Final Fantasy Resonance Review: Gorgeous, but You Can Hear the Phone

When Square Enix announced an HD-2D Final Fantasy, plenty of people imagined a new Octopath-style original. Final Fantasy Resonance, out October 22 on PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Switch 2, Switch and PC, is something different: Lancarse's rebuild of the first story arc of the mobile game Final Fantasy Brave Exvius. The important part first - the gacha is gone. What remains is a full, premium turn-based RPG. The question is whether it ever stops feeling like it started life on a phone.

What it is

A classic tale of Crystals, with airships, chocobos, moogles and Espers all present and correct. Familiar faces like Cloud, Tidus and the Warrior of Light show up as "visions", which is a clever way to bring in fan favourites without breaking the story. The HD-2D look - pixel-art sprites on lit, diorama-like 3D backdrops - is as lovely here as it has ever been, and towns in particular are full of small details.

How it plays

Combat is the star. It's turn-based with a visible timeline, so you always know who acts next, and hitting enemy weaknesses opens bonus phases that build toward a flashy Resonance attack. It rewards planning in exactly the way the best Final Fantasy battle systems do: you start thinking two or three turns ahead, setting up chains, and the payoff when it all lines up feels great. Boss fights in particular push you to actually use your whole party.

The music, produced by Noriyasu Agematsu, adds 33 new tracks on top of the Brave Exvius material. It's strong and does a lot of heavy lifting for the mood.

The lows

The story is where the mobile roots show. Chapters are structured in neat, bite-sized chunks, the main cast is likeable but thin, and the plot hits genre beats rather than surprising you. Some dungeons feel like they were designed for a five-minute session on the bus, then stretched. It's never bad, just very safe for a series that built its name on big swings.

Voice acting is English or Japanese only, with text in German and other languages - fine, but worth knowing.

Price and the demo

Square Enix lists one base price on every platform: US$49.99. The Digital Deluxe Edition is US$59.99 and only adds in-game items, so I'd skip it. The Collector's Edition is US$209.99 and comes with physical extras such as an artbook and a soundtrack. At the base price, a polished remake of a mobile story is a fair deal rather than a steal. The free demo covers the opening through the end of the first chapter (roughly 3 to 5 hours, according to Square Enix), and your progress carries over to the full game. It's the easiest way to find out whether the story will hold you.

Verdict

Final Fantasy Resonance is a beautiful, mechanically satisfying RPG with an excellent battle system, wrapped around a story that never escapes its gacha-era origins. JRPG fans will have a good time, especially if they stick to the standard edition. Anyone hoping for the next great Final Fantasy should temper expectations and play the demo first.

Score: 7/10

Image: japan_style / CC BY 2.0, source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Square_Enix_booth,_Tokyo_Game_Show_20090927.jpg