Blue Protocol: Star Resonance is publisher A Plus’ second go at releasing the Blue Protocol franchise globally. The initial release attempt was simply named Blue Protocol, which closed its servers in Japan after less than two years on January 18, 2025 and shuttered the plans for a global release. Blue Protocol: Star Resonance is its successor whose global closed beta test (CBT) is coming to a close this Sunday, September 7, 2025. An anime-style MMORPG, it incorporates collaborative combat with flashy aesthetics and a gacha system for limited fashion pieces.
Note: All content within this article is based upon CBT playtime, and is not indicative of the final product.
The initial failure of Blue Protocol to release in the west has always been a lingering question in the back of my mind. With Star Resonance’s CBT, an opportunity was presented to me that I knew I had to take hold of. As an avid fan of and raider in Final Fantasy XIV, I couldn’t resist the call of an MMO and the opportunity to test the combat system. While character creation is always fun, and I’m excited to see where the story leads upon its official release, combat was the thing that excited me most. (Please note that there are other aspects of the CBT which will not be discussed in this article, including the story content, side quests, housing, and the gacha aspect.)
The combat in Star Resonance is, put simply, very visually appealing. The aesthetics are undoubtedly flashy, with the different classes all feeling distinctive from one another. The class I chose was Stormblade, which is conveniently a recently featured class on the Star Resonance X (formerly known as Twitter) account. It’s a flashy DPS role that utilizes a longsword or scythe paired with lightning. The style (subclass) I chose, Iado Style, deals big damage in one large attack. The account has also recently teased the Soul Musician class, which is a support class with buff and healing utilities and who attacks with a guitar. Other classes are available for preview on the official Star Resonance website.
Combat feels fast and consists of a few things that feel familiar and reflect my experiences in FFXIV, at least on a base level: combos, resource management, and dodging enemy AOEs. It also sneaks in things like perfect dodges and specific attack counters, which may be familiar to those who’ve played Wuthering Waves. Bosses — both in dungeon and overworld — feel fun to do, especially with friends, the combat feels relatively unique, and the greatest difficulty comes from the lack of a designated class to resurrect downed teammates, especially in hard dungeons.
Executing combat with the job, however, may feel repetitive or boring to individuals used to rows and rows of hotkeys to press for combat. The number of skills and abilities specific to the job that are available during an instance of combat round out at a healthy six, and despite needing proper execution of the combo and rotation to deal the most damage, it can begin to feel mind numbing for those used to having more buttons to press. I personally found it an opportunity to focus more on mechanics, which present themselves with enough difficulty to not feel extremely easy on the first go and present the opportunity for higher difficulty. This brings me to my final note.
The content available through the Star Resonance CBT was timegated, as one would expect from a team looking to collect as much feedback as possible. This made the most difficult content available during CBT, the 20-man raids, a lofty goal for many players due to the gear grind necessary to be competitive in the fight and the time available to clear it. As one of the last waves to gain access to the CBT, the 20-man raids will remain a goal for the future, along with the Master difficulty dungeons which are expected with the full release of the game.
Overall, combat in Star Resonance feels flashy, punchy, and fun, and provides a new option for those seeking an MMO to grind out solo or with friends, particularly with the cross-platform availability. Additionally, only a fraction of the regions, dungeons, bosses, and raids available in the final release were accessible during the CBT, and those waiting for the game will have a lot of content to look forward to, even if they were able to catch a glimpse of what was available through videos or live streams. Star Resonance is set to release in October 2025.