Final Fantasy Resonance to Launch Oct. 22 as Series' First HD-2D Game

The game is an adaptation of the first story arc of Final Fantasy Brave Exvius, the mobile title shut down in 2024, and it uses the HD-2D style that combines pixel art with detailed 3D graphics, according to the report.

In a preview after about 10 hours of play, The Verge said Resonance feels notably old-school: players move across a large world map, enter towns with inns, item shops and weapon shops, fight random turn-based battles and pick up items from sparkles. Enemies flash before attacking, a detail familiar from older role-playing games.

The game also adds modern touches. Battles include enemy health bars and stagger bars, encouraging players to exploit weaknesses with magic and skills rather than rely on basic attacks. Players can speed up battles, skip long attack animations, fast-travel to visited locations on the world map and teleport from a save point near a boss back to a dungeon entrance to resupply, The Verge said.

Resonance's story follows Rain, described as a morally pure blonde hero, and his best friend Lasswell after a great magical crystal is destroyed; the pair set out to stop the destruction of other crystals. The Verge said the story had not done much to innovate on a familiar formula in the first 10 hours, citing two characters with amnesia, but that it moved along breezily enough.

The Visions system lets characters equip versions of figures from other Final Fantasy games, such as Final Fantasy VI's Terra Branford and Final Fantasy VII's Cloud Strife, to gain new battle moves. Using a Vision with a Resonance character unlocks more moves and abilities that remain available even without that Vision equipped, a system The Verge called clever and full of possibilities for builds.

The Verge said Resonance's familiar patterns were soothing and that the game's old-school structure with modern improvements lets Square Enix offer a retro experience alongside big-budget titles such as Final Fantasy XVI. The publication said it became absorbed during a boss fight on a moving train, in a way it associated with Final Fantasy games.