Fantasian

Fantasian is a 2021 role-playing video game developed and published by Mistwalker for Apple devices via the Apple Arcade platform. The game was released in two parts on April 1 and August 13. The story follows Leo, an amnesiac who ends up traveling multiple worlds becoming involved in a conflict between the forces of Order and Chaos. Gameplay has Leo and his party exploring different environments from an overhead perspective, engaging in turn-based combat. A unique mechanic is the "Dimengeon" system, which allows players to temporarily skip fights with some enemies. Fantasian began development in 2018 after its producer and writer Hironobu Sakaguchi replayed Final Fantasy VI and was reinvigorated to create an emotional role-playing narrative. The staff featured recurring collaborators including artist Manabu Kusunoki, and composer Nobuo Uematsu. Both Sakaguchi and Uematsu approached the game thinking it might be their last large-scale project due to age and health concerns. The environments were created using real-world dioramas, including designs by veterans of the tokusatsu industry. Upon release the game was praised by critics for its combat and environmental design, though several faulted the second part's difficulty. A version for home consoles and Windows, Fantasian: Neo Dimension, was released on December 5, 2024 by Square Enix. This version comes with high-definition graphics, gameplay adjustments, and voice acting in English and Japanese. Sakaguchi worked with Square Enix on Neo Dimension at the invitation of producer Naoki Yoshida, whose Creative Studio 3 co-developed the port with Mistwalker. Neo Dimension saw positive reviews from critics; praise continued to be given to its presentation and gameplay, opinions varied on its story and difficulty, while the Switch port was noted for technical issues.