A revered elder statesman of the medium, his place in the annals of gaming history is absolutely secure. His work on the first six Final Fantasy games, in particular, has been so widely imitated that he is arguably among the most influential designers of the 2D console era. The Japanese game designer, director, and producer is responsible for creating a handful of the most famous and acclaimed video games of all time, including the immortal classics Chrono Trigger and Final Fantasy. Seth Macy is IGN's Executive Editor, IGN Commerce, and just wants to be your friend.In the world of video games, Hironobu Sakaguchi is a legend. 'Players using their hands to then interact with this hand-crafted world,' and how 'human hands play a big role in connecting those two' also inspired the direction of Fantasian.įantasian is coming to Apple Arcade later this year, and right now it can be found on the Apple Arcade 'Coming Soon' page. Sakaguchi said there's a unique relationship 'between these hand-crafted dioramas and the sheet of glass' of the iPad or iPhone's screen. Ultimately, the dioramas and the gameplay were designed with the Apple Arcade touch-interface coloring much of the process. 'There was a little bit of synergy, I would say, between the story and what the themes of the game were with the diorama sets.' 'Dioramas have a unique charm and warmth I think can't be replicated through different, other mediums,' Sakaguchi said of how the settings helped inform the story direction. His one remaining memory, 'a vision of a young woman,' leads him to a remote village where Fantasia's larger quest truly begins.ĭioramas have a unique charm and warmth I think can't be replicated through different, other mediums

In a classic JRPG plot device, Leo's memory is wiped out, caused by 'a massive explosion at a hybrid magic-tech factory' for which Leo was responsible. There's also an aiming system in place, with certain attacks having the chance to curve and hit multiple enemies, with bonuses granted for cleverly aimed shots.Īs far as Fantasian's story, Sakaguchi said he drew inspiration from his roots with Final Fantasy, but the dioramas themselves also affected the narrative design.įantasian follows the story of Leo, a young man in search of his father, who travels 'across the world and between dimensions, using whatever he can at his disposal,' according to Mistwalker. The system allows for the chance to reap higher rewards, and lets you have more say over when and how you approach battles. Later on, you can visit this alternate-dimension dungeon to battle the enemies in one massive group, rather than individually. In a nutshell, you can 'bank' encounters when you're exploring the world, sending monsters into an alternate dimension. It kind of jogs the imagination in a way we didn't think it would and it expands how you might want to design the game or that particular map.'įantasian introduces more than just novel level design, bringing a new 'Dimengeon Battle' system to its traditional random enemy encounters. 'Like, this roof looks really cool, I didn't expect it to turn out this way, I think we can allow the characters to walk on top of it. 'You'll see the actual object and it could inform the game design in a way,' he said. It kind of jogs the imagination in a way we didn't think it would and it expands how you might want to design the game Sakaguchi said one benefit to being locked into the world of the dioramas was how it sometimes could change their ideas for the game design.

You're really kind of committed to that environment, and it shifts the kind of workflow, in a way.' 'We have to spend extra time in the concepting phase. 'Once you lock that design in, you create this, there is no 'hey let's move this path over this way' or 'hey let's add some more trees over here,'' he said. Scanning with drones over traditional 3D scanning techniques 'proved more effective in getting and extracting the 3D information from the dioramas and then rendering in the 3D space,' Sakaguchi said, calling the work 'a unique challenge.'Īnother challenge Sakaguchi and company encountered when building the dioramas arose from the inherent lack of flexibility: once the diorama is built, it can't simply be changed in a graphics program.

Fantasian diorama