Where do we sit on mobile games these days? It felt like, maybe 10 years ago, they were poised to completely engulf handheld gaming, with Nintendo asked on a seemingly weekly basis when they were going to pivot to mobile gaming. Aren’t we glad they didn’t. As a player of exactly two mobile games in 2026 (Pokemon TCG Pocket and Retro Bowl), I cannot see how gaming on my phone would sustain me in regards to what I want from gaming. Maybe it’s because I wasn’t there for that era of mobile. I was in on Fruit Ninja and Angry Birds in the early 2010s, but had no real interest in following mobile gaming into more in-depth experiences.
Because of that, I completely missed out on Final Fantasy Brave Exvius, a mobile game from 2016 which was hugely financially successful, but criticised, I’m told, for it’s gacha elements (that’ll be where all the money came from). My introduction to this title came just a few months ago, when Final Fantasy Resonance was announced during Nintendo’s June direct. I was taken.
A HD-2D Final Fantasy had been on the cards since the style was unleashed with Octopath Traveller about a decade ago, and it felt like Square Enix had been tweaking and perfecting the look until it was absolutely perfect for their flagship franchise to step into it. And, to be fair, Resonance looks every bit the part. Nothing about pixel art titles on the SNES looks like HD-2D, but that doesn’t stop Resonance from looking like the Squaresoft games from the 90s as you remember them. It’s a really compelling style that fits the series perfectly.
Blast from the Past
I’m getting ahead of myself. Final Fantasy Resonance is the series’ first HD-2D title, and takes the bold choice to step back into the wonderful world of turn-based battling. Yes, “Active Dimension Battles” are soooo last year (and also next year, with FFVII Revelation). This is, I believe, the first new turn based Final Fantasy since Final Fantasy X-2, which came out in 2004 here. That feels insane. Our heroes, Rain, Lasswell, and Fina (other party members will be available, I understand) take it in turns wailing on whatever poor soul dare stand in their way, using a mix of physical and magical attacks. You know this, you’ve played Final Fantasy before.
What you might not know, however, is how Resonance uses “Visions” to spice things up. And this is where that Brave Exvius-ism comes in. See, on that particular title, you could unlock a stupid amount of other characters to help you. These ranged from Cloud (FFVII) and Tidus (FFX), to Lara Croft (Tomb Raider) and Sora (Kingdom Hearts), to Ariana Grande (Ariana Grande) and Katy Perry (California Gurl), for some reason. It appears Square have stripped back the silliness for this version of the game, however, with a total of 26 visions confirmed for the final game. My dream of fighting alongside Princess Diana will not be realised here.
The key thing to know with Visions is that they do not replace your party members. Each party member can hold one Vision, who will appear on the battlefield alongside your team. Each turn you can select to attack as one or the other. For example, if Rain holds Cloud’s vision, you pick to attack as Rain or Cloud. If you choose Cloud, his attacks cost MP. But they also look cooler, and he is a cooler character.
Across the Universe
So far, so Final Fantasy. The key to victory, however, is staggering your opponent. Each enemy has a stagger meter. If all enemies are staggered in the same turn, you can do a special attack using a Vision, which then transitions the game into a CGI cut scene which…it’s a bit out of place? Going from this beautiful pixel art style to this (equally beautiful) full 3D cut scene kind of takes you out of it a bit. It’s very cool to see what the characters are doing, but it’s something I think you’ll tire of as the game wears on.
I will say, as well, that the Visions themselves do somewhat overshadow the new characters. From my time with the game thus far, I’ve been far more interested in which historic Final Fantasy characters are making an appearance than what Rain and company are up to. I am concerned that, across 50+ hours, the game will feel more like a celebration of Final Fantasy as a series, and less like a quality RPG in its own right. That, and they’re extremely easy to find. Every vision I came across was in an empty cave and simply asked you three questions relating to that character before you were just given them. I am hopeful there’s more of a challenge as the games go on, such as defeating a side-boss, but it does make me pause as is.
Nothing will tire you more than the games voice acting, however. The series isn’t exactly famous for its exceptional voice work (that Tidus laugh from FFX still does the rounds to this day), but it felt particularly off-putting here. The post-battle banter between Rain, Lasswell, and Fina, in particular, caused my eyes to roll on more than one occasion.
Resonated
You get past that, however, and it feels like Final Fantasy Resonance is shaping up to be extremely promising. The beautiful visuals are paired with a lovely orchestral soundtrack which I’m certain will contain some bangers as the game progresses.
Exploring the games first area was a joy. I found myself actively seeking out battles, something I wouldn’t usually do in game with random encounters, just so I could experience that battle system again. The games demo spans the first chapter of the full game; I spent SEVEN AND A HALF HOURS with it across a full week. I went out of my way to find new things to do, and that, for me, is a sign that this might be a bit of me. Could I tell you what exactly the plot is at this moment? No, of course not. But I challenge you to find me one modern Final Fantasy that makes sense less than 20 hours in.
And so, despite being a remake of a mobile game from 10 years ago, I have Final Fantasy Resonance pre-ordered. I went from that “Thank You For Playing” screen straight to The Game Collection (not an ad, just a fan) and pushed my order in. Since finishing the demo, I’ve just wanted to play more. I think it might be a good one, you know.
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