One other demo offered to us at PAX West was for Fantasian: Neo Dimension, which was introduced in the course of the June 2024 Nintendo Direct. Lengthy regarded as trapped on Apple units, Fantasian doubtlessly represents Last Fantasy creator Hironobu Sakaguchi’s last RPG, and so it was with a lot fanfare {that a} model of the sport was lastly coming to consoles and PC. I had a possibility to play a short demo of the sport in Change handheld mode throughout an appointment with Sq. Enix, and whereas sure facets have been undoubtedly interesting, others made me extra skeptical of this born-mobile title.
Ranging from a save file a pair hours into the journey, I used to be launched to the battle system virtually instantly, which pit two of my characters in opposition to a pair wolf-like foes. There’s a simplicity to the presentation that reminds you of Fantasian’s cellular roots, however on the identical time it’s neat the way you scroll by means of your skills after which your objects just by urgent proper on the stick or D-pad. Doing so brings up a vertical listing on the suitable facet of the display screen for straightforward entry to spells, methods, and your inventory of things. The result’s a view of fight that’s much less cluttered for positive, and I hope that among the extra superior assaults and formidable bosses will benefit from the elevated quantity of display screen area.
As quickly as I regained management of my character and began roaming across the hilly panorama, my audible sigh merely couldn’t be suppressed: the controls are downright wonky and simply really feel awkward. Urgent the stick in a specific course gained’t at all times take you in stated course, and whereas I may brute pressure my manner by means of the bridges I needed to move over, the motion was pretty unsatisfying total. It’s unlucky, too, as a result of the diorama-based environments are fairly distinctive to have a look at, even when there’s a twinge of uncanny valley in seeing your sprite transfer round them. One other bitter word was a random encounter I had with a speaking pot creature who requested me to present it specific objects after which wail on it, with the promise of a particular reward if I completed the job rapidly sufficient. A lot to my chagrin, I wasn’t in a position to deal sufficient harm earlier than the creature remodeled and began smacking my whole celebration with an enormous hand, making brief work of my squad. Fortuitously, I had the choice to simply restart the battle, nevertheless it was annoying for what may need been an early-game encounter.
I didn’t fairly make it to the golem boss ready on the finish of the realm, however I used to be in a position to check out the “Dimengeon” system, which basically shops random encounters inside a separate dimension till it reaches capability and also you get to struggle the entire creatures directly. One of many highlights of Fantasian’s fight is that lots of your skills have both a radius of harm that may hit a number of foes or comply with a straight-line path that may hit any enemies on that line. This mechanic is made nice use of within the Dimengeon, the place enemies litter the display screen and have to be dispatched earlier than they’ll gang up on you. Your assaults and spells may even hit small bonus orbs that improve your stats or grant additional turns. Simply the visible spectacle of seeing the battlefield full of all kinds of enemies after which the enjoyment of hitting three, 4, or 5 of them with one transfer makes for an thrilling and interesting occasion, and I’m glad I acquired to see it in motion.
I went into the Fantasian: Neo Dimension demo with pretty excessive expectations, and I’d say these are extra tempered at current. It might be a blessing that the sport has but to be given a strong launch date exterior of Winter 2024 as this might sign the builders taking extra time to enhance the controls, for instance. That stated, as a lifelong Last Fantasy participant, I’ll undoubtedly be holding my eyes on what could also be Sakaguchi’s final story–to not be confused with Wii standout The Final Story.
