Final Fantasy Resonance is a game that will go down in history as the series' first HD-2D release. After spending many years using the system to develop the Octopath Traveler series, remakes of classics such as Live A Live and Dragon Quest I through III, and unique titles such as the adventure game The Adventures of Elliot, the engine has finally been put to use for Square Enix's flagship series. Though it touts itself as a completely new, original game, there's a little more to the story than just that. The reality is that Final Fantasy Resonance is a new Final Fantasy title, but it used the previously released mobile title Final Fantasy Brave Exvius as a roadmap. That being said, Resonance is not Brave Exvius in the traditional sense, meaning it is a game perfect for both newcomers and Brave Exvius fans alike, with plenty of surprises in store for both.
Ahead of the game's release, Square Enix gave us here at Netto's Game Room the opportunity to play through the game and see what it was all about for ourselves. As a fan of JRPGs myself, and having played the vast majority of the Final Fantasy series, there's no denying I was curious since the game's initial announcement, but I also didn't fully know what to expect. I'll admit Brave Exvius didn't hold my attention back when it first released, and even some of my all-time favorite JRPGs eventually reached a point where I had to step away and take a break from them for a while. With Square Enix giving us plenty of time to review Resonance, which we are extremely grateful for, I expected the same to happen here; however, what actually happened surprised me.
Final Fantasy Resonance became a game that I spent nearly a month playing at least a little each day, and when I was busy with other obligations, I found myself thinking back to it quite often. Even after the credits rolled, I instantly dove back in to scour the entire world to locate every secret, and complete all of the additional content. That is something that hasn't happened to me with a JRPG in quite some time, and it reminded me of my teenage years when I first discovered the series. Back then, I didn't know what to expect either, and each day was a new adventure in a world I didn't want to leave. With its fast-moving pace and large number of story arcs, Resonance captures that same style and, in some ways, feels as though we've truly stepped back in time.
Maybe the game will not resonate with others in the same way, but for many, this just might be the title you've been waiting years for.
Adapting Brave Exvius into Something New:
To be completely upfront about the story, Final Fantasy Resonance is in fact Brave Exvius at its core. Rather than recreating it exactly as it was, however, it feels as if Brave Exvius was used as the team's internal design document, which is something the public rarely gets to see. Here, characters are planned out, storyboards and timelines are detailed, and the general direction of the game and story is established. Of course, with this initial planning, nothing is fully set in stone, and adjustments are made throughout the actual development process. If the timeline or specific events fit in better somewhere else, then they get changed. And if a character's actions or dialogue simply feel off due to their personality and character growth, then that is corrected as well. This is part of the natural progression of game development, and it is exactly what has happened here with Resonance.
While there are key points that Resonance must hit from Brave Exvius, the overall presentation has been completely revamped with fully voiced main dialogue, cinematic cutscenes, and countless story scenes that are exclusive to Resonance and not featured in the original. Moving away from the mobile game format means story moments must now flow smoothly from one to the next; rather than being broken up into episodes and dialogue scenes that merely imply the adventure, we get to see everything unfold for ourselves in classic JRPG fashion. This means physically walking to locations, talking to NPCs along the way, progressing through completely new story events, and listening to voice lines from the new party chat system. Beyond this, the pieces of the original script has been recreated with improved writing and storytelling, and events have been structured to feel more naturally. Though players of Brave Exvius will remember key plot points, the journey to reach those moments is vastly different.
As for the story structure itself, it adopts the faster-paced style seen in many of the classics. While newer entries in the series tend to take things slower, Resonance features dozens of fast-hitting moments that leave a lasting impression. While these scenes might not stand out quite as much as Cecil transforming into a Paladin in Final Fantasy IV or the Opera Scene in Final Fantasy VI, they are all still memorable and feel grander than their brief runtime suggests. Take, for example, the simple scene where our protagonists board a train: they step on, you can speak to the other passengers, and then a sudden encounter forces the party to abandon ship. Only a few minutes are spent there, but those are impactful minutes that help bring the overall adventure to life. Of course, there are side stories and other activities to partake in if you want to slow down and take a minute, but overall this faster speed persists throughout the entire experience. By the end, you will feel as though you have gone on a true journey, which is exactly the feeling you want out of a JRPG.
