Editor’s Observe: This assessment was initially printed on August twenty eighth, 2021 – for the Apple Arcade launch of Fantasian. The unique assessment stays, however we have now ammended our assessment to raised match the model of Fantasian that almost all gamers will now be enjoying in 2024 and past.
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Fantasian is among the finest video games I’ve performed all 12 months. I’d not suggest enjoying Fantasian except you belong to a really particular subset of RPG gamers.
That’s possibly a little bit of an odd begin for a assessment, I need to admit, however that’s the identical problem I’ve run headfirst into when making an attempt to articulate my ideas on what would possibly effectively be trade legend Hironobu Sakaguchi’s remaining undertaking. How do you sort out a recreation the place points of its core design will likely be poison for a wider viewers, even when these choices aren’t inherently poor– and, in truth, would possibly even be welcomed by a selected sort of participant? Problem by itself doesn’t make a recreation dangerous, and I imagine there’s an area within the trade for RPGs of all kinds. The issue, as a substitute, comes from how a lot of Fantasian might sound to enchantment to a wider viewers, just for one or two key design philosophies to severely restrict who will find yourself having fun with the title as a complete.
It’s a bizarre state of affairs for a recreation to be in, and much more baffling contemplating the platforms that it has launched on. Fantasian is an Apple Arcade unique, solely playable on Apple units – primarily cellular platforms, like iPhone and iPad. Whereas I performed by way of the sport on an Apple TV, one would usually assume {that a} recreation unique to largely cellular platforms would have a way more forgiving issue curve.
However sufficient speaking round it – Fantasian is a really, very troublesome RPG. Going by way of the linear early portion of the sport, you received’t have an excessive amount of bother making it to the clearly World of Damage-inspired latter half, the place gamers are as a substitute tasked with tackling the challenges at their very own tempo. On this second a part of the sport, gamers are given roughly your entire world for them to discover and may sort out quite a lot of quests in any order. Whereas the sport eases you into the battle system and the way every character performs within the first 15 to twenty hours of the story, the final 30 to 40 hours count on near-perfect execution relating to tackling bosses. Sure bosses would require very particular methods utilizing distinctive occasion mixtures – and whereas it’s quite a lot of enjoyable determining how the sport needs you to sort out a boss, merely figuring out the meant answer isn’t sufficient to make these battles a cakewalk. It’s extra like it’s essential discover the opening to provide your self an opportunity at victory within the first place, slightly than discovering a catch-all answer to stop you from having bother.
Every of the sport’s boss gimmicks are distinctive, however a lot of them take note of timing, positioning, & the trajectory of your assaults. One of many primary parts of Fantasian’s battle system is that whereas melee assaults will shout out in a straight line – magic may be curved, providing you the flexibility to bypass teams of enemies. Whereas some melee assaults can pierce, different enemy sorts can block piercing assaults from passing by way of them. Sure bosses will even make use of mechanics that can block assaults except correctly aimed and timed. One memorable facet boss requires gamers to utilize a sure character’s capability to hoover up mobs right into a location that he units down on the battlefield, so you may assault the boss with out operating afoul of his explosive associates. For those who assault them, your whole group will take a ton of harm. One other requires you to match up your elemental assaults with the colour of the knights stationed behind him to stop the harm popping out from the encounter to be an excessive amount of to deal with.
Each boss has a gimmick like this, and no two mechanics overstay their welcome. Even concepts that is likely to be reused in later encounters are by no means fairly the identical, and once you’re provided the chance to battle bosses a second time in later sidequests, they’re given a brand new spin to make the encounters really feel contemporary once more. In apply, each battle is a puzzle, and also you’re pressured to think about the correct instruments – the correct occasion composition and gear – for the job. This isn’t particularly difficult at first, however the additional into the sport that you simply get, the extra ruthless the problem turns into and the extra pitch-perfect your technique must be. By the point you’re into quests that ask to your occasion to be in your mid to late 40s, the sport’s problem skyrockets, and it by no means actually lets up.
