The Nintendo Switch is home to incredible games across genres, thanks to it being the first Nintendo home console in a while to get massive third-party support. Many of these games are much more niche than some of the titles found on Sony and Microsoft's consoles, such as the Switch's vast library of retro and retro-inspired titles. One of these is games is unfortunately not Fantasian, an old-school JRPG in the vein of of 8-bit and 16-bit classics.
Despite the title being potentially right at home on the Nintendo Switch, it's sadly stuck on a much less fitting mobile format. It's exclusive to Apple Arcade at the moment, however many of those exclusives have since migrated to Nintendo's platform. Here's why the spiritual Final Fantasy game should be the next to jump from Apple Arcade onto Nintendo Switch.
What Is Fantasian?
Fantasian was created by Hironobu Sakaguchi, the creator of the Final Fantasy series, and is meant to evoke that franchise's older entries. Also along for the ride is composer Nobuo Uematsu, who's also known for his work on Square Enix's premiere RPG franchise. The story involves the amnesiac Leo, who finds himself awakening in the mysterious Machine Realm. Forming a party of allies on his quest of self-rediscovery, he eventually runs afoul of the evil Vam the Malificent.
The art direction aims for a modern fantasy anime aesthetic, with Leo ironically bearing a strange resemblance to 2B from Nier: Automata. The gameplay itself, however, is very much a classic JRPG, with the exception being the game's unique Dimengeon mechanic for reworking random encounters. It certainly has the potential to be a slam dunk new IP, and the initial reviews have been positive. This begs the question, however, of why it isn't on consoles, let alone on the Switch.
Why Fantasian Would Be a Hit on the Switch
One of the game's biggest criticisms has been the cumbersome nature of it being a JRPG on Apple Arcade. This mobile set-up is not user-friendly for a title like this. The genre itself is not known for being isolated on smartphones and that's for good reason. There's also the fact that being stuck on the paid Apple service may be a turn off to some mobile gamers who might otherwise be interested in Fantasian.
A much better platform for the game would be the Nintendo Switch for a variety of reasons. The turn-based aspect of the combat is seen by many as inherently old-school, which means that the game might fall by the wayside on platforms full of bombastic modern titles such as the PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X|S. The Switch, however, is more welcoming to these classic-feeling games. This is likely a combination of the Switch having an abundance of esoteric third-party titles and similar support to past handhelds like Nintendo DS.
The Switch is also a much more mainstream gaming platform than Apple Arcade, which would afford the burgeoning Fantasian intellectual property a brighter spotlight. To be fair, several of the games that got their start on the Apple Arcade eventually found homes elsewhere, and it's possible that Fantasian will do the same. Just given the pedigree of game that it is and who's behind it, however, it probably should have began life on another console to begin with. However, it's never too late for a port.