Fantasian
By Chris Morris,
Common Sense Media Reviewer
Common Sense Media Reviewers
Charming, gorgeous, yet incomplete adventure.
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Fantasian
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What’s It About?
In FANTASIAN, players take on the role of Leo, a hero who has lost his memory. You'll fight for the fate of the world, exploring vaults, cities, and mechanical realms, often without completely understanding why. The game follows the same general plotline of many Japanese role-playing games (JRPGs), which can help make it more familiar to players. Combat's turn-based, giving players time to plan their next move and strategically decide how best to proceed. Some spells and weapons, for instance, let you attack several enemies with one shot. And a tool in the game helps you delay battles if you'd rather explore for a while first. Once you acquire a device called the Dimengeon, you no longer trigger random battles as you explore. Instead, enemies are collected by the odd-sounding device and you choose when you stop to fight them.
Is It Any Good?
While made by the creator of a classic and beloved role-playing game franchise, this gorgeous game is just doesn't do enough to make it stand out from games like it. Fantasian doesn't stray far from Final Fantasy's roots and uses very familiar mechanics. It does tweak those just enough, though, to make the game more inviting to a mainstream audience, adding spells and weapons that attack multiple enemies, for instance. The game's story is ... well, underwhelming -- but it's not really a title that's about the story. It's more about exploring the worlds, which are especially gorgeous thanks to a handmade diorama background that was photographed to create the in-game locations.
The problem is that while it's visually charming and eye-catching, there's nothing really new here. The game doesn't break new ground -- and the one it walks on is fairly well trodden, especially by its creator's long-term work on these kinds of experiences. The cutscenes are fairly painful to watch and from time to time, the difficulty of battles spikes noticeably. More frustrating, though, is this is only the first part of a two-part game -- one that doesn't have a defined release date stated. That means that people who get sucked in to this adventure will have to wait for quite some time to see how it ends. Fantasian's an approachable game, but not one that will necessarily draw in casual fans.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about duty. Would you help out someone in need, even if you don't know all the details?
How important is it to try something new vs. keep traditions going? How important is a legacy to someone's life, or to a community? How important should it be?
Game Details
- Platform: Apple Arcade
- Pricing structure: Paid
- Available online?: Available online
- Publisher: Mistwalker Corp.
- Release date: April 8, 2021
- Genre: Role-Playing
- ESRB rating: NR for No Descriptions
- Last updated: May 20, 2021
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