Fantasian was supplied by Sq. Enix for assessment. Thanks!
I fondly bear in mind the unique Remaining Fantasy titles, particularly the PS1 releases. I bear in mind making an attempt them out for the primary time and being awe-struck at what was attainable on each a visible and story-telling stage. Remaining Fantasy 9 caught out to me much more than the remainder, and I fell in love with the world that was constructed. So, I believe it’s comprehensible how excited I used to be that the creator of Remaining Fantasy, who labored as a producer and helped create the story of the ninth entry, was bringing his lately launched JRPG to PC.
FANTASIAN Neo Dimension is an enhanced model of the unique sport, launched in 2021 on Apple Arcade for iPhones. This new model has a few neat upgrades, like high-definition visuals, full English and Japanese voiceovers, a brand new problem possibility, and new battle and background music. The music choice is nice, and I benefit from the voiceovers, however outdoors of these, I’m undecided there’s further to supply for many who performed it years in the past on the telephone. Nonetheless, I had not performed it earlier than, so I used to be excited to leap in.
The unique launch was considerably harder, so developer Mistwalker added a second problem. I later discovered that the “Regular” problem is the simpler model of the sport, whereas the “Onerous” problem is the way it was initially designed. It is not a make-or-break subject, however I assumed it was attention-grabbing once I discovered this.
The speedy connection I had once I first began enjoying the sport was the visible fashion. I’m used to seeing newer video games use the total 3D fashion, with all fashions within the sport being created digitally. With Remaining Fantasy, this turned a normal for the reason that tenth entry, however FANTASIAN takes a step backward in time for a special method. Whereas all of the characters and monsters are 3D fashions, FANTASIAN’s areas, buildings, and backgrounds are all real-life diorama fashions.
This creates a unique-looking world that I can’t actually examine to every other sport. The complete world appears splendidly lifelike, with some areas trying like they got here proper out of a toybox. It’s acquired this lovely attraction to it, and I discovered myself staring deeply on the rock and grass surfaces to check their shine and texture. A few of the results additionally look somewhat dated, however they by no means look misplaced on this beautiful world.
The largest half that acquired to me was really the UI. Whereas all of it features appropriately, it has the massive buttons and textual content that I’d count on to be on an iPhone. The textual content and icons are large, and I wasn’t as a lot of a fan of. It is sensible for smaller screens that use touchscreen, nevertheless it feels a bit bizarre to undergo retailers and tools screens.
With FANTASIAN being a JRPG, you might have a deep, melodramatic story that shocked me with how stable it was, even when it wasn’t essentially the most satisfying total. You play as Leo, a person who has misplaced his recollections and is stranded on a mechanical planet. Quickly, he finds himself again house on an Earth-like planet and journeys to reclaim his recollections and save the world from Mechteria, a lethal an infection that Vam the Maleficent has prompted.
Alongside the way in which, you’ll meet a colourful forged of characters, and whereas every one feels distinct from the others, all of them play into their tropes and find yourself being much less attention-grabbing for it. Whereas Leo just isn’t as dangerous, I did get somewhat uninterested in Cheryl, the hard-headed princess who needs Leo all to herself, or Kina, the ditsy mage whose every little thing goes proper over her head. The story has some intriguing twists and turns, and it by no means will get too previous, both. It was stable sufficient that I discovered motivation and curiosity to maintain me going to be taught extra concerning the occasions unfolding and what’s going on with each of those worlds.
Nonetheless, I actually loved FANTASIAN’s gameplay and really feel they made some selections right here that different JRPGs ought to undertake. The sport makes use of a turn-based fight system the place every character acts individually and in an order decided by their stats. All characters have common assaults and expertise or magic they’ll use, draining their MP when utilizing it. A few of these expertise may have completely different elemental affinities, the place enemies may very well be weak to or resist. And as soon as the battle is finished, you achieve expertise factors to stage up and foreign money to spend on objects and new gear.
Nonetheless, the way in which you are taking down enemies is completely different than different video games. As a substitute of focusing on particular person enemies, you’ll have completely different expertise and weapons that may pierce or hit full areas. You possibly can goal your assaults to Frey and hit as many enemies as you probably can, or go after those subsequent on the timeline. Some assaults may even be curved, which permits them to go round some enemies in entrance of you and hit them in a diagonal line. I believe it’s an superior mechanic, nevertheless it pairs completely with the dimension mechanic.
