The JRPG genre is extremely popular these days. With stalwart franchises such as Final Fantasy, Persona, and Dragon Quest, it can be difficult to stand out amongst the crowd. Earlier this year, the creator of the original Final Fantasy, Hironobu Sakaguchi, attempted to do just that when he released his new spin on the JRPG formula with Fantasian. Now only a few months later, the release date for Part 2 of the story has been revealed.
Fans of Part 1 of Fantasian won't need to wait long to finish Sakaguchi's story as developer Mistwalker revealed that the second installment launches Friday, August 13. This continuation of the JRPG's story is expected to run 40 to 60 hours which is roughly double the length of Part 1. While many gamers might want to jump into Fantasian Part 2's beautifully crafted dioramas on the bigger screens available to home consoles, the game is scheduled to launch exclusively on the Apple Arcade.
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Fantasian is perhaps Sakaguchi's swan song in the gaming industry, as he has revealed his intention of retiring in the near future. With this in mind, it seems that he wants to go out with a bang. Part 2 of the game plans to deliver more "quest-driven" gameplay compared to the many story-driven sections of Part 1. This is a plus for fans that enjoyed the unique gameplay elements of Fantasian that helped differentiate it from other titles in the genre.
One of these particular features is the Dimengeon Battles. This feature allows players to bypass monsters in the world and store them to fight all at the same time in an alternate dimension. This not only removes the random encounters found in many games in the genre, but it provides the player the opportunity to gain even more rewards after defeating these monsters in these alternate dimension battles.
Furthermore, the game boasts a unique art style that relies on real dioramas which help create a distinct visual setting for the game's world. Using handcrafted dioramas of various settings, the developers were able to photograph them and then add digital characters on top. Fantasian Part 2 includes 50 new dioramas, making the total count close to 160 for both installments of the game. The impressive visuals for a mobile game are enhanced further by the score of composing legend Nobuo Uematsu. Back again after composing the music for Part 1, he has another 34 tracks of original music to compliment Part 2.
Time will tell if this is in fact Sakaguchi's final game before he retires. Regardless, it will be interesting to see players' reception to Fantasian Part 2 as it looks to finish off the story started in Part 1.
Part 1 of Fantasian is available now on iOS devices through Apple Arcade with Part 2coming on August 13.
MORE: A History of Mistwalker Studios' Games
Source: IGN
