Home » Final Fantasy Resonance (Preview)

Final Fantasy Resonance is the first Final Fantasy title to utilize Square Enix’s HD-2D mechanics and visuals. After playing the second chapter of the game at PAX West, it is clear that this new Final Fantasy game will deliver a classic turn-based experience.

Delicious Visuals

While the first chapter demo released the day before we had the opportunity to test the game out with Square Enix at PAX West, our playthrough was in the game’s second chapter. In this demo, we traveled through one of the ruins to try to save the crystal from falling into enemy hands. If you’ve played the mobile game, Brave Exvius, then you are aware of most of the game’s story.

Yes, crystals are back. Pixel-style characters are back. Turn-based mechanics are back. It’s a good time to be a fan of the classic Final Fantasy games. The game enhances its 2D aspect by incorporating the HD-2D art style and introducing additional special effects. Pixel flames shimmer and flutter across the wind. The cutscenes look fluid and gorgeous. The 3D environments carry more depth and details, making them look more like real-life dioramas. The music is fantastic with its orchestrated tracks that play homage to Nobuo Uematsu’s original scores.

Dungeons gave some great details, and its depth perception of just how large the dungeon feels makes exploration fun to dive into. We sought every area for hidden items and engaged in random battles to gain a few levels before facing the demo’s boss. The overworld felt vast and wild, and its visual perspective gives that nostalgic feeling of old-school RPGs.

Rolling Up The Sleeves

You can call upon Visions to aid you during battle. In this demo, Cloud, Terra, Warrior of Light, and Zidane were already attached to each character on the field. Each carries a set of techniques your team can initiate on their turn. When using a Vision’s skill, a cutscene overtakes the screen as you watch this special character make their impact on the battlefield. These and many other cinematic attack scenes are skippable if you wish to process the battle quicker. Each Vision carries a fair amount of skills, and just like your team, they can gain levels to unlock more abilities and stat improvements. Unfortunately in this demo, Zidane proved to be the weakest Vision to use, as his skills were mostly around thief skills that aren’t useful in this demo’s boss battle.

The battle mechanics are straightforward and resemble the original Final Fantasy titles back from the ’90s. For example, when healing or creating damage, use the direction on your controller to affect all enemies/allies. Having this information proved valuable when facing the challenging boss in the demo. Learning the enemy’s weakness in element properties played a big role, but understanding the staggering system was the biggest piece of winning. Deplete the enemy’s staggering gauge, and it places them in a confused state where they’ll lose a turn and are the most vulnerable. Achieving victory, taking down minions, and battle planning made the experience fruitful.

The Upcoming Battles Await

Overall, Final Fantasy Resonance appears to be another spectacular Square Enix title set to launch in the middle of a clutter of upcoming game releases. RPG fans should definitely pay attention to this title and not overlook it.

Final Fantasy Resonance is set to launch for the Nintendo Switch 2, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC on October 22, 2026. Fans can visit the game’s official website for additional information and purchasing options. We appreciate Square Enix for giving us the opportunity to test out the latest HD-2D game at PAX West.