Fantasian Neo Dimension (PC) Review: A Familiar Yet Unique Adventure

Ever since I read that Hironobu Sakaguchi and Nobou Uematsu were uniting once again on a JRPG I was immediately filled with excitement at the prospects the partnership would bring. This JRPG ultimately became Fantasian, which released in two parts in 2021 exclusive to Apple’s mobile game streaming service Apple Arcade. Unfortunately, I do not own any Apple products so my longing for playing the game continued. However, over the years, many Apple Arcade titles have escaped the clutches of exclusivity, but its crown jewel remained ever elusive. Then during a June 2024 Nintendo Direct the announcement of Fantasian Neo Dimension came to light. Bringing the “Father of Final Fantasy” back to Square-Enix for an enhanced version of the game that blends both parts together as one cohesive experience. Granting gamers on PC and consoles the opportunity to revel in a familiar yet wholly unique adventure for the first time.

Game Name: Fantasian Neo Dimension
Platform(s): PC (reviewed), Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S
Publisher(s): Square-Enix
Developer(s): Mistwalker
Release Date: December 5, 2024

Memories Are So Fleeting

Fantasian Neo Dimension stars Leo, a white-haired adolescent who suddenly finds himself in a mechanical world with no idea of how he got there. After the short introductory/tutorial sequence, Leo is transported back to his hometown of En with visions of a girl he vaguely remembers, as he explores the Old district he finds this mysterious girl and by doing so a number of events begin to unravel that set his journey into motion.

If you didn’t figure it out from that short synopsis, Leo suffers from amnesia and much of his journey is a personal one in trying to put the pieces back together, amidst trying to save the world from the Mechteria infection that plagues the land. Thankfully, our protagonist is not alone in this grand endeavor, as he meets several others who each have their own reasons for joining the cause. Leo and his comrades travel throughout different towns and even dimensions as they seek to find and take out the enigma behind it all.

The story itself is told through in-game cutscenes, big set piece moments, and story-book style text overlays for flashbacks. On the surface, the narrative may seem like a “we’ve seen this before,” and maybe you have, but not in this way. Sakaguchi weaves it all together masterfully. Giving you reasons to care about each member of the party as you learn about their backstory throughout the 30-hour or so adventure.

The beauty in Dioramas

The most enjoyable aspect of Fantasian Neo Dimension for me was exploring the various towns and biomes because it showcases the 160 beautiful handcrafted dioramas created for the game. I switched between using my laptop (RTX 1060) and an Intel 3 Chromebook in playing through Fantasian and although they aren’t high end machines, it only goes to show how well designed the dioramas are. 4K was added to the PC, Xbox Series, and PS5 versions, but it isn’t necessary in the slightest to notice the details.

Each town is filled with residences, shops, and NPCs making them feel vibrant and lived-in. Furthermore, each residence can be entered and explored, with inns and other buildings featuring multiple floors. Allowing for players to notice changes much
easier when they move to the next screen.

Two great examples of this are the early game areas, the airship Uzra and the water town of Vence, where Leo and co travel through several parts of the ship which vary between outer areas that are more straightforward and inside areas such as a long winding staircase that then comes down into a ballroom with further rooms throughout. The town of Vence has entire west and east sides with water running through the middle of it that can even be traversed further with a Gondola.

That Old School Feeling of Exploration

There are points in the story where you can sense the familial connection Fantasian Neo Dimension has with Sakaguchi’s previous works, especially Lost Odyssey with its storybook style narrative scenes. But the dioramas actually give the game a more original PlayStation 1 type look where the backgrounds shift when you move to the next screen, but done with way more zip and fluidity than the previous era. Although, there is still some loading that occurs when leaving a residence or when moving on to a new section, it is still done rather quickly.

Staying with the old school perception, exploration also takes place within these areas and on an overworld map as well. In towns discoverable items are littered all throughout inside residences, similar to Dragon Quest where you’ll press against a barrel and an item appears. They also exist out in the open as grabable white stars or as chests which may or may not require keys to unlock. The same occurs when exploring the world map where the white stars indicate an item exists. However, on the world map you’ll also run into random encounters that may inhibit some of that exploration. Thankfully, Fantasian Neo Dimension introduces a mechanic that makes these encounters way less cumbersome.

Welcome to the Dimengeon

The mention of random encounters for gamers doesn’t bring with it great vibes. Fortunately, the Dimengeon system exists to help mitigate this. Introduced early in the game, once you’ve encountered an enemy type one time, the Dimengeon system allows for gamers to backlog up to 30 enemies to battle later. Giving players more freedom in exploring an area without being overwhelmed by battles. You can choose to start a Dimengeon battle at any time with the press of a button or simply wait until it fills up completely.

