After patiently waiting, Fantasian is now available to play on Apple Arcade! Fantasian is a JRPG developed by Final Fantasy creator Hironobu Sakaguchi, under his studio Mistwalker.
Earlier in 2021, Mistwalker announced Fantasian as their newest title. The studio's founder, Hironobu Sakaguchi is well known for creating the concept of Final Fantasy and working on earlier games in the series. Since leaving Square Enix in 2004, he went on to found his own studio. Mistwalker has released about a dozen titles, with their newest game, Fantasian, releasing in Japan on April 2.
Currently, this game is available through Apple Arcade. In Fantasian, players become Leo, a hero who has lost all but one memory. This is a typical JRPG trope; we know plenty of games involving a character with no memories. For some reason though, this never gets old, especially with a game from Hironobu Sakaguchi. The game is turn-based, however, a new “Dimengeon Battle” mechanic is introduced to players. With this, you can basically transport different enemies through dimensions into a dungeon.
In an interview with Video Game Chronicle, Sakaguchi mentioned that Fantasian may be his last title. Because of this, the game feels like a traditional JRPG, as Sakaguchi was going back to how it all started. If you fell in love with earlier Final Fantasy games and other traditional JRPGs, then this will be the perfect game for you.
You may notice how unique the art style in Fantasian is, and that is for a good reason! Instead of developing the art on a computer, Sakaguchi and his team worked to create over 150 models for the game. After their creation, the models were scanned and added to the game. Besides beautiful graphics, Fantasian features a soundtrack composed by none other than Nobuo Uematsu. Uematsu is the brilliant mind behind the music from Final Fantasy. With the addition of his music in Fantasian, this game is definitely worth downloading.
Fantasian gives off a relaxing sort of nostalgia, reminiscent of playing your first JRPG as a kid. Although this game is iOS exclusive, it feels like a fully-fleshed video game, rather than a small mobile game. Downloading a game with Apple Arcade is free, however, the mobile gaming subscription service does cost $4.99 a month. If you have never tried a game with Apple Arcade, you're in luck. Apple is promoting the service, offering users a free month of gaming!
Source: Video Game Chronicle