — with the assistance of a troublesome 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 to thwart a mechanical infestation led by a tall, darkish, and harmful villain.

There’s loads that Remaining Fantasy followers will acknowledge: the amnesiac lead character, the playful love triangle, a world that blends fantasy and sci-fi, comparable spells and objects, and a fantastic soundtrack from famed composer Nobuo Uematsu. Hell, there’s even a personality named Sid. The idea of Fantasian is Sakaguchi and his crew working with the framework they know however constructing on high of it in attention-grabbing methods. So that you’re left with a rock-solid RPG that makes some good tweaks to the system.

The obvious distinction is the visible type, which is sort of a hand-crafted tackle the previous prerendered backgrounds from PlayStation-era Remaining Fantasy. It lends the sport a really tactile aesthetic, and it’s surprisingly versatile; there are heat and comfy forests and cabins but additionally chilly mechanical areas made from steel and previous circuit boards. And whereas the sport has its origins on cell, it nonetheless seems to be sharp and clear on console. I’ve been replaying it on the Swap, and the one concern has been the often lengthy load time earlier than a battle.

Fantasian additionally makes some tweaks to the turn-based RPG system that make it each extra approachable and fewer irritating. The primary is a enjoyable twist on fight that allows you to intention a lot of your assaults, which could be extremely satisfying whenever you line issues up excellent and hit an entire bunch of enemies in a single shot.

Much more helpful is the awkwardly named function Dimengeon — a portmanteau of dungeon and dimension — which takes the sting out of random battles. When you’ve it switched on, these pesky monsters are zapped to a different dimension, the place you may battle them at your leisure. The twist is that they accumulate. So when the gadget fills up and it’s a must 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, virtually puzzle-like really feel.

These seemingly delicate tweaks are greater than sufficient to make Fantasian a straightforward advice should you’re on the lookout for a basic RPG. Very similar to the current 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 Remaining Fantasy itself continues to broaden 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 Swap.