With that being said, there is no denying that the story will hit differently for each player. While the cast of characters is great and the overall plot is enjoyable, there are moments that lean heavily into standard anime tropes common in long-running mobile titles. A few foreshadowing moments also do not land as hard as they could have because the game likes to drop pieces of new information only to reveal a plot twist minutes later. These revelations are usually first hinted at using flashbacks, which could have easily been placed earlier in the plot to give the reveals more weight. Overall, this is just a minor gripe in a story that kept me hooked from beginning to end.
Outside of these minor grievances, fans will be happy to know that the classic Final Fantasy humor and storytelling are fully intact, complete with exaggerated facial expressions on the sprites themselves. The story can be serious when it needs to be, with some darker themes being explored right from the get-go when our main protagonist, Rain, is forced to kill the soldiers who once worked under him. However, there are also plenty of lighthearted moments that will bring a smile to your face. The banter and general arguing among characters like Lasswell, Lid, and Jake help the party feel more alive, cutting the tension before diving too deeply into melodrama. Seeing Jake get bashed in the head and sent flying because he made a pass at one of the girls might get a chuckle out of you, but having a fully animated fight play out between Lasswell and Lid's mechanical chocobo in the background while the rest of the group discusses the current situation in the foreground is quite the sight to see. These details are just a few of the many ways the game gets players to fall in love with its cast, making it harder to say goodbye when the journey comes to an end. Though, considering the game is based on a mobile title that ran for four seasons over ten years in Japan and eight in the West, is this truly the end?
I will not reveal any more of the story itself, however, as much of the fun comes from not knowing what will happen next. That said, players of the mobile title will unfortunately not have this full sense of mystery. While the vast majority of the adventure is new, as mentioned previously, the core plot has not been completely revamped, so many of the major spoilers remain exactly the same. Nevertheless, there is still plenty to uncover, making it well worth experiencing even if this isn't your first go-around with the story. Additionally, players can expect to encounter many of the Final Fantasy staples, and newcomers to the series will get to see them for the first time. No past knowledge is required, as this is a standalone game set within its own universe, so if any of this sounds appealing, feel free to jump right in. If you are new, however, you might want to consider skipping the additional text displayed when unlocking Visions, as it contains plot spoilers for mainline games up through Final Fantasy XVI—just a friendly heads-up.
Exploring the World of Resonance:
As previously mentioned, Final Fantasy Resonance is an HD-2D title that uses the classic character sprite style and tile sets, but applies them to a 3D world. Using this style, the game features a fixed camera angle that dynamically follows characters and adapts as they explore, with some locations mimicking the pre-rendered background style popular during the PlayStation era—where the camera remains completely fixed while characters run into the distance. This is the style players can expect throughout the entire experience as they explore the vast world.
When it comes to actual exploration, Resonance features all of the staples from the first nine mainline entries in the Final Fantasy series, including a few surprises I never expected to see again. Towns typically serve as your main hub, with a different town centered in each chapter containing all of the necessities for your journey. Inns allow you to heal and revive your party for a small fee, item shops provide the essentials needed to survive battles, and the weapon and armor shop allows you to purchase new gear and accessories. Beyond this, NPCs can be spoken to in order to learn more about the world and current events, and side quests or full side stories can be activated by meeting the right conditions. Thankfully, important characters and side quests have icons above their heads to eliminate guesswork, though not every quest's progression is so black and white. Sometimes these characters will simply guide you in the right direction, leaving the final piece of the puzzle for you to discover.
Towns also hide additional items to obtain, including new weapons or armor, many of which are cleverly hidden off-camera. This replicates the "false walls" found in classic Final Fantasy titles, which would often tease players with a visible treasure chest and no obvious way to reach it. Although the game features a mini-map, which can be turned off for anyone who wants a pure retro experience, hidden passages are not displayed until you enter them, meaning players will still need to explore.
