Best Mistwalker game

summation

• Founded by Sakaguchi, Mistwalker focuses on RPGs with a unique twist, from AAA consoles to simple mobile games.

• The Terra Wars and Blue Dragon series feature unique gameplay and visuals, but some games lack depth and are unimpressive.

• Fantasian, a visually stunning diorama-style game from Mistwalker, combines familiar gameplay systems with a unique twist to create a new experience.

Hironobu Sakaguchi rose to fame as the co-creator of the original Final Fantasy series and was a pivotal name in the growth of Square Enix. After spending most of his early career with the company, he left to found Mistwalker Corporation, a studio dedicated to creating classic RPGs with a unique twist.

Mistwalker has created a variety of games, from AAA console games to simple mobile games. Some are led by Sakaguchi and some are led by other members of the team. The only thing you can be sure of is that, most of the time, you're getting some warm help from an RPG. Now let’s go into their game.

14

party wave

Sometimes we make small games to make some extra money between big releases because we want to try something new, and sometimes we genuinely think it's a good idea. Party Wave is one of those games, but it's not that good.

It's not incredibly terrible or anything, it's just incredibly uninteresting. This is a game that can only be described as an action surfing game where you ride side-scrolling waves and avoid obstacles such as jellyfish. It's a very simple game and is only for mobile.

13

blade guardian

12

Blade Guardian, a genre we don't see many games about these days, is a tower defense game. However, it's not a particularly interesting tower defense game either. Mobile touchscreens can help with building and planning, but there aren't many other advantages here.

I have nothing more to say. You deploy defenses to combat the Alains that surround your base, but not everything actually evolves beyond that.

11

Away: Shuffle Dungeon

Away: Shuffle Dungeon is an interesting little game. Made for the DS, the game puts you in the role of a boy named Sword who is trying to find the source of the 'Away' curse, a force that causes someone in his village to disappear every year. It has a poppy color scheme and a captivating dungeon crawling mechanic.

You must traverse the dungeon by alternating between two screens before the area moves. This is an incredibly clever way to utilize the DS's dual screens, but it's a gimmick that wears off over time.

10

ASH: Ancient Sealed Heat

ASH: Archaic Sealed Heat (a really cool title) is the second game Mistwalker created and the first he conceptualized. A DS exclusive, the game is heavily influenced by classic RPGs in its design, but adds some unique visual special effects. First of all, character battle portraits use CG models instead of typical sprites.

The gameplay lies somewhere between a typical JRPG combat system and a tactical game. You engage in turn-based combat against enemies, but must navigate grid-based areas while managing multiple teams. I may not succeed at everything, but I have some truly unique ideas.

9

Terra Wars

Terra Wars, a spin-off of the larger Terra Battle series, took the series in a slightly different direction. Trading grid-based combat for sprites, Terra Wars uses claymation characters in a more active combat system.

Somewhat similar to Final Fantasy 7's Fort Condor, units you deploy will automatically advance and target. It's a visually very interesting game, but overall it lacks depth.

Aside from its interesting visuals, the game is best known for its collaboration quest with Final Fantasy 15.

8

Terra Battle 2

Terra Battle 2, like its predecessor, is a grid-based card battle game. Each character is a card in its own right, and combat is as much a stat-matching game as it is a puzzle game.

It was also a free-to-play title, and as a result it didn't last exceptionally long, leaving it as just another mobile game that's no longer accessible.

7

Terra Battle

Terra Battle 2 builds on the original Terra Battle in many ways, but doesn't make a special effort to set itself apart. So if you liked Terra Battle 2, the original Terra Battle was basically the same.

The most notable aspect of the game was its launch model. While it was free to play with in-game microtransactions, it also provided major updates to players who downloaded ggame. It included new music by Nobuo Uematsu, Yoko Shimomura, and Yasunori Mitsuda.

6

Blue Dragon: Shadow Awakens

Of all the games Mistwalker has made, the Blue Dragon series is probably the best known. While the original Blue Dragon is easily the most loved, the other two entries are no less impressive, if not more so.

Awakened Shadow is the third entry in the series and was released exclusively for DS. It was a significant departure from previous works, utilizing real-time combat and a customizable protagonist. Not all of these changes worked, but at least they tried to be different.

5

Blue Dragon Plus

It's better than Blue Dragon, but what makes Blue Dragon better? Mistwalker doesn't tend to make many sequels or spinoffs, with the exception of Terra Battle. Blue Dragon Plus is the first game in the DS series, so many elements have been changed to fit the new platform.

This is a real-time strategy game where characters advance along a grid-based area and fight enemies. A unique visual touch lies in the eponymous blue dragon, which appears as a 3D model in contrast to all other sprites.

4

blue dragon

It is the first game in the Blue Dragon series, and the first game Hironobu Sakaguchi worked on after leaving Square Enix. Like many of Mistwalker's titles, this game takes many of the JRPG mechanics you know and love and adds a bit of flair. Not content with just Dragon Quest, Akira Toriyama became the protagonist and enemy designer of Blue Dragon.

In addition to the gorgeous visuals, each character's shadow is a core gameplay mechanic, functioning like a variety of classes that can be combined. Blue Dragon has been an Xbox exclusive throughout its existence, but at least it hasn't faded away with time.

3

last story

Following a massive fan campaign that helped bring the game west for the first time following Nintendo's rejection, The Last Story was the first and only Mistwalker game made for the Wii. This is one of the most unique games Mistwalker has ever made, and they had a hard time getting it to look that good on the Wii in the first place.

The Last Story is a completely real-time game that utilizes a party of six characters. You play solely as Zael, giving orders to other party members and manipulating the environment to defeat enemies. It mixes real-time strategy with many elements from previous RPGs to create a game like no other.

2

lost odyssey

Another Xbox exclusive from Mistwalker, Lost Odyssey is probably the most obvious game in the Mistwalker catalog to be very heavily influenced by Final Fantasy games, especially those that Sakaguchi worked on.

In combat, every action is decided before it is performed, rather than one by one. It also includes some real-time elements similar to Final Fantasy 8, allowing you to control the power of your attacks with just the right timing. There's also excellent camera work done during the fights, adding real weight to the action.

1

fantasia

Mistwalker's latest and greatest game, Fantasian, is visually unlike any other game in the gaming industry. Every single environment is created as an actual diorama, giving the game a look and feel that cannot be matched digitally. The gameplay also feels well-suited to mobile, taking advantage of the fine precision you get when you actually aim with your finger.

The overall system isn't exactly new, but it has that typical Mistwalker feel of taking a familiar system and changing it to make it familiar enough that you can learn something new. And it's always a visual feast.