《Final Fantasy Resonance》评测：“一款为HD-2D风格注入强心剂的轻松怀旧JRPG”

Final Fantasy Resonance is at once a nostalgia-laced antidote for the longtime fans who have felt alienated by the recent 3D iterations turning their backs on the series' turn-based traditions as well as Square Enix giving its trademarked HD-2D style a much needed shot in the arm. While I've been enamored by this retro-modern style since its introduction in 2018's Octopath Traveler, over time it's been losing its charm, as the same presentation had been wheeled out in successive nostalgic outings, though at least Dragon Quest 7 Reimagined had the good grace to try something different.

Nonetheless, its legacy of pixel-based classics like Final Fantasy 6 meant it was only a matter of time before a Final Fantasy title would receive the HD-2D treatment while also finding ways for the aesthetic to feel fresh again. Ironically, it's done that not through a brand new game but with an adaptation of mobile spin-off Final Fantasy Brave Exvius.

Crystal clear

FAST FACTS

Release date: October 22, 2026
Platform(s): PC, PS5, Xbox Series X, Nintendo Switch 2, Nintendo Switch
Developer: In-house, Lancarse
Publisher: Square Enix

Square Enix reworking its mobile catalog to console may not be new, as it has done successfully with Octopath Traveler 0, and less so with Various Daylife, but Final Fantasy Resonance is more significant as it excavates a since discontinued mobile game. The work from Square Enix Creative Studio 5 and Lancarse is even more extensive than just an act of preservation or removing the gacha elements that had been why Brave Exvius passed me by when it was available. While its story and characters remain intact, the whole presentation and experience has been overhauled to feel like a very classic yet fresh Final Fantasy adventure that stands on its own two feet.

Just about everything in Final Fantasy Resonance harks back to the series' classic hallmarks, from turn-based battles with a party size of four characters to the explorable overworld of Lapis peppered with towns, dungeons, random encounters, and – of course – a story that revolves around crystals. As a knight of the kingdom of Grandshelt, your protagonist Rain finds himself setting out on a journey to find the legendary crystals before each can be destroyed by a mysterious group of elite armored warriors calling themselves the Sworn Six.

There's plenty that follows a largely conventional structure – visit a new region, discover a problem the locals are having where one of the characters end up joining your party, and a dungeon that culminates in a fight with one of the Sworn Six – but it's not really a criticism when the execution of this formula is done so well. Sure, there are some familiar characterizations, from a leading man obliviously caught in a love triangle, to a feisty mechanic who's often butting heads with the sleazeball of the group, but these are fun characters to spend time with. Even the game's villains are written with pathos, while the series' recurring Espers have their own personality as you fight for the right to summon them in battle.

It's all bolstered by the presentation that's a substantial level-up from past HD-2D games. While Final Fantasy Resonance does make use of voice-acting as well as having dialogue text accompanied by expressive character illustrations – the latter introduced in this year's The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales – its biggest improvement comes from the spritework, which are bigger and feature more animations than what would have been feasible for a 16-bit Final Fantasy.

Another subtle yet meaningful shift seen early on is how it's not presented with the same top-down medium-wide camera but actually leverages the fact that the game is made up of 3D environments. It's not that Final Fantasy Resonance strives to be cinematic, but a simple change of the camera to a close-up, more dynamic angles during a boss encounter, or one of your party member's show-stopping Limit Bursts, does a lot to make HD-2D feel fresh again.

It's only undermined by the occasional use of CG sequences when you're summoning Espers or Visions, the latter including manifestations of characters from the numbered Final Fantasy titles. Given how their CG sequences are taken straight from Final Fantasy Brave Exvius, I imagine they looked far more spectacular blowing up on your smartphone back in the day. I personally found these transitions at odds with the HD-2D style, and it's perhaps weirder if playing the game with English audio since the CG Visions are only voiced in Japanese.

Vision quest

Visions are nonetheless a core component in Final Fantasy Resonance and are significantly overhauled from Final Fantasy Brave Exvius, where they were unlocked through a gacha system. This remake has just 26 from the hundreds of the mobile title but nixes any monetization or rarity randomization. Each is unlocked either by visiting their respective shrine or completing a side quest, while awakening more of their abilities is done by using magicite found as you go through the campaign.

