- Publisher: Square Enix
- Release Date: Dec 5, 2024
- Also On: PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X
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Dec 4, 2024It’s hard to shake the feeling that Fantasian was a project designed to give several legends of the JRPG genre closure. By revising their great classic and both modernising and paying homage to it in equal measures, they can look back at their careers with the satisfaction of having completed a full journey of their own. For people that clearly love storytelling so much it’s hard to imagine a better way to finish up.
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Dec 4, 2024With Fantasian, it’s clear that Sakaguchi wanted to take a hard look at the key games that have defined his work, namely Final Fantasy VI, and find a meaningful way to advance his craft — to create something that can appeal to both the old guard and brand-new fans. In my mind, he and Mistwalker have wildly succeeded in that endeavor, creating one of the defining RPGs of modern gaming. It’s an enthralling experience that reminds me why I love video games so much and simultaneously makes me excited for where they can go in the future.
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Dec 4, 2024Fantasian Neo Dimension is the best way to play this Mistwalker JRPG. The sharper visuals and resolution make this truly pop in a beautiful way on the Nintendo Switch, where I played it. The story, characters, and fluid turn-based gameplay are high quality enough to feel like a classic spin-off of the Final Fantasy series. If you like JRPGs, don’t miss out on one of my favorite releases in 2024 during a year jam-packed full of thrilling releases.
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Dec 4, 2024Fantasian Neo Dimension breathes new life into the original Apple Arcade release with an engrossing narrative, intuitive turn-based combat, and a stellar English dub. While its innovative Dimengion mechanic and character-driven storytelling shine, minor performance hiccups on the Switch and lackluster sidequests hold it back. This is a must-play for RPG fans seeking a modern classic.
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Dec 5, 2024Now that Fantasian Neo Dimension has escaped the grasp of Apple Arcade, more people will be able to experience another delightful adventure from Hironobu Sakaguchi's studio, which continues to prove that what made JRPGs famous in the '90s still works. Not only does it deliver an efficient gameplay experience for the player, but it also presents a story with which one can empathize, keeping you engaged until the very end to achieve the satisfaction of finishing a game that is quite challenging.
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Dec 18, 2024We’ve truly been spoiled this year for JRPGs. In the last few months alone we’ve had the award-winning Metaphor and Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remake. Fantasian Neo Dimension casting off its Apple Arcade shackles and coming to consoles is a brilliant capstone to a strong year for RPGs, and the Asian game industry in general.
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Dec 4, 2024Mistwalker has rescued Fantasian to prove that turn-based RPGs can still surprise with dynamic and strategic combat mechanics accompanied by a superb artwork and a story that, while not surprising, takes very little time to captivate you. A must-have of the genre on Switch.
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Jan 31, 2025Fantasian: Neo Dimension is an exciting turn-based RPG that cements the stylings of Mistwalker and Sakaguchi-san's directorial vision. A marked uptick in quality from Fantasian on Apple Arcade, this revamped version hits the classic highs of JRPGs as well as offers an experience that feels polished, complete and exciting. For lovers of older Final Fantasy games, this will scratch the itch, doubly so with the involvement of Uematsu-san, yet another auditory love letter from the master. All in all, this is THE game for JRPG fans.
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Jan 22, 2025Fantasian Neo Dimension is a tale of two halves. Its first half feels like an homage to the older parts of the legendary catalogue of its creators. The second half, meanwhile, feels like that homage got to flex its muscles and pummel players into submission as they endeavor against boss fights until the adventure reaches its conclusion. Those able to adapt to the shifting changes between halves will find a love letter to turn-based RPGs that could only come from lifelong experts. The pacing shifts cause a juxtaposition between a restrictive feeling start and thematically minimal end, which just goes to show that even experts can find ways to grow in a given field. Where passion, creativity, and talent co-exist in such a lovely harmony always means there’s new avenues to explore and this wonderful game is worth undertaking the journey.
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Jan 17, 2025While FANTASIAN Neo Dimension may not end as well as it begins, this is still an excellent RPG featuring wonderful characters, an interesting story, and perhaps my favorite battle system of any RPG I played in 2024. This is the ultimate way to play it as well, with an easier difficulty and new soundtrack options inspired by this version of the game being published by Square Enix. Fans of the genre won’t want to miss this one.
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Dec 17, 2024Fantasian Neo Dimension won’t work for everyone, but for the handful it does click for they’re likely going to find a new all-time favorite. It mostly worked wonders for this reviewer, but the Nintendo Switch port’s issues detracted more from the experience than I had hoped. If you do love classic RPGs or specifically classic Final Fantasy, this modern evolution of those knocks it out of the park. In the last year, there have been a lot of throwbacks to the ’90s era of RPG to bank on nostalgia, but Fantasian has a lasting and timeless appeal most of them lack. It knows who it looks to appeal to and makes a game just for them.
