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Some 16 years since they last released a game on Xbox, Mistwalker are back with a ‘new’ title. New as in new to home consoles, even though it was originally released on Apple Arcade back in 2021. And whilst it is new to Xbox, it feels more like the older Final Fantasy games than the more modern ones do.
And why shouldn’t it? Mistwalker was a studio set-up by the father of Final Fantasy, Hironobu Sakaguchi, so he knows what makes a Final Fantasy game better than anyone else. And, along with Nobuo Uematsu in place, composer of the first nine Final Fantasy titles, it’s fair to say that if you are a fan of that franchise, the similarities will be glaringly obvious in FANTASIAN Neo Dimension.
Though perhaps there are elements that could have stayed in the past.
FANTASIAN Neo Dimension borrows plot points heavily from previous Final Fantasy games to present a story that feels uninspired, yet engaging. In it, you play as Leo, who conveniently suffers from a bout of amnesia at the start of the game. On his quest to recover his memories he encounters a pretty interesting cast of characters including mages, princesses, ship captains, robots and more. The former two in that list, along with Leo, have a bit of a love triangle going on throughout because, like I did say, this borrows heavily from previous Final Fantasy titles.
There are moments throughout where the dialogue reaches some cringey levels. Now, JRPGs are no strangers to hammy dialogue, but FANTASIAN makes things awkward in wholly new levels. Almost to the point where I, as the player, felt uncomfortable in the same room as the characters talking. And, unfortunately, most of the time it was where the male characters were talking amongst themselves. It isn’t offensive but it still misses the mark.
Things start off fairly small in terms of simply trying to recover Leo’s memories. But in true JRPG style, it escalates pretty quickly. Malevolent gods, kidnappings, alternate dimensions; there is a lot to digest over the 25 hours plus it will take for one playthrough of FANTASIAN Neo Dimension.
And, if you are familiar with Final Fantasy VI, there is a moment that will feel very reminiscent of that game. Originally, FANTASIAN released in two parts on the Apple Arcade, with a major shift in tone in the second half. Here, the two halves are presented as one, but even in this complete version you can pinpoint the exact moment the first half ends.
At times, the first half can feel like an elongated tutorial, as the second half allows you to fully delve into the nitty gritty of weapon upgrades and skill customisation. But this does then mean that we can get to grips with the new battle system: Whilst it remains turn-based, there are a couple of interesting features.
Firstly, this doesn’t follow the Active Time Battle (ATB) system from many of the older Final Fantasy games. It employs the Conditional Turn-Based Battle (CTB) from Final Fantasy X, although obviously it doesn’t call itself that. This shows you the turn order in which you and the enemies will attack, and various moves such as Slow and Haste will alter the turn order. Being able to see that order allows you to better plan your attacks.
But there are a few other features that feel like they were designed with mobile in mind, and could have been ported over a little better to Xbox. Firstly, the battle screen itself: The party member next to attack will have two options; a standard attack on the left trigger, and their last used skill or item on the right trigger. Changing the option on the right trigger requires you press right a couple of times to the right menu, as opposed to designating a specific button to open. On a touchscreen, this wouldn’t be so much of an issue. But using a controller just doesn’t feel as well optimised as it could.
However, the second feature is a bit of a game changer. Whilst still clearly designed for mobiles and touchscreens, it does work pretty well here. Most spells and piercing attacks can cut through a line of enemies, and you can choose the direction in which you attack. Enemies don’t line up in a simple straight line for you to pick off one by one, you can be more tactical and take out multiple enemies with one attack if you choose the right direction to attack.
This feature comes into its own when you initiate a Dimengeon battle. Early on in the game you will gain access to a device that allows you to store up random encounters and then fight them all in one go in a Dimengeon battle. Again, I am assuming this was a gameplay feature designed to combat the reduced amount of time people typically game on a mobile device. Using your attacks to take out multiple enemies becomes crucial here, because your Dimengeon can be filled with up to 50 enemies by the end of the game for you to take on in one go.
