Home » Final Fantasy Resonance (Review)

Final Fantasy Resonance is an unforgettable adventure that’s well-worth your time for role-playing game (RPG) fans. If you’ve been wishing for a classic Final Fantasy game, Final Fantasy Resonance is the game to play this year. It’s an adventure you don’t want to miss if you’ve been longing for a return to the golden age of Final Fantasy.

Crystals, Chocobos, Oh My!

Originally a mobile game called Final Fantasy Brave Exvius, Final Fantasy Resonance restores the charm and design of the classic pixelated Final Fantasy games that made the series so engaging.

The game’s story is more simplified, like the original Nintendo and Super Nintendo Final Fantasy games, where you travel the world to stop it from being destroyed, and it’s less complex to follow. Straightforward and fun where you can sit back, pick up the controller, and enjoy the adventure without stressing on the layers of deep writing or where you left off at.

You play as Rain, a knight of Grandshelt, along with his childhood friend and also a fellow knight named Lasswell. The duo resembles the friendship and competition that push each other to grow stronger. You could say it resembles the classic friendship of Goku and Krillin from Dragon Ball. During a mission, they stumble upon the Sworn Six of Paladia, who are on a mission to destroy all the crystals across the world of Lapis. After the Earth crystal is destroyed, Rain and Laswell meet a mysterious young woman named Fina. With no recollection of her past, Fina, Rain, and Laswell set off together to prevent the destruction of the remaining crystals, as losing every crystal would mean the end of Lapis.

You’ll meet various characters on your journey, such as a money-and-airship maniac named Lid, a respected tactician named Nicol, a rebel leader and playboy named Jake, and a powerful sage who carries a young appearance named Sakura. There are many more who’ll travel alongside you and aid you in your adventure. Each character not only wields their own uniquely styled weapons for battle but also showcases distinct visual and personality traits. Bringing in some of the corny and comical moments you’d see in classic Final Fantasy games. Since playing Brave Exvius, these characters have never once disappeared and continued to exist in my thoughts when I think of Final Fantasy. The story will make a few curves to keep the momentum and engagement but avoids adding too much depth.

Not only does it remind me of how classic 8- and 16-bit Final Fantasy games were, but the well-known visuals add to it, such as the big yellow birds called chocobos, the floating and huggable moogles, airships, and of course the crystals. These pieces are the staples of classic Final Fantasy games, and they continue to hold their value in this adventure.

As mentioned earlier, Resonance was originally a mobile game called Final Fantasy Brave Exvius that came out in the mid-2010s. The free-to-play game gave players an entertaining story with classic turn-based mechanics, along with its pixel styles resembling the classic Final Fantasy titles. The development team introduced some changes to the first season’s story for Resonance. The story feels more dramatic, includes additional dialogues, and flows much smoother than the mobile game does from beginning to end. For how Resonance’s story is laid out, the game feels complete. If the opportunity was to appear, I wouldn’t turn down the chance for a sequel.

The story is what made me fall in love with Brave Exvius, and seeing it revived and refined in Resonance has brought me immense joy. It’s one of the best non-mainline Final Fantasy games today, and I want more.

Outside the main story, there’s plenty of side quests to tackle that are rewarding. Some are fast traveling to areas. Some require retracing your steps. Some are challenging battles. But each one is rewarding, offering you not just items but crystals to upgrade your “Visions,” or update your character stats. Players can expect to complete the majority of the side quests and the story in around 40 hours. There’s also additional areas to explore such as the colosseum where you fight a battle per round and win prizes. These prizes will also aid you in unlocking more content including a weapon to find a summon. If that wasn’t enough, the  game has post-story content, so expect to level up your team for additional hours.

Pixel Me Perfect

What if Final Fantasy continued to push the limits of pixel art? What if Square Enix’s HD-2D style was used to its fullest potential? Final Fantasy Resonance takes on the challenge with the 2D pixel art character sprites and places them in 3D environments. However, the game’s visuals go beyond using pixels merely as sprites. They also animate them in a fluid manner to create cinematic visuals. It’s like a piece of art.

Special attacks carry more pixel art styles, and there are scenes where you see lifelike figures displayed as pixels rather than in 3D or as 2D sprites. These pixel animations look stunning, creating a new art style since the first trailer was revealed, and I want to see how much further pixels can go in future HD-2D games. In addition, fans of Final Fantasy VI and older titles will recognize a large handful of enemy designs from that game, including the giant Colossus, and Hell’s Rider. 