Obviously, it's wish fulfillment having the likes of Final Fantasy 7's Cloud fighting alongside Final Fantasy 13's Lightning or Final Fantasy 14's Y'shtola, though they are more comparable to the skill-wielding summons from the likes of Persona 5 than true party members. They also have the added function of being like jobs, giving more abilities and attack options for the party member who's equipped them, while keeping them paired up for longer also levels up mastery, unlocking more benefits. There's also incentive to master multiple visions, since some of these perks become equippable, and you can mix and match different abilities, like a more flexible form of Octopath Traveler's secondary jobs.

Indeed, while there are many familiar Final Fantasy elements – such as Phoenix Downs for reviving fallen party members, or using tents as save points for fully recovering – I can't help but think how much of Octopath Traveler's design sensibilities permeate throughout. Mostly, it makes for a smoother experience, like the ability to run making dungeon traversal snappier, and the mini-map acting as a red-flashing radar helping you anticipate random battles.

I can't help but think how much of Octopath Traveler's design sensibilities permeate throughout.

It's also evident in the presentation of the battles themselves, with a timeline on the top displaying the order of turns while icons next to enemies also indicate which elemental properties they are weak, resistant, or immune to after a respective attack or spell is used on them. That said, the battles flow differently to the break and boost systems of Octopath Traveler.

While staggering has become a core mechanic since Final Fantasy 13, in Final Fantasy Resonance, your abilities also show their effectiveness in dealing damage to an enemy's HP and stagger gauge, handily color-coded in the same respective red and yellow. Instead of raw damage, it's often more important to focus on attacks that bring down the stagger gauge faster, especially when those abilities tend to cost less MP, before saving the strongest attacks for when their guard is down.

The more satisfying strategy comes from coordinating an attack where you stagger all the enemies during the same turn. Not only do you have the next turn free for everyone to pile on, but it's also how you get to finish the turn with a powerful Resonance attack from one of your equipped visions, in other words, the CG special ability mentioned previously.

Admittedly, the power of these bonus attacks in earlier field battles almost feels too much, prompting that The Simpsons 'Stop, he's already dead' meme to spring to mind after my party has wiped all but one enemy out whose HP is also already at zero, before unleashing a Resonance attack. But then it's also encouraged since you can gain an Overkill bonus at the end of a battle. Bosses are spongier and don't go down as easily, but there's a great sense of relief when you manage to stagger them just before the timeline indicates they're about to dish out a devastating attack on the whole party.

Finite Fantasy

The cozy familiarity of Final Fantasy Resonance does mean that at times it has almost too predictable a rhythm. It's not that the boss battles, or optional monster dungeon challenges, won't occasionally put you in a tight spot, but there is less friction in mind. For example, if the boss' weakness isn't already obvious from appearance, once you spend the first couple turns figuring this out, it's easy to hit pause, load your last save, quickly reassemble your party and visions, and skip any cutscenes to get back to that same fight at an advantage with minimal fuss.

With access to an airship by the game's midpoint, you might say it opens the world up a bit too soon, such as being able to reach one region several chapters before its relevance to the story even kicks in, or access monster dungeons that indicate you're far below its recommended level but you might as well go in so that you can fast-travel to it once you are ready. In that sense, there's almost little in the way of surprise.

Yet, while it might feel a little too breezy at times, it also feels a comforting counterpoint to the unfathomable bloat of the modern JRPG – looking at you, Final Fantasy 7 Remake trilogy.

There's a generous amount of side quests on offer that unlock at a manageable cadence where the rewards are usually upfront, while dungeons never outstay their welcome, although side quests do have a knack for backtracking to earlier locations that's at least mitigated by fast travel. Even the endgame convention of ascending a huge towering dungeon is smartly broken up so that you can always go and explore the rest of Lapis and mop up other side quests without worrying about how far the next save point is.

Final Fantasy Resonance may only cover the first story arc of Final Fantasy Brave Exvius, which might make it seem less complete than the multi-arc epic of Octopath Traveler 0, yet that may also be the point. If this beautifully enhanced remake does as well as it deserves to, then I'm hopeful its subsequent arcs will also get the same restoration treatment, with even bolder design choices.

Final Fantasy Resonance was reviewed on Nintendo Switch 2, with a code provided by the publisher.

Don't make this adventure final. Check out our best Final Fantasy games, best RPGs, and best JRPGs rankings for loads more to keep you busy. Our new releases calendar has plenty on the horizon too!