Final Fantasy Resonance, the latest non-numbered entry in the long-running series, delivers a polished and unapologetically old-school Japanese role-playing experience, earning a 7/10 in our review. This Square Enix title, released on 22nd October 2026, brings back turn-based combat and 2D graphics, appealing directly to the franchise's existing audience with its many callbacks to past heroes.
A Retro Reinvention of a Mobile Game
Resonance is a 'retelling' of the free-to-play mobile game Final Fantasy Brave Exvius, using that game's heroes, setting, and portions of its story while changing the fundamental mechanics. The gacha underpinnings have been removed, and it now features free-roaming open world exploration. It retains its faux 16-bit pixel art presentation, which is used to excellent effect.
The story follows a party of spiky haired heroes trying to save eight mystical crystals, whose continued existence prevents the world from falling into chaos. A big bad seeks to destroy them, and you engage in exploration, side quests, and levelling up, fuelled by random monster encounters. This is a doggedly traditional Japanese role-player, with characters that speak with total, unironic sincerity at all times. Its themes of idealism and sticking to your principles are as warmly familiar as Disney films' support for facing your fears.
Turn-Based Combat and Visions
Combat is turn-based, with status effects and elemental weaknesses complemented by enemies' stagger bars, which you whittle down to leave them briefly open to extra damage. Each party member can equip a Vision—a hero drawn from across the entire Final Fantasy canon. Unlocked in crystalline Sanctums of Light, each Vision comes with a three-question pop quiz about the hero's actions, and the closer your answers are to what they actually did in their game, the greater affinity they'll have with your party.
Each Vision's character class governs the skills they bring, and they level up alongside team members, gradually adding new perks and abilities. You can also summon godlike Espers, another long-term series feature, which act autonomously once conjured, becoming a useful damage sink for tougher enemies. Visions' special moves are screen-filling and give an excuse to render some heroes in 4K, contrasting nicely with the blocky HD-2D styling.
Presentation and Verdict
Music and voice acting are both high quality, and while side quests are text only, conversations in the main story are fully voiced, with higher-resolution anime style portraits accompanying dialogue. The combat works fine but is, purposefully, not doing anything new. The absence of skill trees feels like oversimplification, and you'll need serious time on your hands to see the end of the story.
Final Fantasy Resonance is available on Nintendo Switch 2 (reviewed), Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC, priced at £49.99. It offers the best use of HD-2D yet, with endearingly earnest storytelling and solid voice acting, but its turn-based combat and callbacks are aimed very much at the series' existing audience.