Leave it to Square Enix to understand how to create these diorama visuals that make sprite games look new. From the pixel details of how infrastructure looks worn to the lighting that sprays across the sky, these stylish games always bring a smile to my face when I come back to play. It was a game I want to keep coming back for more. While playing on the PlayStation 5 Pro, we did come across flickering during cutscenes and during battles in the volcanic areas. While we can’t speak for every platform, we’ve spoken to team at Square Enix about it and expect patches to roll out.

Let’s also add that the music is one of the best soundtracks this year, and I’m pleased to see many scores carried over from the mobile game. The battle theme is upbeat and mesmerizing, another battle theme worth putting on your best Final Fantasy battle music playlist. The classic Final Fantasy tunes, such as the victory theme and the prologue theme, carry over and reinforce that signature Final Fantasy feeling. Its orchestrated, symphonic scores carry weight and emotional depth to the story. It’s a soundtrack worth playing and owning. Those who are interested and before the game’s official soundtrack is out, look for Final Fantasy Brave Exvius if you want to listen to it now.

Staggering for the Win

Battles are turn-based, carrying the old-school formula of RPGs. However, there’s more depth to it than just choosing a command and initiating it. Players need to trigger the stagger gauge and exploit enemy weaknesses to certain elementals, such as water, wing, and light to deplete it faster. The yellow-filled gauge underneath the enemy’s health bar is their stagger gauge. Deplete it to execute the stagger on the enemy, giving players an extra action at the end of their turn.

It also puts the enemy at a disadvantage, as the player’s attacks cause more damage, and their charging up attacks are cancelled, along with their buffs. If you can make all enemies on the field staggered, you’ve entered the “sweeping stagger” that lets your entire party throw in an extra turn along with the option to choose a “Vision” to utilize their specific special techniques. This new strategic element adds more gameplay depth to every battle.

Battles aren’t just about winning with an ultimate attack or two for quick battles. Although entering battles with a party that is too strong can change the dynamics, that is a separate issue. Understanding the enemy and taking advantage of their weaknesses is key, as it makes battles more of a process that requires effort and makes you work for it.

The game’s demo portrayed battles to appear easy, but as you explore and stick to the recommended levels, they do become more challenging. Some optional areas where you find standalone enemies to battle make the final boss feel like a mid-boss, as these pack a challenge.

Visual Helpers

The original mobile game relied on using special Final Fantasy characters to join your team. Resonance takes a similar approach but changes it to where they are treated as holographic visuals called “Visions” that can be equipped per character on your team. They stand with you during battle, and their skills are available for you to use. Think of it as an extension of attacks to choose from. These Visions can level up with points after battle and can boost your stats permanently and give you the option to learn some skills, like immunity to darkness.

Level them up to level nine, and you’ve mastered their list. Remove them, and the skills you’ve learned are removed. However, they can be added to a designated skills list, but they are limited to a certain number, so you can’t overload your character with skills. Players must carefully select the most suitable options for their adventure. For example, the Mug ability may not be the best choice for challenging boss battles. Instead, you might prefer a skill that is more suitable, such as one that is immune to specific elements.

The skill learning resembles the job system from Final Fantasy V and the Esper learning system from Final Fantasy VI. However, the skill equipment feels much more aligned to the material system of Final Fantasy VII, where you equip skills based on available slots.

Each mainline Final Fantasy character is available to find in dedicated shrines across Lapris. Additional Visions are acquired through side quests, and a special ex-hero awaits for a challenge when you are well deep into the game’s story. I thoroughly enjoy seeing these Final Fantasy characters brought back as a side dish and not overtake the game. It would be the cherry on top of this delicious treat of a game if the option to battle every villain from the franchise were available as optional encounters. I would even take special guests from other Square Enix titles.

Espers, carrying the same name from Final Fantasy VI, are powerful summons that Fina can summon during battle. They come in for three turns and leave with a powerful finishing move. To acquire them, you’ll need to find them first, battle them, and they agree to help. Unlike Brave Exvius, you only need to battle them once for their power. It certainly adds another layer of replay value to find these mystical figures and brings nostalgia for past Final Fantasy titles.

The Final Crystal

Final Fantasy Resonance is a purrtastic love letter to classic Final Fantasy, delivering an entertaining journey with gorgeous pixel art, a fantastic soundtrack, and strategic turn-based combat. It’s a must-play RPG for longtime fans and newcomers are welcome to ride this chocobo.

A PlayStation 5 code was provided by the publisher for this review. Final Fantasy Resonance launches on October 22, 2026 for the Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch 2, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC. Fans can visit the game’s official website for more information.