Subtitles section Play video
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Final Fantasy. You know the name, and if you’re a fan, your favorite game, if not the very
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definition of what you feel a final fantasy game should be like, comes to mind. For me,
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the best games were on the Super Nintendo. And a lot of fans want to go back to those
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style of games. Just look at how many version of Final Fantasy 4 are out there. If you're
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one of those who prefer the old-school Final Fantasies of the Super Nintendo days, then
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break out your smartphone: this is Final Fantasy Dimensions, on the iPhone.
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Dimensions is, all in all, a very faithful old-style Final Fantasy game, bringing back
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the concept of light vs. darkness, wars fought over the powerful Crystals, and the young
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bands of heroes that seek to save the world. Dimensions follows two groups of heroes, one
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led by a young, slightly too energetic boy named Sol, and the other by a young, more
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cold and quite boy, Nacht. Sol and his friends are set to defend a Crystal in the kingdom
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of Lux from Imperial invaders, who happen to be Nacht and his friends, serving as slaves
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of the Empire. The crystal explodes and the parties get mixed together, forcing would-be
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enemies to team up to find their friends, and learn more about the Empire's evil plot
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involving the crystals, and their destiny as the Warriors of Light and Darkness. It's
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a pretty safe and simple story for Final Fantasy, but the overall presentation for Dimensions
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really sets it apart, and characters are a lot more fun and interesting than some of
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the older game’s main cast. Nacht is cold, distant, and seems like a very troubled character,
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while Alba is fun, goofy, and has the best lines in the game.
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Controlling characters on the map is simple, a d-pad that can appear anywhere your finger
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touches the display, or set to be in a fixed position. It's a little slippery to get the
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hang of for someone like me who just got an iPhone a few months ago, but since this isn't
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a precision focused plat former, it works nicely.
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It wouldn't be a Final Fantasy game without a great battle system though, and Dimensions
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doesn't disappoint. All the great staples of a Final Fantasy games are here, from the
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Active Time Battle system to the stat changing magic spells and abilities, the battles feel
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perfectly at home, and veterans of the series will immediately pick up on familiar monster
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and boss tactics. The menu options are nice and big for your fingers to tap to select
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options and commands, and the fact that you do you have to tap twice to confirm your selection
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may seem a little annoying at first, but since it's their to make sure you don't accidently
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cast Curaja when you meant to cast Holy or something is very handy. The overall difficulty
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is with some of the bosses, so there is going to be a little grinding involved, but I didn't
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find it that annoying. Final Fantasy Dimensions also features the
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best Job system the series has seen yet. Each of the two parties gain different jobs as
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the story progresses, and characters allocate job points to increase the max level of each
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job. While you can't allocate AP for certain abilities and must stick with the planned
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progression of each jobs states and ability growth, the system is very easy to use and
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master. The combinations are fun, and fans of Final Fantasy 5 or other games will feel
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right at home with the Job system. The biggest drawback for Dimensions is the
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investment. And not just with time; you can buy the whole game for about 30 dollars, or
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try it out in chunks, buying each separately. By around Chapter 3, I had spent about 18
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hours in the game, with still a lot more to go. It may seem like a lot of cash, but considering
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Dimensions is a fully fledged old-school final fantasy game, I think it's worth the Gil.