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Once more, I personally by no means discovered that to be an issue, nevertheless it stands out when a lot extra of the sport would clearly enchantment to gamers which may in any other case solely wish to play a recreation with a a lot much less stark issue, as seen within the recreation’s opening hours. Fantasian’s world, for instance, is made up virtually solely of 3D-scanned dioramas – a singular tackle the pre-rendered backgrounds of the PS1-era Ultimate Fantasies. Reminiscences – quick VN sections that act very like the goals from Misplaced Odyssey – provide some lovely backstory to the world and the principle characters, and intensify among the strongest moments of the sport’s story. Whereas Fantasian’s story options its bleak moments, the core of its identification is among the connections we share with these round us… a way more heartwarming story than the unimaginable issue of the fight would possibly recommend. It’s a little bit of a disconnect, to be blunt about it. You merely wouldn’t count on a classically-styled RPG from the daddy of Ultimate Fantasy to be as ruthless as Fantasian turned out to be.
I liked Fantasian, even when components of its story would possibly’ve stumbled. Its ingenious fight and boss fights gripped me, whereas the characters and the general message behind the story did handle to go away an influence. Adventuring by way of the world of Vibra, and past, received’t be one I’ll be forgetting anytime quickly… however would I’ve managed to take pleasure in it as a lot if I wasn’t enamored by its problem? I don’t suppose so, particularly once I see impressions elsewhere tormented by gamers eager to give up as they face more and more troublesome boss fights, ones that dilute the parts of the sport that they’ve loved. Whereas I don’t suppose it’s the fault of the sport by itself, it is abundantly clear that expectations had been by no means correctly set. Although I used to be stunned by the problem that awaited me, I used to be greater than prepared to abide by it. I wouldn’t blame anybody that felt otherwise.
What did put a hamper on my enjoyment had been some technical points. I didn’t hold a operating rely, however the recreation froze and crashed on me many extra occasions than I’d’ve anticipated, particularly for a product printed by Apple of all corporations. Whereas I would’ve assumed that might’ve been an remoted problem with the Apple TV 4K, others on the sport’s subreddit have famous comparable points on iOS correct. Finally I by no means misplaced a lot progress due to the sport’s beneficiant checkpoints and autosave, nevertheless it nonetheless took me out of the expertise at any time when it did occur. Hopefully these technical points will likely be sorted out in due time, although I’d’ve most well-liked in the event that they hadn’t reared their head within the first place.
Even in case you are the audience for Fantasian, it’s due to these technical points – and some selection items of remaining content material ready to be added to the sport – that I hesitate to supply a real advice simply but. Fantasian is a incredible RPG, and can in all probability be a powerful contender for GOTY deliberations later this 12 months. Although it may not damage to attend for a number of patches for lingering points to be resolved, and to think about when you’re up for the problem that the sport will present.
Fantasian: Neo Dimension
It is now been over 3 years since Fantasian launched on Apple Arcade, and the sport has lastly been ported to consoles and PC – and the lingering points that plagued the Apple Arcade launch are not relevant to the up to date model, Fantasian: Neo Dimension. A brand new “Regular” mode has rebalanced the sport, and whereas the unique issue stays accessible in Neo Dimension as a Laborious Mode, because of this it is a lot simpler to suggest the sport to gamers which may have in any other case been postpone by the issue spike later within the recreation.
Moreover, in my expertise replaying the sport on PC, the brand new launch is remarkably extra secure and performant than after we had performed the unique relaese on Apple TV 4K (2021). We skilled no crashes on any of our PC techniques, and efficiency was sturdy sufficient that we’re assured that any affordable PC setup could have completely no points enjoying the sport. Lastly, extra enhancements resembling the brand new voice appearing have had a profound influence on the sport’s presentation throughout key scenes, notably recollections. All put collectively, Fantasian was already a recreation we had been assured in giving our RPG of the 12 months 2021, and Neo Dimension has totally polished issues to a shine. We’re proud to provide Fantasian: Neo Dimension our coveted 10 out of 10.
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