Review: Final Fantasy Resonance (Demo)

The news of Final Fantasy Resonance broken not all that long ago... an unexpected treat with a short wait before release while all eyes were watching for signs of Finaly Fantasy VII Revelation. Seemingly out of nowhere FF Resonance is on the horizon and a demo drops in short order; such a boon with little to no prompting! I grabbed the demo as soon as it was available and sunk 6.5 hours into it to complete the first chapter, maxing out almost everything and hunting down all secrets - other than the boss in the sand pit.. I beat the Chimaera though.

What Final Fantasy Resonance actually is

Final Fantasy Resonance is Square Enix's new HD-2D Final Fantasy, the pixel art over 3D look from Octopath Traveler and the Dragon Quest III remake, and it's built on the first story arc of Final Fantasy Brave Exvius, the 2016 mobile game. Square Enix says that story has been "refined and extensively rebuilt as a full-fledged console-quality RPG experience", and after spending a healthy amount of time with the demo, they're not wrong. You play as Rain and Lasswell, and the classic furniture is all here: airships, crystals, espers, chocobos and moogles.

The free demo covers the opening and the whole first chapter, which Square Enix estimates at three to five hours (I did about six and maxed out everything), and your save carries over to the full game. The demo is available now on all major platforms ahead of the full release on 22 October. Steam has it at A$74.95.

Rain, one of the two leads, in a dialogue box beside a pixel-art party on a country road — Rain and the party on the road. Image: Square Enix via Steam.

How the fights work

Combat is turn-based, with a timeline across the top showing who acts next, yours and theirs, through the next turn. Hitting enemies where they're weak drains their stagger gauge, and a staggered enemy loses its turn and its defence drops. Land a Sweeping Stagger (having all enemies staggered at once at turns end) and Resonance opens up: special moves tied to your Visions that hit hard, cost no magic power, and do a lot more than straight damage (one can heal your whole party which can become overpowered quite fast).

A turn-based battle in HD-2D pixel art: the turn order runs along the top, the command menu on the right and the party's HP and MP along the bottom — A battle, with the turn order across the top. Image: Square Enix via Steam.

A burst of light with SWEEPING STAGGER written across the screen during a battle — A Sweeping Stagger. Image: Square Enix via Steam.

Visions are the crystallised essences of familiar Final Fantasy characters, and they're how you build the party. Each one unlocks abilities, and you can set abilities from more than one Vision at once, which is the old job system from early Final Fantasy adventures with a few more knobs on it. Espers (similar to Summons) fight alongside the party for three turns once you call (summon..) them. Various series figureheads like Cloud, Tidus and the Warrior of Light all turn up, and Square Enix says you can find and challenge Sephiroth for a special reward in the full game.

Gilgamesh, a towering red-armoured warrior, faces the party on a castle bridge — Gilgamesh, in the flesh. Image: Square Enix via Steam.

What To Look Forward To

The HD-2D graphics are absolutely gorgeous, and the music is beautiful as is the high bar set by any Final Fantasy game these days. The stagger and resonance loop feels easy so far, but definitely feels like it's got so much more to give to master and even more if you want to get super fancy with the combos. I very much consider it similar to materia in the FF7 world, where you can get by or really break the game open with advanced pairings.

The story and cast so far are a pleasure, with no one seemingly out of place and the initial harmony between the main characters is a nice change... no conflict and just brotherly love and agreements. For FF addicts like myself this game ticks all the boxes. Even getting into aspects such as voice acting and story pacing, the first chapter really doesn't put a foot wrong.

An airship flying over a green island and blue sea on the world map — An airship over the world map. Image: Square Enix via Steam.

What's Not So Great Currently

My ONLY nitpick so far is that the demo clearly shows at least one item that is not possible to pickup/obtain in the first chapter, and a path that you can't unblock yet. Hardly a criticism on the game but I had to write SOMETHING, right!?

Final Verdict

With only 2 days until release I'm going all in on this one. The game is amazing and everything you would expect and want from a new 'retro-style' Final Fantasy title and comes with all the flair and nostalgia of using famous series characters to boot. Pre-ordering either edition will nab you some special items, weapons, passkeys to chance Chocobo and Airship appearance that are only obtainable through pre-order. If you're a fanatic and plan on playing this game in the first few months after release then pre-ordering for extra swag seems like a no-brainer. If you've got the extra cash the Digital Deluxe Edition gives you more again... but if you're a casual passerby that likes the look of it but will wait for sales time I'm sure the experience will be every bit as fulfilling even without the pre-order perks.

Screenshots: Square Enix, via Steam. Images are used for editorial purposes only and not for profit. If you own an image used here and have any concerns, email contact@playtopia.com.au and we'll happily credit or remove it.