Derek Lairmore June 21st, 2024 - 10:52 PM
After 21 years away from Square Enix it looks like Hironobu Sakaguchi, one of the founding fathers of Square Enix’s ever-popular Final Fantasy series, is going to return in a big way to the company. Not a full return, mind you. Hironobu Sakaguchi founded Mistwalker Corporation in 2004 after his departure from Square Enix, and still works with them to this day. Instead of Sakaguchi himself lending a hand to Square Enix, this upcoming project dubbed Fantasian Neo Dimension, will be a collaboration between Square Enix and Mistwalker Corporation.
We are delighted to announce we’re once again working with the founding father of Final Fantasy – Hironobu Sakaguchi.
Together with his studio Mistwalker Corporation we’re launching Fantasian Neo Dimension this Winter.
Follow @Fantasian_EN for more. pic.twitter.com/8U0jKAYaKj
— Square Enix (@SquareEnix) June 18, 2024
This is a good thing, collaborations between companies are always fun, and it looks like if Sakaguchi left Square Enix with any bad blood that would appear to be water under the bridge at this point. Fantasian Neo Dimension itself looks like a fun game as well, with a classic art style and an art direction reminiscent of those older Final Fantasy titles, it looks like Square is going full steam ahead with the nostalgia, though Fantasian no doubt brings its own flare to the mix.
The father of FINAL FANTASY, Hironobu Sakaguchi, returns to deliver an original RPG story! FANTASIAN Neo Dimension launches this Winter on #NintendoSwitch! #FantasianNeoDimension #NintendoDirect pic.twitter.com/Yu3t8hoxK8
— Nintendo of America (@NintendoAmerica) June 18, 2024
The overworld looks extremely comfortable, and the battle system calls back to ever popular “four dudes in a row” JRPG turn-based style with a new tilt: the placement of the enemies determines how effective some of your attacks can be, with certain attacks and spells you can wipe out entire rows of enemies.
Overall this seems like a fun and nostalgia-filled game calling back to an era where Final Fantasy was nothing but smash hit after smash hit, and knowing the current state of Square Enix, this is something that they probably need at this moment: a high-quality game from a director and his studio with a vision. Fantasian Neo Dimension will be available on the Nintendo Switch this winter.
