The 2018 game Octopath Traveler coined the “HD-2D” art style that Square Enix has been using over the last couple of years in other releases like Triangle Strategy and the Dragon Quest remakes. It isn’t till now that we’re finally getting a Final Fantasy title in this style, with the release of Final Fantasy Resonance.
An adaptation of the mobile game Final Fantasy Brave Exvius’ first story arc, Resonance sees Rain and friends on a journey to stop Veritas of the Dark from destroying all of the crystals scattered around the world.
My demo plopped me in the region of Dirnado, where I had free rein to explore it in its entirety. My main objective was to delve into the Wind Shrine to protect the crystal there, but I wanted to take in the sights first. I hopped on my chocobo and eventually found myself at a tavern where I undertook a quest to help decipher the lyrics to an old song for a bard. This quest took me from an abandoned shipyard to a sprawling city, all to piece together the history of this long-passed-down song.
Being based on Brave Exvius, Final Fantasy Resonance features a hefty amount of changes from that original mobile release. First of all is the removal of the gacha mechanics, which was the primary method of acquiring “visions”: manifestations of characters from previous Final Fantasy titles like Cloud or Noctis that let you perform their moves. Now you’ll simply unlock them through traditional methods like exploration or as rewards for quest completion.
Resonance also returns to a more traditional turn-based combat system and has a fully explorable overworld instead of icons you’d tap on as Brave Exvius had. From everything I’ve seen, it really does seem like a massive overhaul that Square Enix put in to really make Resonance feel like its own game. The combat system in particular now features a stagger mechanic where attacking an enemy’s weakness will fill a meter, and once filled, will allow you to hit them with a massive attack from one of your equipped visions. It cuts to a super flashy CGI scene showing your vision performing their signature attack.
I explored Dirnado a bit more, fighting random battles along the way and taking in the gorgeous sights; that HD-2D style still fails to impress even here. I finally made my way to the wind shrine where I faced off with a boss at the end of the dungeon before my demo ended.
I went into my demo with low expectations since I had never played the original mobile version, but I left thoroughly impressed and excited to dive deeper into its world. If you’ve been hankering to play another 2D Final Fantasy game, you thankfully won’t have to wait too long, as Final Fantasy Resonance is set to release later next month.
