Since introducing the HD-2D almost a decade ago now, fans have been clamoring for Square Enix to implement the style for a Final Fantasy game. Now, their wishes have been granted with the first entry in the series in HD-2D is here with Final Fantasy Resonance. Similar to the last HD-2D game Octopath Traveler 0 last year, Final Fantasy Resonance is a reimagining/remake of a mobile game. For this game, it was the mobile game Final Fantasy Brave Exvius which was shut down last year in Japan and back in 2024 elsewhere in the world. As someone, who had never touched Final Fantasy Brave Exvius, all of it was brand new to me, and you would never guess that this game was a mobile game in its former life.
Before starting Final Fantasy Resonance, I did give Final Fantasy Brave Exvius a quick glance just to get a sense of style of the game. That game looked like a mobile game. However, Final Fantasy Resonance strips away the look and feel of a mobile game and instead turns the game into a more traditional turn based RPG in the vein of the classic games and very similar to the Octopath Traveler series. This is also easily the most cinematic a HD-2D game has ever been with impressive cutscenes and beautiful animations in battle. It’s incredible to see how much the developers at Square Enix have pushed what they can do in the HD-2D style since its inception.
For the story of Final Fantasy Resonance, the game adapts the first arc of Final Fantasy Brave Exvius. The story itself follows two knights Rain and Laswell who discover a evil plot to destroy all the elemental crystals scattered throughout the world. After their home is attacked by a villainous group calling themselves the “Sworn Six,” they are saved by a mysterious girl named Fina. From there, the three venture off to stop the Sworn Six from destroying the other crystals. This is a very classic Final Fantasy story, and you could name multiple entries that have their stories tied to the destruction of important crystals in the world. Thus, Final Fantasy Resonance isn’t treading any new water from a narrative standpoint for the series.
Where the story does shine is with the characters. The main trio are are a delight and have great chemistry with each other. Then, the other characters you meet along the way fit into the party’s dynamic perfectly. One thing I love about the Final Fantasy VII remake series is how silly and goofy the party can be with each other as the silliness brings tons of levity to the serious situation those characters find themselves in. Final Fantasy Resonance has this in spades. There’s ton of teasing between the characters in cutscenes or in the optional “Active Time Chat” which can accessed at any time while exploring. There were plenty of times throughout the game that had me genuinely laughing from what was happening. All this endears you to the characters and that’s important for any RPG.
For combat, as aforementioned, Final Fantasy Resonance features a classic turn based combat system which many fans have been begging for the series to return to in some form or fashion. You can have four main party members who all have specific traits (that are a bit similar to classes in other games) which highlight what type of role in combat they excel at. This also pairs well with the game’s Visions mechanic.Visions are straight from the mobile game and feature protagonists and others from the different entries across the series. These Visions can be mixed and match with which character you equip them to and have traits that either complement a character or can provide additional combat options. As you level up Visions, you can equip specific abilities from them to your characters which allows you to swap between different ones to build out your characters in unique ways. Unfortunately, due to how strong Visions can be, they do make some of the party’s magic and other abilities feel tame and weaker in comparison. Thus, you can end up just using Vision abilities the entirety of combat.
Combat itself takes plenty of notes from the Octopath Traveler games with needing to exploit enemies’ weaknesses to stagger them. Once staggered, they lose their turn and you gain bonus actions to deal more damage. If all enemies are staggered you can unleash Vision abilities that do massive damage to the enemies along with some having additional effects such as healing the party or increasing defense. Each character also has a limit gague that builds up to unleash a powerful move on the enemies. There are also accessability options such as difficulty you can change on the fly as well as a battle speed up option.
Overall, Final Fantasy Resonance knocks it out of the park for the franchise’s first foray into the HD-2D art style. Being the most cinematic HD-2D game and being a turn based RPG with tons of variety in combat, Final Fantasy Resonance took a mobile game and made it something any fan of the franchise should dive into. Final Fantasy Resonance is the perfect first step for Square Enix to dabble with expanding the series in new ways without impacting the next numbered entry. Rather that be adapting Final Fantasy Brave Exvius‘s other story arcs into their own games, remake classic titles or make a completely new entry in the series in the HD-2D style, Final Fantasy has so many ways it can go now.
Score: 8 out of 10
Reviewed on PlayStation 5