Battles in FANTASIAN pop up out of nowhere and infrequently as you roam round. It may be a bit annoying. Numerous video games have a mechanic like this, and whereas some navigate it alright, it isn’t the best if it occurs too often and battles take too lengthy. As a substitute of adjusting up the pacing, we’ve the dimension system. So long as you might have commonly battled a monster as soon as, they’ll as an alternative be sucked into your dimension instrument. This instrument can maintain 30 monsters earlier than it’s important to battle them, placing you in opposition to 30 as an alternative of fixed smaller battles. These dimension battles, or Dimengeon battles, are considerably extra interesting than the smaller ones, occur much less often, however nonetheless are nice for grinding and getting extra expertise and merchandise drops. You do get some probabilities to extend your assault or steal a flip from the enemy in these, making combating in opposition to extra monsters simpler. Paired with the aiming you do for expertise, every transfer you make issues in how you’ll overcome the percentages.
The development methods are very fundamental at first too. For the primary a part of the sport, lasting round 10-20 hours, you can be caught to leveling up and getting new gear to turn out to be stronger. You should buy weapons, armor, and gems from retailers, or discover them in chests, to equip, however that’s actually it. Within the second half, it is possible for you to to do far more with upgrading gear with new attributes, development maps that use ability factors to boost your self, and a brand new “Stress” gauge that permits you to make the most of particular strikes. I actually want these mechanics got here into play sooner, for the reason that first 10-20 hours have been simply not as interesting due to it. You can too respec the expansion maps at will for no value.
There are facet quests you will discover within the overworld, which is a pleasant means to boost the primary story path. Some are fairly memorable too, although I discovered myself having fun with the dimension battle grind greater than following the story paths. That is good, for the reason that sport is a bigger one which I may see going as much as 60 hours in size. On one hand, I actually take pleasure in longer experiences, however on the opposite, it may well really feel like a slog within the first a part of the sport.
Fortunately, enjoying these sorts of experiences are incredible on the Steam Deck, and FANTASIAN suits completely on the go.
FANTASIAN Neo Dimension – Steam Deck Efficiency
Whereas I did not get to play FANTASIAN Neo Dimension on the Tokyo Sport Present, I found it was working on a Steam Deck for the demos. It exhibits that Sq. Enix felt assured concerning the sport’s efficiency, and that confidence is well-placed! The sport runs flawlessly on the Steam Deck, simply hitting 60 FPS whereas sticking under a 9W battery drain. It is sensible, contemplating the unique sport was a cell phone launch, nevertheless it’s nonetheless great to see.
The one subject I discovered is the way you management your character within the overworld. Once you stroll round, the digital camera angle shifts to pre-defined spots, much like Remaining Fantasy 7-9 or the unique Resident Evil 1-3 releases. When the digital camera adjustments, your character will nonetheless transfer in the identical route that you simply have been holding the joystick earlier than. Nonetheless, should you attempt to transfer it round, it’ll awkwardly flip your character round, making them run in a special route than the place your joystick is pointing.
Different video games with static digital camera angles have remedied this by making the character snap to no matter route the joystick is pointing. I really feel that is considerably higher than simply making the character flip from the route they’re already working. This may be jarring, particularly as you undergo a number of digital camera angles in a single strip of land.
In any other case, I haven’t got any complaints right here! The sport runs splendidly on the Steam Deck and is definitely one of the best ways to play it:
Accessibility
Within the configuration menu, you possibly can change quantity bars and voice quantity, toggle voice overs altogether, change the message velocity and whether or not they’ll auto play, change the shortcut menu, activate reminiscence textual content results, and alter what button can be utilized to substantiate actions.
The sport does assist 16:10 resolutions, so there aren’t any black bars, and there are each cloud saves and controller assist. There aren’t any HDR settings.
Conclusion
FANTASIAN Neo Dimension has a variety of professionals and cons to it, and whereas it is not good, I extremely advocate selecting it up if you’re a JRPG fan. I actually benefit from the fight mechanics and dimension battles, and the world is simply downright beautiful with an excellent combination of real-life dioramas and digital 3D fashions. It made me consider the older Remaining Fantasy titles usually as I traveled all through the world. I do want the development methods got here into play earlier, and the story was a bit tighter, nevertheless it does the job and nonetheless felt satisfying as I performed by way of the 40 – 60 hour expertise.
Enjoying on the Steam Deck is a pleasure, and I’ve no complaints with the efficiency. Outdoors of controlling your character as you run by way of completely different digital camera angles, which might be a difficulty enjoying with any controller or gamepad, it is an ideal expertise on Deck. Even with its points, this was a beautiful expertise and I believe anybody who enjoys RPGs or JRPGs ought to choose it up.
Our assessment relies on the PC model of this sport.
When you loved this assessment, make sure to take a look at the remainder of the content material on SteamDeckHQ! We have now all kinds of sport critiques and information which are certain to assist your gaming expertise. Whether or not you are on the lookout for information, ideas and tutorials, sport settings and critiques, or simply wish to keep up-to-date on the most recent tendencies, we have your again.