Upon leaving a town, players are brought to the World Map, which gives our protagonist, Rain, a semi-open continent to explore, complete with miniature-scale towns, caves, and dungeons to enter simply by running into them. Hidden items can be discovered out here as well, and random enemy encounters will pop up from time to time. Similar to other HD-2D titles, a pulsing green-to-red circle on the mini-map alerts you when these random encounters are about to occur, though it can also be disabled for those looking for the original random encounter experience.
Outside of simply walking to your next destination, a ridable Chocobo becomes unlocked very early on and can be summoned at any time with the press of a button. In addition, every location entered on the world map is logged as a fast-travel spot and can be instantly warped to either by clicking on it via the map menu or by selecting it from your list of visited locations. This means you can stop by every area you see before the game directs you there, and then quickly return with another press of a button. It saves a lot of time in the long run and is highly recommended, though you are not forced to use it. Every location in the game can be accessed either on foot or by taking boats from port towns, so if you truly want to stick to classic Final Fantasy gameplay, that option is always available.
As previously mentioned, outside of towns, dungeons and caves can also be found across the world map. Every continent you visit typically has three Vision Crystal caves, multiple story-related dungeons, and extra boss locations. For these side bosses and Vision Crystals, the "dungeons" are simply single rooms that serve their purpose, and that is it. While it is a bit of a shame they are not more substantial, they do their job, and having to complete full extra dungeons just to fight a boss or pick up a Vision might have made the game feel too bloated. Instead, they are quick pit stops that unlock additional travel points, and the bosses themselves can be revisited later if you are under-leveled. As for the actual dungeons, the vast majority are story-based, with some containing side paths for extra rewards later on. They are traditional JRPG style dungeons as well, completely doing away with what Brave Exvius featured, which felt more like generic challenge stages.
Similar to past titles, some function as ways to access additional parts of the world, such as the caves or forest paths that must be passed through, but others contain main story bosses, and a clear goal you must accomplish to move on. Many are straightforward paths with branching routes for treasure chests, but others contain full puzzles to solve as well. While none are overly challenging, they require some thought to navigate, and enemies are always more than willing to interrupt you. Thankfully, multiple save points are located throughout each area, typically hinting that a major boss fight is about to occur while also allowing for fast travel back to the entrance if needed. Overall, the dungeons themselves are enjoyable, even if they do not offer anything mind-blowing.
After a specific chapter, the iconic Final Fantasy airship becomes unlocked, and things get much more interesting. Once aboard the airship, the game replicates the Super Nintendo's Mode 7 graphics, where the world map's camera angle shifts to focus on the horizon and we are given complete control over the ship with a full 3D camera that can be rotated. From there, any flat surface can be landed on, including tiny islands separate from the main continents and areas that were originally blocked off by mountains. This is where additional hidden items or locations can be discovered as the game truly opens up. Up until then, Resonance mostly focuses on the main story alongside a handful of side quests and bosses to take on, but with the full world map at the ready, players are free to explore and discover new secrets for themselves. While icons still display where a new event is available, not all of them are so explicit.
Additionally, the inside of the airship can be explored, allowing you to converse with your party members and pursue character-specific quests. These are not required for the main story, but completing them often unlocks new features and major stat boosts for the characters themselves. Ultimately, they are well worth doing, though they can be tackled at your own leisure.
Of course, all of this is only half of the overall experience.
The Battle System, Character Customization and Visions:
Outside of exploring the world and following along with the story, a large chunk of Final Fantasy Resonance will be spent in battle and customizing your characters.
Rather than using the Active Time Battle system from earlier titles, Resonance uses more traditional turn-based mechanics, similar to what was seen in Final Fantasy X. Each character's turn order is determined by their stats and abilities, and a timeline at the top of the screen lets you know the turn order of the enemies as well. Using this information, players can carefully plan out their attacks and skill usage, but they can also use it as a guide to help avoid incoming enemy moves. In addition to standard turn-based mechanics, the game uses the stagger system featured in Final Fantasy XIII and the VII Remake series, which lets you knock an enemy off balance by attacking and depleting a bar located under their health. Once staggered, the enemy loses their turn, allowing you to unleash your entire party to deal extra damage and finish things off by summoning a Vision to use their Resonance attack. This is a great strategy to take down your foes, but with smart use of buffs, debuffs, and triggering the stagger at the correct moment, you can fully take advantage of the mechanic to unleash a devastating blow and turn the tide of battle in your favor—assuming you have enough MP. Before then, however, it is important to understand not just your main party, but the Visions as well, which will make all the difference.
