FINAL FANTASY RESONANCE is a Delightful Return to the Collection’ Classic Roots

It’s 1996. I’m fortunately traversing through chocobo and airship a magical world stuffed with moogles, espers, crystals and magitek. I’m dazzled by the vibrant pixel artwork.

It’s 2026. I’m fortunately traversing through chocobo and airship a magical world stuffed with moogles, espers, crystals and magitek. I’m dazzled by the vibrant pixel artwork.

FINAL FANTASY RESONANCE is the first time that Sq. Enix has utilized its trademarked “HD-2D” fashion to its flagship franchise. Like in Triangle Technique and the Octopath Traveler video games, it combines expressive 2D pixel artwork sprites with 3D environments, cinematic cameras, dynamic lighting, particle results, and depth of area into a compelling, hybrid aesthetic.

A number of RPGs experimented with a related look again on the PS1 (together with Sq.’s personal Xenogears), and the HD-2D video games aren’t a lot a throwback as they’re emissaries from a parallel universe the place pixel artwork was by no means supplanted by full 3D and as an alternative advanced. With practically a decade of follow in the fashion, FINAL FANTASY RESONANCE is likely to be the finest and most pushed it’s seemed but.

The story is an adaptation of FINAL FANTASY BRAVE EXVIUS, a free-to-play cell gacha RPG that ran from 2015 to 2025, however this is no easy port or visible improve. Builders Sq. Enix and LANCARSE have constructed and balanced the fight/development methods and world anew on high of that unique story into a absolutely featured, single-player, single-purchase RPG. It’s a love letter to the sequence and a nostalgic return to its foundational roots with a fashionable improve, very similar to FINAL FANTASY IX did over 26 years in the past.

First Fantasy

FINAL FANTASY RESONANCE follows childhood pals Rain and Lasswell, knights for the idyllic Kingdom of Grandshelt. That idyll is shattered when a mysterious, highly effective, armored man assaults the fortress, steals a magical relic, and destroys the sacred Earth Crystal underneath the kingdom’s safety, throwing every part into chaos. Joined ultimately by Fina, an amnesiac spellcaster with some connection to all of this,  and a occasion of distinctive people every with their very own cause to cease the impending chaos, they set out to cease the Sworn Six from destroying the world’s different elemental Crystals, every protected in numerous lands.

Past being a visible throwback, this back-to-roots story is a direct return to the unique fashion of archetypal fantasy narrative that dominated the first 5 entries in the sequence earlier than FINAL FANTASY VI (my first and nonetheless private favourite) began to actually widen the dramatic and narrative scope of their storytelling ambitions. A celebration of 4 or extra heroes endeavors to save the world-infrastructural elemental Crystals from some nice peril. It’s a snug mythopoetic house that’s nonetheless very open-ended and simple to iterate for a classic-style RPG.

Like in the basic video games, the high-fantasy melodrama of the overarching plot is balanced out by a brighter tone that’s typically fairly lighthearted from scene to scene. This levity retains it enjoyable and simple to play via but additionally helps land the heavier emotional beats against this.

Everybody Line Up

As well as to returning to the sequence’ aesthetic and narrative roots, FINAL FANTASY RESONANCE is additionally going again to basic, menu-driven fight. It’s not even Lively-Time Battles, like the sequence iterated from FINAL FANTASY IV on, however absolutely turn-based, with a timeline on high of the display exhibiting the upcoming motion order of allies and enemies. This provides a satisfyingly strategic layer to fight as you may preemptively react to the enemy, prioritizing targets and minimizing incoming hurt.

A central new fight mechanic is that each enemy has a stagger meter. Each assault obtainable to you signifies proportionally how a lot harm it does to each well being and stagger. If you deplete an enemy’s stagger meter, they’re shocked, shedding their motion for the spherical and taking extra harm. The character that staggers an enemy will get a bonus motion at the finish of the spherical, and if you happen to stagger each surviving enemy, you set off a “sweeping stagger,” which provides your entire staff a bonus end-of-round motion.

Mixed with a basic framework of elemental weak point/resistance and standing results (poison, blind, silence, allure, and so forth.), with focusing on weaknesses doing extra well being and stagger harm, this creates a very satisfying old-school fight move. Characters additionally progress in a very conventional vogue, gaining predetermined stats and a mounted, distinctive checklist of expertise and spells as they degree up.

Visions of the Previous

Lest you are worried about a lack of customization, nonetheless, FINAL FANTASY RESONANCE has it in the type of Visions. These are the echoes of previous FINAL FANTASY characters who lend Rain and his allies their powers in battle. Thus far, I’ve seen the Warrior of Mild (I), Cloud (VII), Terra (VI) and Zidane (IX), with many extra left to discover scattered round the world in shrines. Every of your occasion members can have one Imaginative and prescient assigned at a time, gaining entry to their skills. Triggering a sweeping stagger additionally permits you to unleash its particular Resonance assault, full with a full 3D summon-style cutscene.

Preventing alongside Visions will increase that character’s mastery degree with them, unlocking extra skills, which may then be outfitted up to a mounted level restrict even with a totally different imaginative and prescient outfitted. The mix of a character’s base expertise and their Imaginative and prescient’s plus any others you’ve unlocked and outfitted, offers fairly a little bit of latitude in the way you assemble every character’s package, which I discovered myself situationally altering as I went to match the calls for of no matter dungeon I used to be in.

It’s the most evident echo of the sport’s gacha roots in FINAL FANTASY BRAVE EXVIUS, however stripped of all randomness and monetization. What’s left is simply the compelling hook of wanting to discover extra cool characters to play with, particularly if, like me, you will have a longstanding historical past with the video games. FINAL FANTASY RESONANCE is very rewarding to followers on the whole, at each degree chock-full of intelligent little nods and references to throughout the sequence’ entire historical past, like a bard you meet off-handedly describing himself as “spoony.”

Conveniences of the Future

Like so lots of the finest remakes and nostalgic media, FINAL FANTASY RESONANCE succeeds by capturing your reminiscence of the originals, rose-tinted glasses and all. All types of considerate little modernizations shave off these corners and bits of friction that may make the earlier video games a little little bit of a slog to replay. Enemy weaknesses and resistances are proven without end when you’ve discovered them, making it a lot simpler to blaze via repeat combats, that are additionally accelerated by variable pace and skippable summon cutscenes. You can even keep away from pointless random battles fully by quick touring to any beforehand visited location from outdoors of dungeons.

All these touches add up to make a easy expertise that respects my time. It’s a charming throwback, with a satisfying and considerate rhythm of play that I’ve missed in fashionable RPGs, however in a modern and fashionable package deal. Throw in a little bit of nostalgic fan service for good measure, and I anticipate to be having fun with this for fairly a whereas.

FINAL FANTASY RESONANCE is obtainable now on XBOX Collection X|S and XBOX on PC. Play it on each console and PC at no additional price with XBOX Play Wherever. Strive it at no cost with a demo of the full first chapter, which carries over on buy.