Fantasian

Fresh Fantasy

I blame Final Fantasy for my now obsession with all things related to Japanese entertainment media. FF bought me to JRPGs which bought me to Persona 5 which bought me to Anime which has now, recently, bought me to Manga. It's a vicious cycle of entrapment that has wrapped all the way back around to this most classic of franchises and thus, in some way, I guess I blame Hironobu Sakaguchi for where I am right now. Mr Sakaguchi is the man credited as being the creator of the Final Fantasy series, you see, having come up with the original concept that ended up saving Square on the verge of bankruptcy, whilst going on to direct that game and the next 5 in the franchise. He worked on the story for 6 and produced 7-11. I think that there's enough precedent to make him a legend in the world of FF, I'm not sure about you; so even when that man's no longer associated with that worldwide phenomenon, his actions in the gaming world are going to illicit some traction merely through transitive property.

Thus when I heard about the game Fantasian on it's way with this man attached, I naturally got excited and rushed to find out everything I could on the subject. Only then to learn that, lo and behold, it's a product exclusive to Apple Arcade! (Why must you be so cruel, Tim Cook!) So as you can likely imagine, if I'm the sort of person who becomes flabbergasted when looking at a JRPG which is a console exclusive, my bewilderment at an Apple-exclusive is pretty much apocalyptic. But, with hindsight and time, I recognise that the Apple games initiative has provided the resources for many games to be made that would otherwise never have the chance, and therefore I suppose I'd rather this game exist it all and be exclusive rather than be struck from the timeline. (Besides. This way there's at least hope for a port. >sigh< It feels like all my gaming life is being spent waiting for ports, you know?)

But what even is Fantasian and why should anyone be waiting for it at all? Glad you asked. So Fantasian is a brand new JRPG with Hironobu Sakaguchi's name attached, rolling out on the Apple arcade and thus playable on IOS, Mac and... Apple TV? (Okay, if mobile JRPGs are an affront to god, then Smart TV JRPGs are a cosmic sin) It was made by Sakaguchi's own company Mistwalker, who have made such games that I've never played such as 'The Last Story' (which looks like a fine FF-style RPG with action elements) and 'Blue Dragon' (Which looks like Dragon Quest and thus does not appeal to me.) Fantasian, apparently, marks a return to the turn-based style that we know and love, making it somewhat unique in a world full of old-school RPGs that are stepping away from such methodical play-systems. (Apart from you, Dragon Quest. Nothing and no-one will ever make you go action-combat. Now will it?)

The premise seems rather simple, overly simple in fact, in that it follows a young man who wakes up one day with amnesia and most discover who he is. (And so launched a thousand protagonists) But within this simple beginning lies the breadth of what I can only imagine to be a sweeping narrative, as is usually the case with Final Fantasy stories. (Even though this isn't one, you can sort of see the influence.) That seems all but likely considering Sakaguchi himself admitted that the inspiration was sprung into his mind upon replaying Final Fantasy VI one day, a game often quoted from purists as being the best in the franchise. (The argument really rages between VI and VII heads.) In fact, Fantasian, having recently released in Japan, came out on the exact same day as FF6 did, securing the link firmly. Does this me we can expect to see Kafka-esque levels of iconic characterisation? One would have to see for themselves.

Of course, when I call this a JRPG and label it as being similar to FFVI, I am doing a slight misjustice because this game does go out of it's way to innovate, or at least reiterate, upon both tags. This isn't just a case of a creator going back to a formula he's familiar with an copying it note for note, no, this man is not the sort of one to rest on laurels it would seem. For one, there is the flagship, and slightly confusing, claim that this is a diorama-based game. Now from what I can tell looking at it, combined with information derived from the trailer, that means each location in the game is being based off renderings from real 3D diorama's that have been built and which you can see reference images of. This makes this impression, as you play the game, of playing as 3D models in this real world, yet weird, space; almost similar (in concept) to what you'd see out of a stop-motion movie. It's an aesthetic which, at a glance, melts into the background so that one might never notice it, but when you realise it's there it'll stick out everywhere. I find it quite interesting and wonder if this will convey that "charm" which the team were apparently shooting for.

Another change to what we know comes in the raw gameplay, because this isn't just going to be your traditional affair of equipping items, using consumables and picking abilities. Instead, there appears to be this system of directional combat wherein enemies are all thrown into a static arena and players must decide a line of attack within the group of enemies. Think your usual lines-and-columns battle lines type of gameplay scenario expect with a lot more lines and attacks that go through enemies in certain patterns. Thus, I'd imagine the strategy comes in deciding which enemies you need to hit in what order to whittle down the bigger guys whilst managing minions. This seems to lend this puzzlebox twist to combat that I really gel with. The only question comes, and I'm determined not to look at any the footage coming out already to answer this, from how this system will work on bosses. The trailer showed only a few and none appearing to convey this question adequately. (But if you're not interested in turning on this game fresh one-day; remember that it is currently out and there's Youtube footage already to look up)

My only hold-up, and I understand this is a personal gripe, but it's the main character designs. I don't really think any of them stand out in a significant fashion, which might just open the door up for their personalities to be the stars of the show, but it hurts the 'box art' in my opinion. I know, "Is Box art really that important?" but when it comes to designing the cast of a JRPG; being able to differentiate them from the thousands of other character casts at a glance is a big step towards memorability. (That's why character designers are so lauded in the JRPG world) Just look at the protagonist; silver haired and donning a black gothic-adjacent dress. He looks like 2B! Everytime I see him I wonder where the blindfold is before remembering this is a completely different character. In fact all the main cast, aside from the robot, just have this look of being just a tad too generic for leading characters, which I'm sure won't be an issue when the game itself is well written and executed, but that's just an observation that I couldn't shake.

Altogether we're looking at potentially great little RPG game coming outside of the big heavy-hitter studios that's going to see a limited launch around the world thanks to Apple exclusivity, and that kinda sucks. I love to see genuine new and interesting takes on genres I love, and only find myself held back by the fears regarding quality from studios I'm not familiar with. Mistwalker is a studio I could really trust given their background, and Tim Cook snatched them away from me before I could get to know them. How sad. Still, at least titles like this are getting out there and proving there's still room from new JRPG games and ideas in an industry that's being slowly consumed by remakes and reiterations. I don't know what to expect from Fantasian, but I already know that it'll be memorable for me in some fashion. When I actually get to play it. Whenever that is. (Exclusivity. The bane of my existence...)