During my time with Square Enix at PAX West, I was able to play three different titles. One of them was Fantasian Neo Dimension – the most recent game by Final Fantasy creator Hironobu Sakaguchi. I went in knowing very little about the game due to its previous exclusivity to Apple Arcade and came away completely charmed by the enhanced version and its remarkably unique presentation style.
What I mean by this is that Fantasian Neo Dimension’s visual style is unlike anything else I’ve seen in quite some time. Every environment is a hand-crafted real model that is put into the game after being built, with the characters traversing these photographed miniatures throughout the entire game. Every setting is beautiful and you can see how much care and detail was put into these models, as they just ooze charm and whimsy.
Credit: Square Enix
I love how random battles work, as instead of constantly being interrupted while walking, encounters are essentially stored in the “Dimengeon.” The battles you’d be fighting build up until you choose to take part, with all of the enemies being in one long fight. It’s a clever way to shake up the random encounter system while giving players the ability to choose when they want to deal with fights.
“It’s quite fun to plan out your attacks to defeat enemies as quickly as possible, especially when you’ve racked up plenty in the Dimengeon.“
Fantasian Neo Dimension blends combat with tactical positioning
Combat itself is rather creative, as the positions of your party members and enemies are of massive importance. When you choose an attack to perform, a line springs out from your chosen character. Some moves go through the first foe to hit several enemies, while others can cover wide circular areas. It’s quite fun to plan out your attacks to defeat enemies as quickly as possible, especially when you’ve racked up plenty in the Dimengeon.
Credit: Square Enix
Granted, I think I went the wrong way in the demo, as I never fought the Golem boss that was meant to be at the end of the demo area. Rather, I ended up exploring a coastal town and some nearby ruins. I didn’t mind as I got to experience more environments and the pleasant dialogue of the resident townfolk. I delivered a letter from a local woman to her hard-working boyfriend and learned about the town and nearby boats, which filled out the world nicely.
My only issue with Fantasian Neo Dimension was a small one. The camera style is akin to the old Resident Evil titles, with fixed cameras that show off the environments. Whenever I’d leave from one screen to another, the control stick would lose its direction, leading me to walk a totally different way than I was holding, sometimes back to a previous screen. This seems like a tiny problem that can be fixed pretty simply, so it’s not much of a concern.
Credit: Square Enix
Fantasian Neo Dimension took me by surprise with how charming and pleasant it was to run around in. The innovative Dimengeon system and beautiful environments give off a true sense of wonder that is hard to come by, and I’m curious to play it further when it releases on consoles this winter.