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Dec 9, 2024A rather classical JRPG with an outstanding character, lots of lovingly designed details, modernizations in the right places and a special pinch of magic.
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Dec 8, 2024An evocative homage to classic JRPGs, Fantasian Neo Dimension offers strategic combat, a stunning handcrafted aesthetic, and a nostalgic tone. Despite minor flaws like repetitive side quests and limited exploration, its engaging boss battles and Nobuo Uematsu's masterful soundtrack deliver a heartfelt experience for fans of the genre.
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Dec 4, 2024Fantasian manages to hold its own amongst the Switch’s heavyweights in the RPG genre thanks to some inventive and enjoyable gameplay innovations that break up the traditional grind, making its otherwise by-the-numbers turn-based combat a more tactical and engaging experience. Its diorama-style visuals are delightfully refreshing, and highly nostalgic if you’ve ever played a PS1-era Final Fantasy title. Although not quite an entirely new dimension of fun, Fantasian is a welcome breath of fresh air that is more than worth your time.
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Dec 4, 2024In an age where every JRPG offers us complex experiences, with hundreds of hours of content and multiple systems at our disposal, Fantasian Neo Dimension is a little Bailey's chocolate. The first bite is something everyone can appreciate, the sweetness immediately grabs the player, but once you get to the end of the bite, you're likely to feel something too strong for you, but at the same time it's addictive, and it's hard not to eat another one.
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Dec 4, 2024The cult classic mobile RPG finally gets its due, for lovers of mechanics over story who can rise to the demands of its extreme challenge.
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Dec 6, 2024Hironobu Sakaguchi's last great undertaking, Fantasian: Neo Dimension reminded us of the reasons why we loved the father of Final Fantasy and his conception of JRPG, without however equaling the greatness of his most successful titles. Both the historical flaws recorded in the original version, such as the poor characterization of the antagonists, the verbosity of the dialogues or the inconsistent balance of the difficulty, and the problems encountered in the re-release, such as the drops in frame rate and the long loading times that currently afflict the Nintendo Switch version, weigh heavily on the final evaluation of the product, which nevertheless remains solid and enjoyable. We recommend recovering it to true fans of the genre.
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Dec 4, 2024With Fantasian: Neo Dimension, the father and the composer of Final Fantasy bring us a game that represents a return to the origins of the JRPG, but fails to live up to its own legend. It's a decent and entertaining adventure, with some interesting ideas, but it falls far short of the titans of the genre.
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Dec 4, 2024Fantasian: Neo Dimension is a competent JRPG which strikes a sweet spot without pretending to be either nostalgic or innovative. It delivers a catchy narrative with a classic but thoughtful battle system and some neat QoL that makes this new edition far better than its original mobile run.
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Dec 4, 2024Fantasian Neo Dimension is a perfectly fine old-school JRPG, fit for both veterans and newcomers of the genre. It's just that we expected a little more from Sakaguchi-san, whose masterpieces we grew up with on both Nintendo and Sony machines.
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Dec 6, 2024A welcome port of a title that's as good as ever, but suffers from too many loading times on Switch and once again lacks a French translation.
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Dec 4, 2024Fantasian Neo Dimension is Hironobu Sakaguchi and Mistwalker at their boldest and bravest, culminating in a JRPG love letter that both delights and frustrates. The stunning world and exploration are a true highlight, and the challenging and rewarding combat will enchant some, but it lacks some of the magic that the game is aiming for and the pacing is uneven. Normal difficulty makes things more accessible for the curious, but make no mistake, this is an RPG for those who want to lose themselves in the mechanics.
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Dec 4, 2024Taking the time to farm elemental resistant accessories, equipment upgrades, and stronger skills, setting up your party loadout just so at a save point, then watching your team get ragdolled anyway all while you’re several levels above what the game says you need completely overshadows the effort put into the careful, puzzle-like design of each boss. Which is a shame, because if those fights weren’t so egregiously overtuned in such an unproductive way, the stuff actually holding up Fantasian’s systems would’ve really shined. The criticism from before clearly had an impact, but even with the adjustments there’s still moments where this game isn’t fun at all to engage with on its given terms. Even everything else, from Uematsu’s thematically apt soundtrack to the super neat diorama visuals, is hard to enjoy when your brain is bogged down by constant dread. Fantasian Neo Dimension has a distinct vibe and a lot of cool ideas, but over-commits to its idea of challenge such that it buries its own nuances under a pile of big numbers.
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Jan 4, 2025Fantasian Neo Dimensions has everything that we loved of the old JRPG without losing its own identity. [Recommended]
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