No matter how modern and visually stunning Final Fantasy gets, there’s something so endearing and comforting about games that channel the early years of the franchise. Nostalgia is a big part of it, but it’s also because Square Enix usually manages to create a game that looks like a charming retro adventure but is actually so much more than that.
Final Fantasy Resonance is exactly this, and playing through the single-player adventure didn’t just make us reminisce about titles like Final Fantasy 1-6; it made us also look forward to upcoming games like Final Fantasy VII Revelation and whatever FF17 ends up being.
The game is a retelling of the first season of the 2015 mobile game Final Fantasy Brave Exvius, but this time, it’s presented like a typical retro Final Fantasy experience, and without all the trappings of a live-service mobile game – and Resonance is better for it.
The story is the usual old-school Final Fantasy fare. You’re a cocky knight with a close but sullen friend; the kingdom is under threat because bad guys are after a crystal, so you and your gang of mismatched heroes go on a quest to retrieve it.
If you’ve played FF1-5, you’ll know the drill. But that didn’t stop us from falling in love with the characters and the world. Exploration and side quests were all well and good, but as pretty as the world map is, we didn’t feel the urge to head out and explore every little cave like we would in a more modern title. The combat in Final Fantasy Resonance is where much of the fun is.
In battle, you’ll get to control the protagonists, perform limit breakers, summon allied monsters, and do everything else you’d expect from 2D Final Fantasy. Combat is addictive and electric, and it gets better and better as the story unfolds. More characters equals more chaos and challenge, and this is when Resonance will really get its claws into you. We had to play the game on hard to really get the most out of it, as even on normal combat felt like a breeze.
The game’s main feature is using Echoes in battle. These are spirits of other warriors that are linked to one of your protagonists and fight through them and independently. Some of these Echoes are characters from the lore of Resonance, but others are characters from across the Final Fantasy universe. In our squad, we had Tidus, Cloud, Squall, and Lightning, some of our favorite heroes from Final Fantasy’s past, and it was a blast to include them.
Each one comes with attacks and abilities suited to their character, and while it makes absolutely zero sense from a world-building perspective, that doesn’t stop it from being awesome nostalgic fun. It’s a shame we can never see these heroes interact and banter, and that would break the immersion and take the focus away from the game’s protagonists. This isn’t Dissidia: Final Fantasy, after all.
Final Fantasy Resonance is a game for those who wanted to play Final Fantasy Brave Exvius for a retro FF fix, but didn’t want to put up with the modern trappings of a live-service mobile game – and we get that, and so does Square Enix. From an industry point of view, it’s refreshing to see Square Enix recognise this and create a nostalgic experience to include the longtime Final Fantasy fans, so that they can enjoy the experience in the way they always have. In a world of microtransactions and live service multiplayer, Final Fantasy Resonance is the little oasis many players will be yearning for.
That being said, for all its strengths, Resonance doesn’t move the needle. It’s exactly what it looks like: comfort food for old-school JRPG fans rather than a title designed to shake things up. It’s for those who gobbled up the pixel remasters of the early Final Fantasy games or sunk 100 hours into Octopath Traveler. If that’s you, then adventure awaits, hero.