Fantasian: Neo Dimension is shaping up to be the perfect Steam Deck RPG - hands-on preview

I don't need to tell longtime readers how we here at RPG Site feel about Fantasian; and even if you've only been sticking around us recently, Josh said as much when he covered Fantasian: Neo Dimension earlier this month. We love Fantasian around here, we ended up giving the game our highest accolades in 2021, and frankly we're all just happy that more players will be able to experience it a few months from now, once it's finally escaped its Apple Arcade prison - all the additional changes and upgrades to Fantasian with these ports are the cherry on top, really.

I wasn't originally planning on covering Fantasian for us yet again during Tokyo Game Show, considering the close proximity to PAX West. Even now I'm not going to sit here and explain what Fantasian is, since Josh already did so just a few weeks back. Truthfully - when Square Enix reached out offering another chance to play the game at Tokyo Game Show, I took them up on it merely because they said it would be a new demo build - and because I wanted to see the new release for myself. I wasn't sure what my angle was going to be or if there was anything specific I'd be able to latch onto.

Bafflingly, Square Enix buried the lede a bit here - as on my way to the dedicated press demo station for Fantasian running on PlayStation 5, I noticed multiple setups with Fantasian running on Steam Deck OLED. Then and there I asked if I could swap my appointment to one of those instead, and thankfully Square Enix was accommodating enough to provide. Not only did I find a new angle to work with that wasn't just rehashing the same points Josh made, Fantasian on Steam Deck quite simply couldn't be a better experience.

I won't go over any specific details of Fantasian as a game; Josh did as much earlier this month, and of course you can check my original review of the game for a more general look at the mechanics. The moment I saw the game was officially playable on Steam Deck, I wanted to get a better idea of what to expect once I can get my own hands-on with the full game later this year. 

Thankfully, one of the most useful tools on the Steam Deck is SteamOS' built-in performance metrics. Obviously, I immediately turned these on to gauge just how well Fantasian is holding up on Steam Deck OLED. Even before turning the overlay on, it was immediately clear that the game was running at a a very smooth framerate - and indeed, 90FPS isn't just possible on the system, but with a ton of headroom to boot. Battery life should be great on both LCD and OLED models, alongside smooth framerates. Thanks to the necessity to support multiple aspect ratios on Apple Arcade, the game completely supports the full 16:10, 800p resolution of the Steam Deck's screen, too. Smooth as butter, responsive, and without any black bars that might risk an uneven burn-in risk for the OLED model - it's simply impossible to ask for anything more regarding official Steam Deck support.

I'd already assumed that the Steam Deck would be a good fit for Fantasian; since the game's UI was designed with smaller screens in mind, what would otherwise feel awkward blown up to a large screen - much like when I played the original on an Apple TV 4K - the smaller Steam Deck screen actually benefits from the larger interface. Even then, I didn't expect such a smooth framerate without breaking a sweat; even if, in hindsight, that might've been obvious. The only thing actually being rendered would always be the character models, so perhaps such performance metrics should've been my expectation from the start.

Nevertheless, in recent months Square Enix has directly told RPG Site that they consider Steam Deck an "important platform" for their releases. Between the heavy marketing that the Steam versions of the Kingdom Hearts PC ports regarding their Steam Deck compatibility, official save uploads on SteamOS suspension in Dragon Quest Builders PC,  and now directly showing their games on Steam Deck at events - it's clear that those weren't just empty platitudes - but a sign of a greater commitment to the platform. While Steam Deck is by no means a mainstream platform, it's a good thing to see a company continue to target optimization for lower-powered devices; I sincerely believe it's a far healthier attitude for the industry to have, and the more companies that embrace it the faster I believe that things will continue to improve overall.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again - the more people that can play Fantasian, the better. I can only talk about Fantasian so much with the other contributors to RPG Site who also played it on Apple Arcade, and I can't wait for the chance to discuss the experience with folks readying themselves to play it for the first time with these ports, just as I'm ready to re-experience the game on Steam Deck. No matter which platform you end up playing it on, look forward to our full thoughts on the ports as we get closer to the game's December 5 launch on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch and PC (Steam)