Visions are collectible crystals that serve as Resonance's version of Final Fantasy VI's Esper mechanic, while also replacing a more traditional class system. Although each character has a default class assigned to them, equipping a Vision unlocks a second set of skills and abilities. Visions are obtained by entering their respective caves across the map, where answering a few questions makes them yours for the taking. While most are based on characters from Final Fantasy's past—Warrior of Light, Firion, Onion Knight, Bartz, Cecil, Terra, Cloud, Squall, Zidane, Tidus, Shantotto, Vaan, Lightning, Y'shtola, Noctis, and Clive—others are original characters met during Resonance's story itself. Once obtained, they can be equipped to any of your party members, granting access to their signature attacks and passive abilities in battle—rather than serving as your party like in the original Brave Exvius. For example, equipping Squall to Lasswell gives him access to fire-based moves alongside his main ice-focused set, allowing him to cover more elemental weaknesses. Continuing to use these Visions in battle levels them up and unlocks new passive abilities, with the stat boosts remaining permanent. Once an ability is unlocked, it can be equipped to your characters using AP, so their benefits remain even after removing a Vision. Eventually, Visions can be upgraded further using Magicite obtained from quests or hidden in the world, unlocking additional, stronger attacks. Finally, leveling a Vision to level 9 unlocks its essence, which consists of all its abilities combined. This allows players to use a single ability slot to gain all of its benefits, though the AP requirement itself is much higher.
Given how the Vision system functions, the game encourages players to continuously switch between them whenever possible. Reaching level 5 with a Vision is relatively quick and provides multiple stat boosts and abilities along the way. By swapping your pool of Visions among characters upon reaching this point, you can keep everyone's stats up and have your party ready for whatever situation arises. With a retry option available and save points in front of each major boss fight, it isn't too big of a deal to swap out Visions and customize a party to gain the upper hand. If a boss is weak to water, simply equip Visions with water magic and skills beforehand. Of course, you can swap out abilities and experiment with various pieces of equipment and accessories as well, so players should never become truly stuck. For those wanting more of a challenge, Hard Mode is available to select at any time, but even Easy and Normal require proper planning. Although some weak enemy mobs can be taken out using the basic default attack, this isn't a game you can simply button-mash your way through, especially around the level 30 to 40 range. Here, even normal encounters must be approached as if they were mini-bosses, which was common in classic Final Fantasy titles as well.
Stepping aside from Visions and looking at the party members themselves, they too are all unique. Again, each has a class assigned to them, but they also bring their own mechanics to battle. Rain and Lasswell are a bit more standard, but characters like Fina can make use of summons, while Lid teams up with her robotic chocobo, which continues to get upgraded through a line of side quests. It is these special traits that help make every character viable while providing players with countless options when building their party. By the end game, it is possible to have everyone leveled up with all skills and abilities unlocked, but it isn't a simple matter of "using what is best," because there is truly no single correct setup. Obviously, some builds will outclass others, but it is this freedom that makes the battle system so engaging and personally kept me coming back for more. Eventually, I landed on my own favorites, but right up until the end, I kept the party and their Visions on constant rotation.
In addition to everything else, items in Final Fantasy Resonance play a critical role, especially on higher difficulties. Since nearly every skill requires the use of MP, having plenty of MP-refreshing items and healing potions is a must. Tents can be used at save points to fully restore your party, and special attack or buff items can sometimes be enough to turn around a difficult situation. Undead monsters can be eliminated much faster by throwing healing items at them, and the resurrecting Phoenix Down can bring your party back from the brink, even if the dedicated healer is the one who needs saving. Ultimately, there are so many items to choose from, and it is up to you as the player to decide when and how to use them—or whether to hoard them all until the credits roll because you never know when a more dire situation might arise.
