De:Fanastasis

De:Fanastasis is a long exploration-focused RPG set in the ruined kingdom of Kanon. You awaken in an unfamiliar place called the Prison Room and meet a girl named Emeralda, who tells you that your body is dead and you are now a Spirit with no memories. Recovering those memories will complete a resurrection ritual and restore your true form. Your main goal is to find four Memory Orbs in any order, while exploring as you choose or following clues across an expanding area. The main story and post-story scenario together take about 35–85 hours: 20–55 hours for the main story and 15–30 hours for the additional scenario.

Explore the kingdom

The kingdom contains countless hidden doors and passages, with clues found in oddities in the terrain or in the memories of the dead. Its many connected dungeons each have their own mechanisms. You can sometimes bypass an obstacle another way rather than solve its puzzle, and hidden areas may contain treasure chests, including red chests with equipment. You can find companions along the way, and most of the resources needed for the journey come from exploration.

Clues gathered in one place can connect with information found elsewhere. You do not need to remember everything, but details may lead to unexpected discoveries. Remnant thoughts scattered throughout the kingdom provide leads, reveal truths about people, or offer only local tales and the last words of the dead. An option can mark thoughts you have already viewed as read, while thoughts containing clues are recorded automatically in your notes.

Choose how to fight

All ordinary battles are optional. You can avoid monsters that block your path by using mechanisms, or overcome them with your build and levels. Equipment and companions found through exploration can let you defeat blocking bosses without gaining levels, and some bosses may not need to be fought at all. You can also level up to overpower monsters, but ordinary enemies have no unique drops and grinding is not required. As the adventure progresses, resources found during exploration can quickly bring companions' levels closer to yours.

Tools and abilities

The game includes features intended to help you focus on exploration, such as automatic basic mapping of areas you have visited, a loot log that tracks up to 8,000 acquired items, and automatic notes for important information and locked doors. Items over your carrying limit go to storage automatically, and used items are replenished from storage up to your carrying limit when you return to base. You can also use auto-battle, speed up battles, display messages instantly and take shortcuts to transit points. The only instant way back to base is death, so you need to learn the return routes.

As you progress, you can spend resources to learn special exploration abilities. These include getting boss information from the blood writing of the dead, learning an ancient language, slightly increasing your chance to escape, crafting useful consumables from ingredients, and viewing an overview of the kingdom.

Story and endings

The story's endings change in stages according to your decisions. Endings are not determined by play time, ordinary enemy defeats, progress in the bestiary or difficulty. If you keep separate saves before important decisions, you can see every ending in one playthrough; where you end your journey is also up to you.

An additional scenario starts automatically after a particular ending. It mainly fills in parts of the story and adds maps. Items and monsters that you miss remain available after clearing the game, so completion does not require a second playthrough; there are no carryover features or events and items exclusive to a second run.

DE edition content

The DE edition retains most of the original Fanastasis content and keeps its main story and endings unchanged. It adds and changes content mainly in the main story:

• Most maps have a changed appearance.
• New side-trip maps and remade existing maps add about six areas in total.
• Remnant thoughts have been added to both new and existing maps.
• The main story adds 12 bonus bosses.
• About 100 new items have been added.
• Exploration and combat have additional convenience features, including notes and state information.