Mistwalker and exFinal Fantasydirector Hironobu Sakaguchi revealed new details onFantasianat the Game Live Japan event organized byFamitsuon March 7 - including details on the battle system, new screenshots, and a release date estimate. We summarized everything below. Several trailers and screenshots are also included at the bottom of the story.
Hironobu Sakaguchi is the producer and story writer forFantasian. The game director is Takuto Nakamura. And promotion is handled by Saho Nishikawa. The final part of theFantasiansegment also hadFinal Fantasy 7 Remakeproducer Yoshinori Kitase as guest.
Fantasianis a brand new JPRG by Mistwalker and an Apple Arcade exclusive.
Fantasianwill be released in both Japanese and English on Apple Arcade. A release date forFantasianwas not announced yet by Mistwalker, besides that it’s coming soon.
UPDATE:Fantasianwas launched on Apple Arcade on June 20, 2025 and is now playable.
Why Hironobu Sakaguchi decided to makeFantasian?
Hironobu Sakaguchi explained he got the idea forFantasianfollowing his live stream series. Where he and several original staff members ofFinal Fantasy6 did alet’s play of the gamein 2018. The streams most notably included designer Kazuko Shibuya.
Fantasianuses a diorama aesthetic for its graphics
Fantasianmost notably is a diorama game. Hironobu Sakaguchi explained theFF6let’s play was on an old CRT TV. So he had the idea to use diorama to give players a nostalgic and oldschool feel similar to that.
Fantasian’s developers asked over 150 craftsmen across Japan to make all the locations in the game. Then, the dioramas were recreated in-game. There are over 150 dioramas in total inFantasian. Hironobu Sakaguchi jokingly mentioned they could exhibit the dioramas in museums one day.
Nobuo Uematsu composed all of the music inFantasian
Nobuo Uematsu, known for the OST inFinal Fantasygames, composed all of the music inFantasian. There are over 60 tracks in total.
FantasianFeatures Trailer Famitsu version explained the battle system and the Dimengeon system
Trailer is at the 6:07:25 timestamp. It has more gameplay footage than theFeatures trailerversion revealed in early March.
Fantasianuses a standard JRPG turn-based battle system, with random encounters.
Fantasianhas a battle system similar to oldschoolFinal Fantasy, compared to action oriented ones like inFinal Fantasy VII Remake. There’s no ATB though, and it’s 100% turn based. However, players can trigger the Dimengeon, to capture enemies they would normally encounter, and send them in another dimension. Then, at anytime, players can enter the Dimengeon and fight all enemies captured so far all at once.
Hironobu Sakaguchi explained he got the idea for the Dimengeon system because ofFantasian’s touch controls.
Imagine you touch a chest on the map with your finger, so the protagonist starts moving towards it. However, a random encounter triggers. Once the battle has ended, the protagonist will be immobile again, and you’d have to touch the chest again. The Dimengeon system prevents situations like these.
You can stock up to 30 enemies at first in Dimengeon. They will appear in successive waves when there’s too many. There’s also a special gimmick to make the battles easier. Players will be able to upgrade the Dimengeon limit beyond 30 enemies.
The battle system has an aiming sytem similar toChrono Triggerto take a mainstream example. Moreover, certain skills attack in a straight line, while some have a curved trajectory. you may aim the skill to hit as many enemies as possible.
How long will it take to beatFantasian?
According to what was revealed on stream, it’ll take players between 20 and 60 hours to completeFantasian. It will depend of whether they focus on the main story or not.
Moreover,Fantasianwill be divided into two parts. similarly toFinal Fantasy 6.The first part will be straightforward. Meanwhile the second part will include a lot of sidequests. You know what I’m talking about if you playedFF6.
Party members inFantasian
There will be eight party members in total. Three party members fight in battle. However, starting the second half of the game you’ll be able to freely switch between the 8 party members during battle.
FantasianStory
Various worlds are mixed together inFantasian. From fantasy themed worlds with magic and monsters. To technology themed words with robots. Each world is layered together and connected together.
TheFantasiansegment on the Game Live Japan stream starts at the 5:57:49 timestamp linked below
The final part of the segment included the talk show between Yoshinori Kitase and Sakaguchi Hironobu. It’s definitely interesting to listen to if you may speak Japanese. To learn more about the development stories behindFantasian. We’ll be sure to tell you as soon as possible when we learn Apple Arcade and its release date.