Additional Content and Beyond:
At the end of the day, after following the main story and taking on countless battles, there is still more to see and do. Resonance continues to drip-feed new content as each chapter unlocks, and players can decide for themselves when they want to step away and see what else the game has to offer.
While there isn't much in the way of minigames here, outside of the surprising return of Final Fantasy IX's jump rope game, there is a full battle arena to work your way through and multiple side quest lines that open up new in-game features. Some of these stories are a bit generic, but many of them are a fun distraction from the main plot. Tracking down the Espers—this title's versions of summons—can be a nice little challenge that will further aid you during the main game, and of course taking on the extra bosses can be a lot of fun as well. Additionally, there are hidden collectibles found throughout the world, and turning them in will reward the party with unique items and equipment—making the hunt worthwhile. Fans of the series will be happy to learn the dimension-hopping Gilgamesh has returned as well, complete with his over-the-top humor and joke boss fights along the way! These are just some of the extras you can look forward to during the course of the game, with plenty more to be encountered.
Although a standard playthrough might only last around 30 to 40 hours, that time can be extended, especially if you attempt to do everything. By the time I completed the game—which meant searching every square inch of the world to find hidden items, dungeons, bosses, weapons, and more—I had reached the 55-hour mark. Of course, this included some grinding to prepare myself for the final challenges, but as with most RPGs, there's a location that makes this process quite a bit faster. Overall, I only spent roughly two hours grinding and maxing out the Visions before the final extra fight, as simply playing the game and fighting everything along the way was more than enough to get me where I needed to be. Grinding early on is also pretty pointless when Visions and characters level up so quickly upon reaching each new area, but those who love the grind are always free to do so—though I personally recommend finding the Cactuar spawn points, which allow you to cap out Visions rather quickly. They become accessible surprisingly early on, with additional, faster ones unlocking on each continent you visit.
That said, with all of its extras and side content, Resonance never overstays its welcome, and by the time the final challenge is overcome, don't be too surprised if you already want to jump back in for a second playthrough. Those who played on Normal, or even Easy, the first time through can always come back on a harder difficulty, while those who began on Hard can try it all again with a newfound understanding of the game and its mechanics. There are plenty of party and Vision combinations to test out as well, so there are many ways to make future playthroughs more interesting. This is just another way Resonance captures that classic RPG magic.
Should you play it?
Final Fantasy Resonance is a game that ended up being more than I ever imagined.
While I can nitpick it for not fully replicating the classic Final Fantasy experience by featuring a more condensed world map, or bring up the fact that side quests are not fully voiced like in the previous HD-2D title, The Adventures of Elliot, neither point is actually an "issue," nor do they hold the game back from being what it truly is: an excellent modern take on the classic RPGs that defined an era.
With an engaging cast of characters, a narrative that vastly improves upon its source material, and addictively fun gameplay mechanics, Resonance delivers practically everything a fan of the genre could ask for. Yet it does far more than check off standard RPG boxes; it retains its own identity that feels distinctly fresh. A lot of this adventure will certainly remind players of "the good old days" as it builds upon fan-favorite mechanics, but it also stands on its own as an ideal entry point for newcomers to both the series and the genre.
While including past Final Fantasy characters as Visions wasn't necessary, as they easily could have been replaced with original characters, they serve as nice fanservice for those who have stuck with the series over the years. In fact, this guest roster is the only part suggesting the game is aimed at longtime fans, while everything else establishes it as a standout entry in the long-running franchise—one players have waited years to experience. From traversing the world map and exploring towns to taking down enemies with classic turn-based combat and watching the story unfold, every step of this journey was an absolute joy, and I truly never wanted it to end. Again, I wasn't someone who enjoyed the original mobile title, but with Resonance, I found a new favorite.
Overall, Final Fantasy Resonance is an unforgettable return to the golden age of turn-based RPGs and HD-2D at its absolute finest.
VERDICT: Essential
Reviewed on PlayStation 5
Review Copy was Provided
Available On: Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch 2, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC
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