Review – Fantasian Neo Dimension

In 2024, Mistwalker, the famous developer responsible for Lost Odyssey and Blue Dragon, returns to the gaming scene with full force to bring an adaptation to consoles. Under the command of the legendary Hironobu Sakaguchi, marking the return of Nobuo Uematsu to compose the soundtrack, and with the Square Enix seal of quality, this title is a perfect fusion between the nostalgia of the classics and the most current innovations in the genre.

The return of the duo Hironobu Sakaguchi, affectionately called the “father of Final Fantasy”, and Nobuo Uematsu, the legendary composer known as the “John Williams of games”, marks a nostalgic and exciting moment for JRPG fans. This collaboration brings together two of the most influential names in the gaming industry to offer players an experience that combines immersive storytelling, unique diorama visuals, and a memorable soundtrack.

Even relying on the cliché of the protagonist who suffers from amnesia, Leo, who wakes up in a strange world dominated by machines, with only the memory of a young girl’s face. This premise serves as a starting point for a journey of self-discovery and salvation of the world, recurring themes in many Japanese RPGs. While the structure and many story elements will be familiar to fans of the genre, their unique combination of the dioramas’ distinctive visual aesthetic and well-crafted narrative means that Fantasian Neo Dimension has its own identity within the current JRPG landscape.

The narrative explores concepts such as, for example, the dichotomy between machines and humans, travel between parallel dimensions and the global threat, known as Mechteria and responsible for being a mechanical infection capable of stealing life and emotions. In addition, you will find themes adhering to Japanese philosophy and culture about human relationships, sense of identity, connection with nature and a very interesting concept about the impermanence of things, known in Shintoism as Mono no aware and which means “empathy towards people”. things”.

The game shines with its charismatic characters. Shy Kina and fiery princess Cheryl add depth to Leo’s journey, creating interesting dynamics and memorable moments. A special touch are the side stories presented as illustrated tales, adding an extra layer of charm to the narrative. All of this comes together in a very intriguing way and serves as a backdrop for the dichotomy between mechanical and human realities, capable of exploring themes about loss, hope and resilience.

The purest art in games

Fantasian Neo Dimension manages to deliver simply stunning visuals. The diorama scenarios, created from more than 150 real models, built by Sakaguchi in partnership with companies specializing in scenarios for Tokusatsu series, offer a unique aesthetic that manages to stand out in the vastness of games in the genre. Each environment is a visual delight and a true work of art, meticulously detailed and digitized for the game, making both open and indoor environments extremely detailed in their textures.

The world of Fantasian Neo Dimension works very well in a mix of fantasy and technology elements, carrying elements of visual novels, with secondary stories, known as Memories, that offer a deeper look into the world and the characters, much like what we saw in Lost Odyssey.

To complete this trinity, the soundtrack is exceptional and carries Uematsu’s characteristic style, presenting a variety of musical styles, including rock, jazz, folk, electronic, classical and traditional Japanese music. The compositions evoke a range of emotions, from sadness and nostalgia to hope and heroism, using a combination of synthesizers and real instruments.

Even with all this narrative, visual and sound quality, the game adaptation was unable to be completely rethought, after all, Fantasian Neo Dimension was initially released as an exclusive for Apple Arcade and arrived almost five years later for consoles. The interface and controls, originally designed for mobile devices, do not always translate perfectly to platforms accustomed to more robust and complex gameplay, resulting in choices that oversimplify the challenge, whether in almost automatic movement or shallow combat.

The new and the old in one RPG

With a point and click feel to Leo’s combat and movement, we don’t always have a fluid experience, after all it was designed to be directed or followed with the fingers and adapted (as opposed to designed) for analog controls. For example, adjusting the direction and trajectory of spells makes the challenge easier, but does not provide agile combat. Or even selecting the destination for Leo and just following his movement can make the gameplay more boring. Not to mention that many elements in the HUD and menu maintained the original design focused on mobile, meaning that on larger screens they ended up looking jarring and a little disproportionate even with the adjustment to the size of the characters.

Choosing your party well, Fantasian Neo Dimension on its normal difficulty will not require much farming and can provide very interesting battles due to the characters. Kina is a good choice for her healing ability, Cheryl offers the strongest attacks, in addition to Valkyria, Zinikr and Ez always being among the best options due to the dynamic between them and Leo, in addition to the hilarious robots Prickle and Clicker.

With the party, positioning emerges as a fundamental strategy, due to attack angles, in addition to buffs and cards, which offer effects and enhance skills at specific moments. In most fights you won’t always find the best challenges, but the bosses will appear with different mechanics and bring the most interesting moments.

The mechanics of this JRPG manage to combine classic elements such as, for example, the growth map very similar to the Sphere Grid from Final Fantasy X, with gameplay designed for mobile, offering simple gameplay with layers of strategic depth, at the same time that develops fun battles and engaging moments.

Fantasian Neo Dimension is a love letter to the classics, with a modern twist that makes it relevant for a new generation. Despite the choices in adapting to new platforms, which may seem dubious, the game shines with its excellent world-building, very competent narrative, visuals that surpass more current games and a combat system that tries to innovate. For fans of Japanese RPGs, the new game from Square Enix, which marks the return of the duo Sakaguchi and Uematsu, is also a nostalgic trip with enough good adaptations for new platforms to remain relevant and interesting.