Final Fantasy creator’s new game Fantasian uses 150 handmade dioramas to build a world ‘that cannot be replicated’
- Looking strikingly different from any other game, Fantasian sees digital characters traverse landscapes that are heavily stylised, living photographs
- Players can delay battles until they’re ready by sending enemies to a mystical dungeon, giving them time to explore the intricate environments
Before Hironobu Sakaguchi began work on his latest role-playing game – he’s championed and explored the RPG genre throughout his career – the creator of the famed Final Fantasy series opted to look back before setting his sights forward.
Sakaguchi not too long ago replayed Final Fantasy VI, the 1994 entry in the franchise that is still considered among the series’ best. Having turned his attention to mobile game development – with his next, Fantasian, launching as an exclusive to Apple Arcade, the tech giant’s subscription service – Sakaguchi says Final Fantasy VI offered a number of reminders and lessons for modern game development.
“Back in the day, everything was done in tiles,” says Sakaguchi via a translator. “Your character would move one tile at a time. That introduces puzzle-like elements, in which you might see a treasure tile that you can’t access. But if you walk around the building and go through the back door, you might be able to reach that chest.
“When the player reaches the ending, it feels like they have seen everything this world has to offer. That desire – that craving that humans have – we’re trying to recreate.”
For Fantasian, Sakaguchi wanted to present players with an overview of a game world, offering them a universe that invites curiosity via what is shown rather than what is hidden.