REVIEW: ‘FANTASIAN Neo Dimension’ Is A Beautiful Interdimensional Journey (PS5)

Legendary Final Fantasy creator Hironobu Sakaguchi is back with a new role-playing adventure that harkens to the golden age of RPGs. Released initially by Mistwalker and Square Enix as an Apple Arcade exclusive in 2021, FANTASIAN Neo Dimension is the worldwide release of the hit RPG with a few quality-of-life improvements like upgraded textures, English and Japanese voiceovers, and a normal difficulty to make the game slightly less challenging.

FANTASIAN Neo Dimension follows the story of Leo, a young man who has lost his memories after entering an alternate reality. Leo’s adventure takes him across multiple dimensions as he tries to figure out what Mechteria is and why it is destroying his world and others. A protagonist waking up in a strange world without their memories is not exactly new. Still, by choosing a somewhat familiar story track, FANTASIAN Neo Dimension is comfortable for players to approach.

Sakaguchi’s inspiration for creating FANTASIAN Neo Dimension was his experience replaying Final Fantasy VI with other members of its creative team, and that influence shines throughout. The specific story beats are new, but the overall themes like family, unknown mysteries from other worlds, and the warm characters that players are drawn to indicate that his past work was a considerable influence.

Characters met along the way help players feel connected to the world and the story unfolding. This is not just about solving Leo’s problems; a world at large needs saving, and players need a reason to care about it. FANTASIAN Neo Dimension does a great job of fleshing out the world through side characters and side quests that make it feel alive and worth saving.

Each character has a unique set of skills used in turn-based combat. These abilities are limited at first, which keeps combat relatively simple. As the game unfolds, so do the options available for players. Players can specifically map out which skills they want to unlock and use at a certain point in the story. There is a streamlined way of learning how each character plays before getting let loose to create your path forward, which is greatly appreciated. It helps make combat easy to get the hang of for players who might be newer to turn-based RPGs or might just struggle with them in general.

One really neat mechanic is the Dimengeon. Players can store enemies from random world battles in the Dimengeon and return to fight them later. This lets players skip battles at the moment and go back to fight a larger horde later on at their leisure. The benefit here is it allows players to use the trajectory mechanic, the way some moves can bend around to take out larger groups of enemies or try out new skill setups at their leisure. The downside is that the Dimengeon can only hold so many enemies; once it is full, you have to fight them no matter what. I ran into this issue at one point, ready to take them on, and got absolutely clobbered, so use it cautiously and strategically.

There is also an optional mode called Void Realm that presents an additional challenge for players. The Void Realm has three different layers, all harder than the last. This is the best way for confident players to test their skills against impressively challenging bosses. It is recommended to be in a New Game+ playthrough (another new addition to FANTASIAN Neo Dimension) before taking on the hardest stage of the Void Realm. Boy, that recommendation is one to take seriously. The Inner Void Realm is incredibly challenging, and you’ll want to be extra prepared to take it on.

Playing FANTASIAN Neo Dimension is a fantastic experience, but the visuals stand out. Each environment is a hand-crafted diorama that really brings the world to life. There are over 150 of these dioramas, and they are absolutely stunning, especially in 4K. One downside is that the character textures still feel a bit too much like a mobile game at times and can be jarring against the beautiful backgrounds, but that is just a testament to how incredible the environments are.

Also adding to the experience is the immaculate musical score created by legendary composer Nobuo Uematsu. Uematsu is famous for some of the best RPG music of all time, and his excellence is on full display here. His original creations for FANTASIAN Neo Dimension help bring the world to life and make the adventure more engaging. A new feature allows players to swap in the background music from some hit Final Fantasy games, which is just a nice little treat added on top of an already-perfect score.

FANTASIAN Neo Dimension is a beautiful adventure from some of the best RPG creators of all time, and they are at their best here. An emotional story combined with fun combat mechanics and an incredible atmosphere makes this one of the best RPGs of the year and well worth checking out.

FANTASIAN Neo Dimension will be released on December 5th on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.