by theygamesFinal Fantasy 7 Rebirth, FF16, and the ever-popular Final Fantasy 14 are naturally the biggest names in the epochal RPG series now, but for me, the best one always has been – and probably always will be – Final Fantasy 8. It arrives in the middle of the series’ golden period, between FF5 in 1992 and Final Fantasy 10 in 2001, and captures everything that made Square (and now Square Enix’s) flagship adventure distinctive and special. I sometimes miss that core, single-player experience – I’m basically a sucker for ‘90s-style JRPGs. Thankfully, Hironobu Sakaguchi, the original creator of the entire Final Fantasy series, is still working, and his latest game (published by none other than Square Enix) is finally on Steam, and available to sample for free. This is Fantasian Neo Dimension.
Originally released back in 2021, Fantasian Neo Dimension is the work of Mistwalker, the studio founded by Sakaguchi after he left Square Enix, and which also created the underrated 2007 JRPG Lost Odyssey. Having finally made it to PC, Fantasian already has an 89% positive rating on Steam, and it boasts some serious developer pedigree. As well as Sakaguchi serving as writer, Final Fantasy legend Nobuo Uematsu provides the soundtrack.
You play Leo, a young man struck with amnesia who is battling for the survival of his world after it’s overtaken by the sinister ‘mechteria,’ a virus that robs human beings of all their feelings and turns them into soulless automata.
Battles are turn-based. You can level up your party. And there’s a helpful, unique mechanic in the form of the ‘Dimengeon,’ a kind of pocket bestiary that you can use to curate all the enemies that you don’t want to face in random encounters. If you fight a monster and then add it to the Dimengeon, it won’t appear again, but there’s a catch. The Dimengeon can only hold 30 creatures at a time, so you need to be selective about which you want to avoid.
Sakaguchi started work on Fantasian after replaying and being inspired by Final Fantasy 6 – one of the most-loved entries in the series, it was also the first FF game to be directed by someone other than Sakaguchi himself, and was helmed by Square stalwarts Hiroyuki Ito and Yoshinori Kitase. Between the premise, the combat, and the colorful visual style, you can definitely see in Fantasian the influence of formative Final Fantasy games, and now, thankfully, you can try it for free.
A new demo for Fantasian Neo Dimension has just arrived and is available right here. After that, if you want to keep playing, Fantasian is on Steam for $49.99 / £44.99.
Otherwise, try some of the other best turn-based RPGs, or maybe just the best RPGs ever made.
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