E3 2012: Final Fantasy Dimensions Hands-on Impressions
A legendary dimension with warriors of light and dark and other stuff.
06.06.12 - 2:16 AM

Square Enix has been really expanding their mobile offerings, and one such example is Final Fantasy Dimensions. I had a chance to try this game out on the E3 show floor, and came away rather pleased with it.

Dimensions, formerly known as Final Fantasy Legend: Heroes of Light and Darkness, is available on Japanese cell phones. It's a retro-styled turn-based RPG that seems to pull together the story-based presentation of Final Fantasy IV with the versatile job system of Final Fantasy V. Each class haS a large number of skills to select from, and like in FFV, players are free to mix and match the abilities as they please. This particular system seems very well-suited to a mobile game, and could theoretically offer quite a bit of very entertaining gameplay.

The graphics were on par with many of the retro Final Fantasy titles released on mobile platforms in recent years. Backgrounds are simple, but bright and colorful. Additionally, character and enemy sprites are detailed and varied, and give each character a nice visual identity. Where the game really caught my attention, though, was the music. The battle theme in particular was a fantastic original song that brought together audio cues from many of the classic FF games, making it feel both familiar yet fresh.

Combat was classic Final Fantasy, as well. Fights progressed quickly, and were a breeze to control thanks to the well implemented touch controls. Overworld exploration was smoothly handled as well, with the "tap anywhere" d-pad making it very easy to control movement.

My time with Final Fantasy Dimensions was short, but it made a quick and great first impression. A new Final Fantasy experience making use of the fantastically flexible job system in an on-the-go format seems like a quick recipe for an addicting experience, and the great presentation is just icing on the cake. This could be one to watch for when it launches on iOS and Android this summer!