Final Fantasy Resonance: A Return to the Brand's Golden Age

Final Fantasy Resonance: The Present Has an Ancient Heart

Why aren't Final Fantasy games like they used to be? Why doesn't Square Enix make a main series installment with turn-based combat? If I had a gil for every time I've heard a question like these (even from myself), I could easily buy all the mega-elixirs my party would need for the next 100 years. The fact remains that the hope of seeing a new main series Final Fantasy remains just that, a hope, but the Japanese company is moving forward with interesting projects tied to a more accessible budget, such as Final Fantasy Resonance, which you are now reading our review of.

Final Fantasy Resonance is born from the ashes of Final Fantasy Brave Exvius, a mobile title with gacha mechanics that closed in 2024, from which Resonance takes many elements (but not the gacha ones, don't worry), starting with the plot of the first season. To be precise, we are talking about a JRPG with an extremely classic structure, featuring exploration, turn-based combat, and delightful 2.5D graphics. The game is now available for PC, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch 1 and 2, and PlayStation 5. I had the opportunity to try it well in advance on the Sony flagship version and I am ready to give you my opinions on Final Fantasy Resonance.

The kingdom of Grandshelt prospers thanks to the power of the elemental crystals that ensure power and balance to the entire world of Lapis, where our adventure takes place. As always happens in these stories, however, not everything goes as planned and, at a certain point, the powerful Sworn Six, commanded by Veritas, destroy the Earth Crystal and attack Grandshelt, initiating a true global crisis. Trying to save the situation are our protagonists, Rain, a young commander of the kingdom's air squadron, and Lasswell, his long-time friend, as well as second-in-command. After a few lines, they are joined by Fina, a mysterious girl who appeared after the breaking of the Earth Crystal, suffering from amnesia and clearly linked to what is happening across the continent. Thus begins our story, with the cast engaged in trying to understand what is happening and fighting the increasingly concrete threat of Veritas and his companions. In their journey across the world of Lapis, they will meet other heroes who will join their group, forming a heterogeneous party that draws heavily from the narrative tradition of JRPGs, so much so that some characters strongly resemble protagonists from previous Final Fantasy games.

Final Fantasy Resonance: Plot, Gameplay, and Technical Aspects

In short, the trap of the stereotype is not entirely overcome, even in the plot, which goes from very interesting moments to others that too often fall into narrative stereotypes we have already seen in other JRPGs, but in general the story is easy to follow without particular problems. I take this opportunity to point out that, unfortunately, Final Fantasy Resonance has no Italian localization, a factor that could be a barrier for non-English speaking gamers, also because the amount of text to read is not small. This is a real shame, because Square Enix, in its main projects, has practically always taken our language into account, while this choice reiterates the fact that Resonance is on a production line somewhat detached from the flagship titles.

Among other things, the fact that we are talking about a 2.5D title should not be misleading, because the rendering of all on-screen elements is simply splendid, between sprites, environments, and lighting effects that show how much the developers have committed themselves to achieving these results. Several years have passed since Square Enix embarked on this graphical return to origins and, from game to game, it continues to gain more and more mastery of its artistic means, always managing to amaze us. There are also good three-dimensional videos related to specific situations, but this 2.5D is so beautiful that it manages to steal the show even from more modern video techniques. A very similar discourse applies to the soundtrack, where classic themes of the saga alternate with new tracks, almost all of the highest level, between orchestral and epic pieces. We are talking about no less than 120 tracks composed or rearranged by Noriyasu Agematsu, a name linked to titles like Wild Arms 5 and the White Knight Chronicles saga. The fact that so much effort has been put into the entire technical sector of the game makes the lack of our language even more annoying. Among other things, the atmospheres strongly recall some of the most successful classic Final Fantasy games, and the Final Fantasy VI-style vibes are felt more than once.

As for the gameplay, Final Fantasy Resonance is very traditional and linked to the past, despite the combat system being expertly designed and aimed at giving the player complete strategic management of their party. Encounters are random, but only up to a certain point. We don't see enemies during exploration, but on the minimap we have a kind of radar that changes color from green to orange, up to red, and when it reaches that point we will know that a battle is imminent. Combat takes place in rigid turns, clearly visible in a dedicated bar at the top of the screen, and this allows us to plan our moves. There are the usual systems related to buffs, debuffs, resistances, and weaknesses between weapons, abilities, and magic. Enemies have two bars, one for health points and one for resistance, which decreases based on hits received, especially if inflicted with elements they are weak against. Once depleted, our character who dealt the last blow gains a bonus move, while if all opponents deplete their bar, all our protagonists will have an additional turn. In short, more than in other chapters of the saga, discovering what really hurts opponents is the path to victory.

Final Fantasy Resonance: What Are Visions?

A very important element are the Visions, which are the spirits of the most famous characters from various Final Fantasy games that we can find by following the story and in particular caves. Cloud, Zidane, Cecil, and so on, up to a maximum of 26 legendary heroes, each with their special abilities and magic. Each character can equip a Vision and use its skills, and over time, unlock them permanently. In this way, when the Vision passes to a companion, the first character will have access to a list of abilities to use. Our characters have a pool of ability points and can spend them to equip those unlocked with the various Visions; obviously, at any time we can review how we have allocated the skills and change them also based on those that, in the meantime, we may have acquired thanks to a new Vision. The result is that, with the right patience, we can create our personal builds and evolve the party as we wish, in a system that works great and leaves ample room for customization.

From a narrative point of view, the existence of these spirits from other universes is somewhat self-referential and a product of Brave Exvius' gacha system, but from a gameplay perspective, it works well and makes the combat system layered. Furthermore, when all opponents have their resistance bar depleted, we will also have access to Resonance moves, which are special attacks from the Visions themselves. We can choose one and exploit its qualities, perhaps unleashing a powerful elemental blow on the unfortunate enemies or focusing on healing our protagonists. Add to all this the Esper (summon) system and the Limit moves of some characters, and you will have an extremely complete combat system in your hands. I highly recommend setting the game's difficulty to maximum, because, even on "Normal", everything seems too easy.

Final Fantasy Resonance sends us a message: Square Enix has absolutely not forgotten how to develop an excellent turn-based title; in fact, it is always at the forefront when it comes to showing everyone how to get the job done. Probably, however, the development costs of a triple-A product are still daunting, despite the recent example of Expedition 33. The story may not always be top-notch, the lack of the Italian language is a small disappointment for our market, but Final Fantasy Resonance is a satisfying JRPG both in form and substance. We are not talking about an absolute masterpiece, but a title that will win the hearts of fans.