Unlike regular encounters, Dimengeon battles see enemies continuously appear until they are all defeated. Bringing with it a greater sense of strategy and reward. This is my favorite part of Fantasian Neo Dimension‘s battle repertoire because it not only serves as a perfect showcase for the game’s battle mechanics, but it also removes a lot of the stigma from random encounters. Imagine if more turn-based RPGs had a mechanic like this? It would certainly lead to more enjoyment and create less of a grind on players. Since there are more enemies in one battle, you gain more experience quickly than in the traditional format. However, you do have the option to turn the Dimengeon system off, but after experiencing it for yourself I can’t think of any reason why you’d want to go back to constant random encounters.

Sure, in reality, this is just delaying the inevitable, and not removing them outright, but at least you are always in control of when these battles happen because the Dimengeon meter is right there on the screen. What it does for exploration is a true godsend, as it encouraged me to continue searching for those lost items or venturing through the town without the constant dread of wondering when I’d be hit with yet another encounter. It felt absolutely refreshing and actually made me engage much more in the game’s battle mechanics as well.

Mechanical Glory

Battles in Fantasian Neo Dimension are the most arduous yet satisfying aspect of the game. The turn-based system is simple in concept and then mechanics are introduced as the game progresses that increase the difficulty, especially in the second part of the game where it ramps up quite a bit.

Your group of characters take turns with enemies and the turn order is plainly listed on screen for you to see. Attacks and skills each have their own reach, which allows for groups of enemies to all be hit at once. For example, Leo’s slash attack extends his regular attack and lets him strike enemies in the front, middle, and back. By contrast, many of Kina’s spells all have a curvature that allows you to twist the attack so you can hit enemies in a sweeping motion. These forms of reach vary even further as you gain more party members or advance through the game.

This aspect of the battle system is fun and makes the Dimengeon system all that more exciting because you can try out different attack combinations to see how many enemies you can take out in one turn. The issues mainly come from the difficulty spikes encountered in the latter half where the game’s boss battles really ramp up. Some of this can be mitigated on the new normal difficulty, but it doesn’t lessen the strategic aspect of these battles. By-in-large, I found the boss battles enthralling because each one is like its own puzzle where you have to figure out not just their weakness, but also the best way to hit them or if you should take out other enemies first or just go all out on the boss.

The Globetrotting Grind

The game itself does have some pacing issues with the aforementioned battles and in its story as well. In the second half of Fantasian Neo Dimension the game opens up and has you going to several different areas in a sporadic manner. Shifting locales consistently was fine, but finding out I perhaps didn’t have the appropriate squad for a sudden boss battle was not. Especially because many of these require not only the correct experience level but also perhaps the correct weapon set or growth map skills. Leaving me in a situation where I was at a severe disadvantage or I had to go through a rough battle to figure out what I should have done instead.

RPG veterans may find this exciting and for the most part it is, but there are times where I really just wanted to get through a section and to be thrust into either a grinding roadblock or some other issue did become a tad annoying.

One Final Score

I couldn’t end this review without discussing Nobou Uematsu’s final full-length video game score. The music legend knocks it out of the park once again with moving quieter pieces and a more experimental take on bigger themes. It does have the Uematsu particulars such as flourishes of some his past work and themes for all of the characters as well. I’ve been listening to it outside of the game and it deserves to be up there with the rest of his work.

Fantasian Neo Dimension also introduces Final Fantasy music that can be accessed at any time in the menu outside or inside of battle. Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, Final Fantasy VII Remake, Final Fantasy XVI, Final Fantasy Pixel Remasters and the last two Final Fantasy XIV expansions all have music featured in the game. There are three pieces of music per FF title, which matches three types of battles (Regular, Dimengeon, and Boss Battle). I did love this touch to honor Sakaguchi and Uematsu’s history with Final Fantasy and how easy they made it to switch between songs even in mid-battle.

The Grand Conclusion

Fantasian Neo Dimension was once to be Hironobu Sakaguchi’s final game and although we now know that’s not the case, you can see how the game was designed in this way. Leo and friend’s journey is one that should be sought out by RPG fans, its just the steps along that expedition aren’t always smooth ones. A fantastic blend of beautiful backgrounds, touching characters, and lovely music, Fantasian Neo Dimension brought me back to a time I thought long forgotten.

Review Disclosure Statement: A copy of Fantasian Neo Dimension was provided to us for review purposes by Square-Enix. For more information on how we review video games and other media/technology, please review our Review Guideline/Scoring Policy for more info.