As you progress, certain elements of backstory for characters or the world around you are filled in with Memories. These short stories are told on-screen with text, a narrator and some beautiful background illustrations to match. They feel very similar to the A Thousand Years of Dreams short stories from Lost Odyssey, another Mistwalker title, containing the same emotional moments throughout. One series of stories concerning characters Kina and Cheryl is right up there with some of the most emotional moments in videogames of all-time. I perhaps should have seen it coming, but with the sadness, the music and the art, but then, everything was just perfectly placed to really hit me in the feels.
Speaking of the music, did we mention that the legendary composer Nobuo Uematsu is in charge of it for FANTASIAN Neo Dimension? The guy just doesn’t miss, and that is again the case here. From chilled out town themes, to character themes and the aforementioned emotional gut punch of personal favourite track Resonating Hearts, everything Uematsu puts his hand to turns to gold. His legacy is unmatched and will forever remain so. Uematsu-san, if you are reading this and FANTASIAN Neo Dimension does indeed turn out to be your last full game soundtrack, thank you for everything you have created that has soundtracked mine and millions of others lives.
One of the few new features that comes with this home console release is the ability to change-up the battle themes. And if it wasn’t already immediately obvious just how much of a Final Fantasy-esque game this is, the list of battle theme replacements you can choose from should cement that. You can choose from Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker and Dawntrail, Final Fantasy VII Remake and Rebirth, Final Fantasy I – VI Pixel Remaster and Final Fantasy XVI. I only hope this isn’t the only way Xbox gamers can hear Remakes, Rebirths and XVIs battle themes on their consoles.
Other new features include a new difficulty level to make the game easier – as the original release was apparently very, very difficult – voice acting in English and Japanese which is of a very high standard throughout the game and some graphical improvements. I was initially surprised at first that there were no battle adjustments like turning off encounters or increasing the speed of them, for that seems to be par for the course for remastered games recently. But in all honesty, I haven’t missed them. The Dimengeon more than makes up for that, and you can toggle it on or off yourself anyways.
And whilst it would seem a minor point to only mention this towards the end of the review, it most definitely isn’t. See, we need to talk about the presentation of the world of FANTASIAN. Much like the pre-rendered environments that were commonplace in older Final Fantasy games, FANTASIAN Neo Dimension has similar backgrounds. However, these aren’t pre-rendered in a traditional sense. Instead, they are real-life dioramas that have been created for the game and then scanned into the game. And each one of them is fantastic, from the smaller room interiors to the big cruise ship exteriors.
It is also surprising how many hidden corners they each have, with enough treasure dotted around to make exploration more than worthwhile. However, the camera will quickly flick around the map to allow you to view things more easily, even if the controller has an annoying quirk in that it doesn’t reset your movement. It means unless you quickly take your thumb off the movement stick, your traversal will be ten times more complicated as your thumb movements will no longer match with the direction you are facing.
For fans of Final Fantasy, FANTASIAN Neo Dimension is a no-brainer. But for those not as well versed in JRPGs, this is still a fantastic introduction. It has all the great hallmarks, along with a few cool unique features. These may be introduced to make things easier when playing on mobile, but they work just as well on home consoles too. Some mobile features don’t work as well, and the attempts at humour sometimes miss the mark, but all the positives far outshine the minor negatives.
FANTASIAN Neo Dimension is a must-play for JRPG fans; do not let this one skip you by.
FANTASIAN Neo Dimension: A New RPG from the Father of FINAL FANTASY Arrives on Consoles and PC – https://www.thexboxhub.com/fantasian-neo-dimension-a-new-rpg-from-the-father-of-final-fantasy-arrives-on-consoles-and-pc/
Buy FANTASIAN Neo Dimension on Xbox – https://www.xbox.com/en-GB/games/store/fantasian-neo-dimension/9NHP2NLGBD1M/0010