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Fantasian soundtrack12/10/2023 ![]() Mistwalker needed a video game good enough that any resistance would look like entrenched old-school bullying, and it found that in Fantasian, an epic that’s equal parts sardonic and sincere. Nobuo Uematsu soundtracks a scene of pratfall mass destruction in an underground mall with John Denver’s shlock classic “Annie’s Song,” in a tonal clash that could be the envy of any number of stylish young pastiche directors, but his long, grotesque scenes in a New Jersey slaughterhouse look like something you’ve seen only in the worst grindhouse slasher film on the shelf. It’s a dizzying hodgepodge of neoliberalism critique, coming-of-age saga, and heist flick. Hironobu Sakaguchi’s weaselly Zoboomafoo-era television host is also in the mix, playing the stomach-churning MC of the whole affair. It’s simultaneously a game that indulges our nostalgia while also being a truly novel craft in its own right. Play part 2 only if you’re ready to sweat and have many boss fights that feel like the last boss fight.įantasian is a heartfelt experience that pulls together all the reasons we adore RPGs in the first place. Play part 1 if you’re here for a relaxing time. This game is more of a love letter for FF fans. The gameplay is fantastic and there were moments where it feels great to win a fight. It has some quality of life improvements and the story is slightly more mature in terms of how characters interact with each other. You feel right at home if you played the older Final Fantasy games. Other than that, the game is your typical Sakaguchi game in terms of pacing, story build up, the themes that are being focused on, cutscene direction and more. The only explanation I can think of is this being a deliberate choice for being an Apple Arcade game. I’ve played all the main Mistwalker games and played many of Sakaguchi’s other games when he was part of Squaresoft and none of them were as challenging as this. In some parts it feels too punishingly hard. ![]() I got that in part 2 but I didn’t expect the game to become this challenging. Granted, you can fight the enemies as they show up as well, but this gives you more options in how you want to handle random encounters.When I was still playing part 1, I was very positive while waiting for the game to show its depth in terms of mechanics, progression system and fights. That will make exploring much easier, but will ensure that you don’t miss out on any EXP. This system will allow players to send enemies into another dimension, focus on the task at hand, and then fight these enemies later in a dungeon setting. That system is called the “Dimengeon” system. Turn-based gameplay is present here but there is another system that will be new and fresh. Not only that, but he is also very passionate about that work and it shows. It is tough to find new JRPGs that can capture the heart and soul of the classics, but you can guarantee that Sakaguchi is capable of doing just that. “It made me want to go back to my roots.”įor many JRPG fans, this is going to be great news. “Playing that game reminded me of how much I really adore that classic RPG genre, and renewed my interest in it,” Sakaguchi says. Sakaguchi explained that he was inspired to create Fantasian when he and some collaborators replayed Final Fantasy IV around three years ago. The collaboration of Uematsu and Sakaguchi sounds like a dream and it could be Uematsu’s last full soundtrack. The game’s soundtrack will be composed by none other than legendary Nobuo Uematsu. The only parts of this game that aren’t fully handmade are the enemy encounters. This handcrafted world ended up being perfect for Apple Arcade since players will be exploring and interacting with the world on a touchscreen. “You have to be very conscious and intentional with how you construct the environment, because unlike 3D CG where I can add another path or modify an environment later on, you don’t really have that flexibility,” he explains. In an interview with The Verge, Sakaguchi explains that creating these dioramas was very different from creating a traditional video game. Fantasian creators took handmade dioramas and implemented them into the game. ![]() Every location you visit within the game was made from these dioramas. The world consists of handcrafted diorama models, built by the team themselves. ![]() Beautifully Handcrafted Worldįantasian has been getting a lot of attention thanks to its art direction. Fantasian blends traditional RPG elements like turn-based battles with a beautiful handcrafted world made up of dioramas. Final Fantasy creator Hironobu Sakaguchi was at the helm of this new mobile RPG experience. On April 2nd, Fantasian was finally released on Apple Arcade. ![]()
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