Dungeon Antiqua series coming back with FF2 and Romancing SaGa-inspired prequel Dungeon Antiqua ZERO, set to launch in 2027 

Japanese indie developer frenchbread (not to be confused with Melty Blood developer French-Bread) has announced via X that their studio Shiromofu Factory has begun work on Dungeon Antiqua ZERO, a prequel that will serve as the final chapter in the Dungeon Antiqua series. The game is currently set to be released in the fall of 2027. 

The Dungeon Antiqua series is billed as a cross between classic Final Fantasy and Wizardry games, with retro style pixel artwork and combat-heavy dungeon crawling gameplay. While the first game had an art-style clearly derived from the NES/Famicom era, and the second was distinctly modeled after the Japan-exclusive Super Famicom version of Final Fantasy V and Romancing SaGa, the trailer accompanying Dungeon Antiqua ZERO’s announcement showcases an all-new look, featuring more detailed character sprites in the vein of Squaresoft’s later SNES/Super Famicom classics. 

In a departure from the pure dungeon crawling of the original Dungeon Antiqua and its sequel, the trailer also showcases overworld exploration and fully navigable towns reminiscent of popular console RPGs of the 80s and 90s. New party members belonging to a variety of fantasy races (fairies, dwarves, et al.) can be recruited by the player to brave the various dungeons in this new adventure, which consist of environments such as forests, snowy plains, caverns, and towers according to the trailer. The combat system has also been overhauled, now featuring an on-screen linear depiction of the turn order for player characters and enemies alike.  

One major change to the gameplay systems in Dungeon Antiqua ZERO is how character progression works. The first two titles utilized an interchangeable character job system similar to those seen in Final Fantasy III and V, but this new entry advertises a more modular, freeform approach to character growth closer to Final Fantasy II and the Romancing SaGa series. Instead of restricting characters to a single specialized class at a time, their growth is determined by how players guide them – for example, a character who uses lots of spells will naturally grow more skilled in magic arts, while one who focuses on melee combat will strengthen their raw damage output and defensive stats. This approach, which may also sound familiar to fans of Bethesda’s Elder Scrolls games, allows for complete player freedom in how they choose to build their party and tackle the game’s challenges. 

As a prequel, Dungeon Antiqua ZERO is set in the same world as its predecessors, with a story that takes place before the events of either. Although there are sure to be references to the series’ prior entries, frenchbread notes that the game is being designed to be approachable to first-time players as well as returning fans. 

The first two Dungeon Antiqua titles are available now on PC (Steam), Apple, and Android devices. Console ports for Switch, PS5 and Xbox Series X|S are also available courtesy of publisher AMATA. 

Related: “I went through hell” Dungeon Antique dev on how their game was wrongly flagged as a virus and blocked on Steam 

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